[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do do [Music] the regular meeting of the aurora city council for monday july 25th 2022 just called to order with the clerk please read the rule mayor kaufman here mayor pro tim bergen here council member coombs president councilmember gardner councilmember jorinsky here councilmember lawson here councilmember marcano president councilmember medina here councilmember mario president councilmember sundberg yeah and council members of onik here here's the quorum announcement for the public call-in line good evening city council welcomes feedback from the public on both matters appearing on the agenda and the republic invited to be heard if you would like to speak and have not already spoken to an operator please press star free those watching on channel 8 call 855-695-3475 and press star 3 when connected you will hear a prompt confirming you are online speak to an operator and then be able to continue listening to the meeting when the operator comes on the line please be ready to give your name and the agenda item you wish to speak in speak on keep in mind you must press star 3 before the city court reads the title of the item you wish to speak on finally as a reminder council does not allow comments about any item on the agenda turned public invited to be heard any speaker is allowed three minutes thank you public [Music] is gracias please join me in prayer oh lord our god and our father we come to you i think that was in three parts uh please join me in in prayer oh lord our god and our father we come to you and we ask that you would look upon this particular gathering tonight and guide us in our decisions bless our city with honorable industries sound education and good government unite the community together even though we come from different backgrounds we pray that there be justice and peace in our city give city council wisdom direction and sensitivity to the business and proceedings before us tonight hear us therefore as we commit this meeting to the health of this community amen please join me in the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all promotion is an order for the approval of the minutes for june 27 2022 mayor mayor for tim um i do have one change so should i make the motion first and then make the change or yes okay motion to approve the minutes of june 27th with my amended changes which include on the third sentence she asked questions to senator hickenlooper and bennett regarding accountability and partnerships with different distributions re for or for mental health so needy need to add for mental health is there a second so it's been moved by uh mayor pro tem seconded by councilmember lawson to approve the minutes as amended with the clerk please call the rule mayor kaufman yes the motion passes to adopt the june 27th 2022 council meeting minutes with mayor pro tim burgin's amendment motion is order for approval of the minutes for july 11 2022. mayor now mayor pretended motion to approve the minutes from july 11th revealed by uh the mayor for 10 seconds by mayoral second second by councilmember lawson to approve the minutes from july 11 2022 discussion i see no discussion with the clerk please call the roll on the approval of the minutes for july 11 2022. mayor kaufman yes the motion passes to adopt the july 11 2022 council meeting minutes we have a ceremony a swearing-in ceremony for the interim fire chief judge shaun day chief it's my great honor to administer the oath to you as interim fire chief so if you'll please raise your right hand and repeat after me i allen robnett haven't been duly appointed as interim fire chief do some we swear or affirm that i will support and bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution and laws of the united states of america the constitution and laws of the state of colorado and the charter and ordinances of the city of aurora that i will be ready at all times to try to provide assistance and comfort to all whom i find in need that i will at all times conduct myself in an honorable manner and that i will perform the duties and responsibilities of the office of fire chief to the best of my judgment and ability so help me god again congratulations congratulations interim chief robnett and i certainly hope you don't have plans to visit las vegas anytime soon okay the public invited to be heard mayor we do have a few individuals in person the first one is kenneth westervelt followed by marla rapp sorry this is my first time here come up to the coming to the podium please thank you this one here that one up there this one uh okay just checking thank you good evening my name is ken westervelt i am a resident of ward 1 in aurora on saturday july 16th i hosted the colfax breakfast club a meeting for business owners and managers in northwest aurora as we were discussing various business concerns we ended up spending a lot of time in questioning the status of a city-owned asset that assets address is 9758 colfax avenue better known to many of you as the former music city it has been vacant since before the coven pandemic it is still vacant since the coveted pandemic and while we're aware there are probably maintenance and structural issues due to its historic status we have a strong interest in seeing it restored to an operational status many trades were able to attend the colfax breakfast club that morning we had a handyman in attendance a theater manager a general contractor and builder no we had a videographer among a few others thank you mr kaufman for being able to show up as well we i have the confidence that we have a lot of the talents already in-house and to be able to bring this up to operational status and i think a lot of us have the scheduling and the will to see it happen all i think we need is just the permission to make it happen i believe it is also in all of your interests to help us in doing so i'm sure you guys want the additional sales tax revenue from its the uh the rent revenue from leasing this building out and with the additional foot traffic