Aurora City Council & COW - 01/22/24

Aurora Ohio City Council and Committee of the Whole
​January 22, 2024

Committee of the Whole (COW): The meeting was called to order at 6:45 by Chairman John Kudley with all Council members present: Reva Barner, Brad Duguay, Peter French, Sarah Grdina Gilmore, George Horvat, Dennis Kovach, John Seitz and Scott Wolf.

Minutes from January 8, 2024 were approved with J. Kudley, R. Barner, and S. Grdina Gilmore abstaining.

Finance Director’s Report: Timothy Clymer said the “books are closed” on 2023. There was about 2 million less than 2022 but it was a very good year. He has seen much growth during his term in Aurora. There was a transfer of $8.06 million from the General Fund to a variety of capital funds which will be used to help cover the $18.9 million in anticipated capital projects budgeted for 2024. Actual receipts came in at 129.1% of expected amounts while expenditures came in at 94.8% of budgeted expenses. Water and Sewer funds continued to operate within their means.

 There were 4 Ordinances proposed for Action that evening on 1st Reading:

• An Ordinance under Employees Generally for the annual pay increases for non-union and part-time employees.
  
• An Ordinance approving an amendment to the contract for the provision of legal services to reflect a 2% increase to the base salary of the Law Director. 
  
• A Resolution confirming the Mayor’s appointment of Mr. Victor Baerman as a member of the Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority (PARTA) Board of Trustees to fill the position of a member who resigned.
  
• A Resolution confirming the Mayor’s appointment of Gene Allen, Ryan Anderson, Gina Ehrhart, Tanja Holecek, Elissa Katz, Ronna McNair, Rana Rao Panguluri, Erin Quayle and Bill Schnell to serve as members of Aurora’s Charter Review Commission. Their recommendations will be submitted to Council by the August 1, 2024 deadline. The Mayor gave a brief biography of each of these proposed members- reflecting a very qualified and diverse group.
  

The meeting adjourned at 6:55 pm.

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City Council (CC):  Council President G. Horvat called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm with the Pledge to the Flag of the United States of America.  All Council members were present  as noted in COW Report.  There were 10 City Officials and Employees present and 3 people in the gallery. 

Minutes from the January 4, 2024 Organizational meeting were adopted with S. Grdina Gilmore abstaining.

Minutes from the January 8, 2024 Meeting were adopted with R. Barner and S. Grdina Gilmore abstaining.
  
There was a 14 minute Executive Session to discuss the Acquisition of Real Property.

 Mayor’s Report: Items included: A request that the 2024 Budget be adopted; State of the City Luncheon on February 21; thanked the “dedicated city employees who worked tirelessly to maintain clear roads... over the past few days”; addressed the questions regarding the timing of some of the traffic signals; met with representatives of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and taped her January Community Focus report.  

Law Director’s Report: a List of Litigation was available but no comments on anything.

Citizens Comments: None

Council Remarks: B. Duguay requested that funding for connectivity in the Ward 1 area be considered in the next budget. Route 43 is particularly dangerous for people to travel on.

Ordinances on 3rd  Reading:

• Ordinance 2023-104 for the Purchase of 40 acres of land and 53.63 acres of Geauga Lake with a Trail Lake Loop easement from ICP remains postponed. 
  
• An Ordinance approving and adopting the annual budget for calendar year 2024 was adopted.
  

Ordinance on 2nd Reading:

• An Ordinance accepting the proposal of a 4 year contract with Ahola HR Solutions for an HR/Payroll processing system was adopted with rules suspended.
  
• An Ordinance authorizing the purchase of annual software and technology purchases through Ltech Solutions, Ltd was adopted with rules suspended.
  

Ordinances on 1st Reading: 

• An Ordinance approving and adopting the current replacement pages of the Aurora Codified Ordinances, as prepared by the Walter H. Drane Company and verified by the Clerk of Council was adopted with rules suspended.
  
• The 4 Ordinances proposed at COW for action that evening were adopted with rules suspended. See COW for details.
  

Miscellaneous:  There will be a review of Council rules.

Citizens Comments: None

Council Members and Committee Remarks: None

 The meeting adjourned at 7:30 pm.

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