Aurora city Council & COW - 9/14/26

Aurora, Ohio, City Council and Committee of the Whole
​September 14, 2026

Committee of the Whole (COW): The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by Chairman John Kudley.  All Council members were present: Reva Barner, Brad Duguay, Sarah Grdina Gilmore, George Horvat, Dennis Kovach, John Seitz, Ralph Ware and Scott Wolf. There were 9 City Officials and Employees present. There were 7 citizens present.

Minutes from August 17, 2026 were adopted.

New Business:
 There were 7 Ordinances proposed for action that evening on 1st Reading:

• An Ordinance accepting the quotation of Golf Preservations Inc. in the amount of $33,700.00 to install 4400 linear feet of drainage pipe on a 50,000 square foot area of multipurpose field at Hartman Park. Parks and Rec Director Laura Holman said that this is needed to make a safer play area. In answer to several questions she replied that they hope to start October 16, take about a week to complete and it should not interfere with any soccer games. This item was budgeted.
  
• An Ordinance authorizing the purchase of 2 vacant lots on Fairview Ave in the amount of $80,000.00 plus applicable closing costs not to exceed $5,000.00. This is strategic purchase for future connectivity to Aurora Park at Geauga Lake.
  
• An Ordinance to purchase 19 air release valves and accompanying supplies to replace the existing air release valves from the Marketplace lift station to the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant in the amount of $148,907.13. This is part of a planned upgrade to switch from the existing 6” pipes to the 10” pipes for 3 miles. The city was quoted $900,000.00 to install them but the Service Department will do this in house. The project should take 6-7 months to complete so they want to start as soon as possible.
  
• An Ordinance accepting the quotation of C&J Contractors, Inc. in the amount of $480,000.00 for the demolition of the aquarium building at Aurora Park at Geauga Lake. The building was deemed structurally unsound and unsafe with 50 pylons failing. It was necessary to go to the Army Corps of Engineers with the process to remove this structure since it is over the water. This process took 3 months. A demolition permit must also be obtained from Bainbridge. Exact measurements were taken of the building with the hope that it might be rebuilt on land in the future. Answers to questions posed by Council members included proposed safety measures to keep people away from this “attractive nuisance”; don’t know why there were significant differences in the demolition quotes- this company is smaller and might have less overhead; there was nothing salvageable from the building; and compliments on the “phenomenal” prep on this complicated project.
  
• An Ordinance accepting the 2027 H2Ohio Rivers Initiative-Chloride Reduction State Grant offered by the Ohio EPA in the amount of $73,623.00. Ohio EPA is eager to minimize salt and regulations may be coming. This grant is to use brine, making our own, which uses 77% water on our rock salt. Brine will use less salt, not bounce off the road, can pretreat the roads. The city is hoping to save money on the purchase of salt but will need this upcoming year to  assess. Many of the vehicles used for snow events already have the ability to spread brine.
  
• An Ordinance accepting the quotation of Brine Worx in the amount of $82,315.41 for the purchase of equipment to begin producing and storing salt brine. The Ohio EPA grant will cover all but about $9,000.00 which the city will pay for from the Capital Improvement Fund.
  

• An Ordinance amending “Employees Generally” to reflect changes in compensation. There were 4 Employees named: Water supervisor promotion due to retirement, Service tech for Parks and Rec, Fire Fighter/Paramedic p/t and Sports Monitor p/t.
  

There were 4 Ordinances proposed for 1st Reading:

• An Ordinance authorizing the purchase of bulk road salt from Cargill, Inc. at a price of $72.20 per ton for basic salt and $89.60 per ton for Clearlane in an amount not to exceed $400,000.00 for the 2026-2027 snow season. Clearlane is used in lower temperatures when salt is not as effective.
  

• An Ordinance selecting the bid of and awarding a five-year contract to Rumpke for the 2027-2031 collection and disposal of solid waste and recycling. 2 bids were received and Rumpke was chosen. 4 Council members had comments and expressed concerns they received from their constituents about missed houses and breakdowns of vehicles. 1 member thanked the Rumpke representative present and another appreciated the weekly recycling and said they thought Rumpke was responsive to missed houses usually coming back in 24 hours.
  
• An Ordinance approving a change order to the contract with Wertz Geotechnical Engineering in an amount not to exceed $25,000.00 for additional soil investigations at the Aurora Park at Geauga Lake.
  
• An Ordinance authorizing the purchase of 3 vacant lots on Dora Lane in the Geauga Lake neighborhood in the amount of $1.00 plus applicable closing costs not to exceed $1,000.00. These lots are landlocked and unbuildable. The owner offered them to the city and after doing due diligence will take ownership which should help with stormwater issues.
  

Meeting adjourned at 6: 37

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City Council (CC):   Council President George Horvat called the meeting to order at 6:42 pm with the Pledge to the Flag of the United States of America. Council members, City Officials and Employees and people in the gallery were present as noted in the COW report.  