that would be happening on colfax to increase the safety along the colfax corridor i believe there is some common cause to be had here now if there is already a process underway which i'm not aware of to restore this nearly 100 year old building i would love to learn this information i want to share that with the colfax breakfast club since they raise these concerns i'd like to bring that information back to them if someone on this council the city manager anyone else in city government is able to share that information with me i would love to know it now nearly everyone on this council i have spoken with one point or another you have my email address you are welcome to share this with any of the subject matter experts at your disposal now if you want to update us directly of course you're welcome to attend the next colfax breakfast club at 7 a.m on saturday august 20th i do look forward to the information you have however you wish to share it email or otherwise and i look forward to eventual positive movements for 97 58 east colfax avenue thank you for your time and i yield the remainder of it marla rapp followed by brian blime my name is marla rapp and i'm an aurora resident i'll be speaking to you tonight about the central recreation center when it first opened it opened in the morning at 5 00 am then covet hit everything closed eventually it reopened but it's open now at 6 00 a.m um i talked to some of the other members who showed up early we put a letter together and we sent it to the city on the 24th of june and a winter seeger responded almost immediately confirming the siege thanking me for the letter and saying that she has plans to meet with the recreational manager next week to discuss the item on june 24th on july 5th i emailed winter one more time she said she had hoped to meet with her with the supervisor prior to her vacation but was unable to do so on july 11th i received another email from winter saying quote i will provide an update once i have something to provide and quote which i took as don't call us we'll call you i emailed winter again on the 21st of july to get any kind of update only to find out that winter was again on vacation so i sent an email to who i believe um was her supervisor a brook bell the director of parks and rec um i in the letters i sent the letter we all signed and sent out says that we do understand about staff shortages however we note that it's open until 8 30 at night monday through friday with a handful of cars so we propose that you close it at eight take that half hour throw it on in the morning for us again it opened at five previously we're asking for 30 minutes that's all several hours later brooke sent a response to me saying a bunch of things that made absolutely no sense to me she said that the recreation staff have worked tirelessly to provide a safe and welcoming experience saw the same piece of gum on the same treadmill for a week there currently has been an earbud on one of the floors for three days so we have a pool going to see how long that'll go there's one bathroom in the workout area and i i can't tell you how many times we have had to go and say hey there's no toilet paper there's no paper towels so the safe and welcoming experience not sure what she's talking about she says that the remaining employees are taking on more work responsibilities there are four lifeguards and somebody at the front desk at six in the morning the lifeguards get there a little early they put the chemicals in the pool they sit down they watch people swim the employees are suffering from overwork and burnout not even going to touch that one and that the staff have issues they have to account for like transportation and daycare these are high school students marla you've reached your three minutes um so anyway we're only asking for 30 minutes thank you very much brian blinn followed by david kabari okay if i could have her contact information thank you hello mayor council i'm brian lam i'm community fair community affairs officer for united power we're headquartered out of brighton and i want to thank you for the opportunity to present the capital credit refund to you this evening in person as you may or may not know united powers electric company that's operated as a cooperative that means although we provide electricity to homes and businesses like a traditional utility we are owned by you and the other members that we serve we are also governed by a 11 board 11 person board that's elected directly from our membership we serve a 900 square mile territory that extends from the mountains of coal creek and golden gate canyon along the i-25 corridor through the carbon valley region out to the farmlands of brighton loch bowie kingsburg and then south to northern carmel city to the edge of dia last august we energized our 100 000th meter and we continue to grow being a not-for-profit electric company we strive to provide electricity at the lowest cost possible and since we are a not-for-profit company if there are any excess margins at the end of the year and our board elects to retire them due to an excess cash position those margins are returned to our members in the form of capital credits and that's why i'm here today in 2022 the board retired four and a half million dollars which was allocated among our membership from our oldest members to even our newest members so that all of our members get the experience you'll get to experience capital credit refunds and understand what we call the cooperative difference this includes the city of aurora you have 14 active accounts on our service territory and since 2007 we have returned more than sixty three thousand in capital credits to the city of aurora and that includes the six thousand forty six dollars and thirty four cents that i'm here to deliver today we appreciate the opportunity to serve you and we enjoy having you as a member of united power and i want to thank you for this opportunity to present this to you katie has the actual check so if time allows sometime during the evening i'd love to get a picture with one or two of you okay thank you very much david kerbari followed by roger chandler good evening council members my name is david corbari i am commenting tonight as an aurora resident and as the vice president of the second village east town home association i wanted to open with saying this council is a unique opportunity to take some concrete action to stem rising inflation costs um through targeted local interventions uh within the community so i wanted to kind of speed through some some ways that that could be done first off transportation a resolution like 10a tonight for the free fair for august for rtd the council should be supporting measures like that and building upon more measures that increase ease of access the the lower cost and commuter buy-in for public transit option mass public transit options the labor costs are higher than ever and reducing an element of the cost of living for your workforce is going to help stem that increasing labor cost the the cost of transportation for somebody who has to rely on their vehicle to get to and from work to get to the grocery store that's hundreds and hundreds of dollars every month if they instead had a public transit option that was reliable and most importantly was uh you know a preferable option to owning a vehicle those costs are taken out of you know their allotment for every paycheck that they're setting aside to to uh make sure that they you know meet their meet their monthly budget and that in turn lowers your workforce costs so second point an example like the zoning amendment that's up for tonight for um i mean it's 11 a is an example of a measure that should never be pushed through it is a gas station being rezoned from a previously residential uh zoned area a medium density residential area and medium and high density residential development is exactly the type of development that is needed to stem rising housing costs to help curb raising or housing prices that are soaring in aurora the type of lot that is there is ideal for a medium density entry level david you've reached your three minutes thank you thanks roger chandler followed by kathleen chandler good good evening mayor council members my name is roger chandler i'm at 4 21 415 east mansfield drive aurora colorado eight zero zero one three and i just wanted to share uh some thoughts about the central rec center as well i'm a consistent user at the central rec center in aurora and i am respectfully asking that you would allow the rec center to adjust its operating hours back to its original 5 30 time frame yes that is a request that's not coming out of left field it's just asking do we that we restate those hours and the reason being is because prior to march of 2020 the rec center each weekday opened at 5 or 5 30 in the morning then march 2020 hit and all businesses pretty much stopped slowly very slowly many of the businesses started opening up with some modifications and i i do understand that because my work situation also changed too remote working has become my normal too so now pretty much that we're looking at covet in the rear view mirror the my life has changed as well in in including kind of getting back to normal the rec center opening at 5 30 worked well for me then because i had to get to the office when covet hit opening at six modifying the hours worked well for me because i was at home but now that again covet is kind of in our rear view mirror it doesn't work well for the clientele that needs i have to get back to the office and many others do too so it just would be very convenient and very i think appropriate to have the rec center adjust their hours back to the to where it was so that those that do have to be out and about earlier would be would would make accommodations i know 30 minutes doesn't sound like a whole lot but does make a big difference for myself it makes a difference between a full and complete workout versus picking and choosing what i'm gonna do on each day so i i do understand i hope you do understand that you know this would make a big difference for a lot of us and i'd really appreciate your serious consideration of this thank you very much mayor mayor yeah i just would like to request from katie the contact information this speaker and any other speakers on central rec center since it's in my award thank you you're welcome kathleen chandler hello my name is kathleen chandler and i also live at 21415 east mansfield drive my husband and i have been members of the central rec center since it began we were one of the first members there and again it did open at five o'clock and we were disappointed that once covid kind of released back we were not able to start that 5 5 30 time frame not only that ma'am by opening it at six o'clock there's a whole bunch of us that gather at the door right when the door clicks at six o'clock to jump in there and so if you're worried about a whole bunch of people congregating in the lobby all at the same time uh get there at six o'clock because there's about 20 of us at various times that are all congregating trying to get in trying to use the machines so that half hour is very precious to all of us and also i would like to comment on what marla wrap said earlier the facility has really degraded over time it's a brand new facility it's only a couple of years old but it has very much degraded that not only from just lack of staff but just lack of cleaning i have actually taken pictures and posted them saying how dirty and how not clean at all that facility is and i understand that you know everyone is facing having shortage of workers but this is a facility that is being run by you know government so you would assume that some of the workers that were there you know instead of having five lifeguards on at any given time maybe that money could be put towards having someone in cleaning i've also kind of suggesting some creativity in maybe having uh you know hire one of us that are there at five o'clock in the morning for half an hour earlier i'd be willing to come in at 4 30 and