August 17, 2026 Meeting Minutes were adopted.

Mayor’s Report: 
  “City Calendar”:

• Aurora Trail Challenge began September 1 and runs through October 31.
  
• Aurora High School Concession Stand  will be hosted by City and Council volunteers on September 18 at 7 pm for the Homecoming Game.
  
• Fall Festival and Business Showcase on Saturday, October 10 at Sunny Lake Park
  
• Shred Day Saturday, October 24, 9 am-12 pm at the Service Department.
  
• Turkey Trot 5K and Mashed Potato Mile early pricing going on now.
  

             

Aurora Park: 40 workers are at Aurora Park 6 days a week when possible and things are moving very quickly. Weather delays and long lead times on key items being delivered is pushing the opening back from September to sometime in October. The Park entrance sign construction is completed and the sign will be installed soon.

Distracted Driver Effort: The Ohio State Highway Patrol and police recently collaborated to target reckless, speeding, and distracted driving across major Ohio roadways. Aurora PD participated in the effort resulting in 195 total stops, 102 distracted driving citations and 30 other citations.

Flood Assistance: 2 of our firefighter personnel traveled to Perry County one day last month as part of the Portage County Urban Search and Rescue team (USAR) where they participated in operations that involved searching for flood victims in an area where the flood had washed away a homeless persons encampment.

ODOT Paving: ODOT has completed resurfacing SR 82 and 306. There are a few remaining issues which should be completed by contractual completion date of September 30.

Sidewalk Assistance Program: There have been 23 applications and 12 have paid. Improvements will be completed in-house by the Service Department.
 
Natural Gas Aggregation Program: Beginning in October 2026, the program will offer a fixed rate of $3.99/Mcf for 12 months which is a decrease from the current rate of $4.00/Mcf. Questions regarding the program or enrollment can be directed to IGS Energy at 877-353-0162. Current participants will receive a rate change notice and automatically continue in the upcoming term. 

Chamber Events: Nominations for Business and Person of the Year are being accepted until September 30. The David M. Benjamin Memorial Golf Outing is September 29 at Tanglewood Golf Club. Check allaboutaurora.com for more details.
            
  Mayor’s Office: Since the last Council meeting the Mayor has continued to have budget meetings with staff and council members. She had an interview with Clay LePard from News 5 and one with Fox 8 Today. She spoke with the Harmon 8th graders during their recent visit to City Hall as part of their annual City Walkabout, spoke at the 9/11 Memorial Ceremony and presented awards at the Car Show.
     
Law Director’s Report: Mr. DePiero’s report was included with the packet. He said they are working on updating the code on e-bikes and scooters. He wanted to be careful not to over regulate and should have It ready in 2 weeks.

Citizens Comments on the Mayor’s Report/Legislation– A citizen had a general comment not on legislation and it was addressed at the end of this meeting.

 Council Remarks on legislation –  None


Legislation:

Ordinance on 3rd Reading: 

• An Ordinance on the Consent Calendar, accepting a donation of 4 Kwikgoal soccer goals was adopted.
  

Ordinance and Resolution on 2nd Reading: 

• The Resolution to confirm the appointment of Eric Steinel to the Tree Commission was Adopted with Rules Suspended
  
• The Ordinance authorizing the decommission and sale of Police Canine Ory to his handler Sgt Scott Brown went to 3rd Reading.
  

Ordinances on 1st Reading:

• An Ordinance from Planning Commission approving a Conditional Zoning Certificate for the property owned by True North Energy LLC located on the north side of West Garfield Road, in a C-2 zoning district went to 2nd Reading. A representative from True North was present and answered questions from Council: The existing True North facility will be used until the new one is built. It will then be remediated and maintained until it sells. It will not be sold to another gas station.
  
• The 7 Ordinances proposed for action this evening were Adopted with Rules Suspended- see COW for details.
  
• An Ordinance authorizing the purchase of bulk road salt went to 2nd Reading
  
• An Ordinance awarding a 5 year contract to Rumpke went to 2nd Reading
  
• An Ordinance approving a change order to Wertz Geotechnical Engineering went to 2nd Reading
  
• An Ordinance authorizing the purchase of 3 vacant lots on Dora Lane went to the Consent Calendar.
  

Miscellaneous: There were no objections to a Liquor Notice for Tasty Hospitality, LLC- Nicky and Smitty’s Deli and Restaurant for a new D-3 permit.

Citizens Comments: A Citizen asked about the presence of a Flock camera on the Aurora Trail Hike and Bike Trail and how many Flock cameras there are in Aurora. Chief Byard answered that the camera on the Hike and Bike Camera is not a Flock one but is there for the safety and security of the walkers and bikers. The City has 7 Flock cameras.

Council Members Remarks: None.
  
Meeting adjourned at 7:12 p.m.



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