sweep the floor you know just some creativity and how to solve these problems would really be appreciated but really frankly it's the hours would be greatly appreciated from all of us so thank you very much for your consideration mayor that is the last person okay katie i'll take please send me contact information on all the speakers on the central rec center seeing no further public invite to be heard adoption of the agenda motion is an order mayor uh councilman um councilmember mcconnell thank you sir sunburt moved by councilmember mcconnell said goodbye sunberg second by councilmember sunberg for the adoption of the agenda uh discussion let's see no discussion uh call for the question on uh number nine um i'm sorry uh number eight adoption of the agenda mary kaufman mayweather the motion passes to adopt the agenda uh adoption of the consent calendar item number nine a through uh 9f mission is in order i'm sorry mayor we do have somebody who signed up to speak on two of the consent calendar items i'm sorry katie we had somebody sign up to speak on two of the consent calendars it's for 9d and 9e and that's david kabari mayor mayor patem can i make a motion to approve 9 a 9 c 9 d and 9 f very well um uh it's been moved by mayor pro tem second by zavonik second by council members monik uh i'm sorry what are the nine a nine a c d and f those are the ones that were not called out okay very well uh discussion yeah oh okay i thought she said b so my motion is for 9 a 9 b 9 c and n9f discussion uh saying no for the discussion uh um motion before says the adoption of the consent calendar 9a 9b 9c 9d i'm sorry mary the person wanted to speak on 9 d and 9 e so this would be proving everything except those two atoms yeah e and which one d e and c c and d e [Music] yes okay motion before says the adoption of the consumer killer item number nine a b c and further discussion i see no further discussion of course um call for the question on the adoption of the consent calendar mayor kaufman he has amended my gosh yes the motion passes to adopt the consent calendar without item d and e mclart now please read the title item number 90 item 90 is consideration to award a single source contract to gauls in denver colorado and the amount of five hundred thousand dollars for police uniforms and tailoring services as required through june 30th 2023 public fighting to be heard hi thanks sorry i'll uh i'll condense comments for dne into one comment just for a time goes along with the same point that i have for public comment in line with curtailing inflation so procurement policies that would allow for like a single source contract of half a million dollars it's kind of a as i read it sort of a blank check po that that should really be investigated to get more competitive bidding in place as well as with the additional fuel funding having a having a fixed price contract like that seems great in theory but if fuel prices drop off and if the contract is written the way i think it is which i'm not an expert you may be forced to pay more uh for your fuel than you would need to um on on those items thank you a motion is an order on 9 d mayor mayor perdum motion to approve 90. it's removed by uh mayor pro time second by jarinsky uh council members joining to approve item number 9d discussion i see you know um sorry i just wanted to i think staff could uh maybe oh i'm sorry okay representation by staff well no i have a question for staff mayor well i think the presentation is over and then it will be followed by your question i just wanted to know if that was as a proximity um mayor putim i said there was going to be a brief presentation for you and mayor i asked to ask a question and i did not recognize you to do so brief presentation by staff dave good evening mayor good evening council um i see that the lieutenant is not present i i'm the legal advisor that was on this this item and have some familiarity with the item the police department has an ongoing need for uniforms from recruitment of new officers to replacing uniforms that are worn or damaged in the line of duty the police department desires to have a uniform look to their uniforms they want them to match so they can tell that there are uniforms this particular vendor happens to carry the uniforms that this department assigns are they the only vendor that does so no but this vendor also has the advantage of proximity these uniforms have to be tailored that tailoring means officers have to travel to and from the facility to get that done the proximity of this facility being the closest one that both handles those uniforms and does the tailoring is a substantial benefit to the police department saving countless hours for the officers that are involved in that given that it is subject to approval under a single source matter of course because it is somewhat unusual it is not seeking the lowest bid or the best value necessarily it has to come in front of council for consideration so you can exercise your fiduciary duty to determine if that is an appropriate use of resources member tim thank you and procedurally you were asking to vote on it and i asked a question which was exactly uh the response you came gave was going to be my question please proceed with your question mayor i have a question uh councilmember jordiski um well i guess mine's actually more of a statement but um with what that gentleman said this is one of those things though and i understand if this is the best if this is the best one for our officers to take their uniforms to but with inflation going on and with everything going on and our high cost going on i really wish we could start seeing i've said it a million times more contracts awarded in our in aurora those those sales tax dollars will go back to the city um and and maybe we can find you know some burden to ease um so that's all i wanted to say but if this is the absolute best option for our officers i support it but please let's try harder to see more aurora businesses on here for contracts very good council person further questions of staff mayor councilmember mcconnell thank you sir uh and i just want to make sure i understood the backup correctly uh it looks like the um typical increase for municipal services somewhere around 12.9 percent and with this vendor i think we had somewhere like 2.9 percent is that correct as far as i know yes constant person all right thank you for the questions of staff i've seen none believe that it has been moved and seconded so further discussion seeing none uh call for the question on the adoption of item number 9d mayor kaufman oh maybe chess the motion passes to adopt item 9d right now with the click now please read the title to item number 9e item 9e is consideration for additional funds and the amount of 2.1 million dollars to authorize staff to lock fuel prices through a competitive process that will lead to the award of competitively bid contract to selected vendors in the not to exceed amount of 5.1 million dollars to cover the cost of motor vehicle fuel as required citywide for calendar year 2023 brief presentation my staff good afternoon so the request for the additional funding is obviously due to supply and demand so what we're seeing throughout the world is is ukraine and russia that war broke out approximately february 20th so between january of 2022 and now the price for a barrel of oil has hovered between 96 and 122 dollars and so therefore when we requested the first three million in january prices soared rapidly so after re looking at what was happening economically around the world and where we were poised it made more sense to ask for the additional funding questions of staff mayor councilman joins me can you please just address the gentleman that that spoke on this can you please just address what happens if somehow and hopefully gas prices come down drastically can you can you speak to that please yes if if gas prices drop drastically that's a savings to the city so right now what i'm trying to attempt is to poise us in a way that allows us not to get uh raked over the coals if you if you will for a lack of a better word um and and really be poised to make sure that we lock fuel prices for 2023 give you an example 2022 we lock fuel prices we saved over two and a half million dollars so right now regular fuel is about 237 a gallon and diesel is about 240. and that's for 2022 so we we did really well and we did really well for 2021. however 2023 is a real problem hey ron real quick let me just tell you there was when ron says that fuel is 237 and that's what we're paying the city correct you all and me we know we're not paying 237. if anybody here knows where i can get gas for 237 a gallon let me know but what ron is talking about because of the activity that we go out and we purchase futures that that's what he's done so his his activities last year were able to save us that money so that's what he's asking for tonight is some additional authority unfortunately i don't think we're gonna be able to save save the city two and a half million dollars but we will hopefully avoid significant cost increases sorry ron i just sort of just questioned with that further questions of staff mayor uh councilman so with that stating the not to exceed amount could it come in under that if there was that dramatic decrease like if we're not locking the prices in such that we would have to pay the highest price possible correct yes we would save okay further questions of staff mayor uh councilman combs this is just on the subject of both items because the question was raised of procurement and procurement process my impression has been that we have somewhat of a shortage of staffing there in terms of being able to really get as many bids as we might otherwise like we are more prone to using single source from vendors that we've used in the past rather than putting things out to bid is that accurate no we we still put things out to bid we try to use single source in the event that a vendor is is a really astute at what the city needs we have 23 fueling locations not many vendors can deliver at the level that we need for the city um with all those locations and councilmember comes that i'll weigh in also i'm not familiar with that practice i know there are several reasons to have single source for cost benefit analysis for a lot of the reasons that are outlined in this particular proposal but my experience with the programming department is that we are continually asking departments to get best bids and do rfps so that we get good competitive pricing on a lot of our contracts that's generally the standard practice that's the rule and ordinance that we do unless there's a compelling compelling reason an emergency need we try in the purchase department to instill in the departments that they go to bid in order to get best pricing for the taxpayers generally what we get back when we get those bids is good prices which saves taxpayer dollars and we get low bids and we have very stringent as mr lavish can say uh parameters around that in ordinance so i do not know that to be a fact that we tend to do that if that's a practice we have really tried to work with departments to make sure that we are taking those items out to bid for other questions this is bryn phillinger from purchase manager purchasing and i would echo what roberto said you know the staff not having time is not a justification for not going out on a competitive basis that the departments do have to have a compelling justification further questions of staff the seeing known emotion is in order mayor motion to approve item 9 d boom by council members of onix second and by combs second by councilmember coombs to approve item number 9d i'm sorry number 9e for discussion seeing no further discussion call for the question on the adoption of item number 9e mayor kaufman our mayor jess the motion passes to adopt item 9e with the code now please read the title to item number 9a 10a item 10a is resolution 2022-140 a resolution of the city council of the city of aurora colorado expressing the aurora city council support of zero fair transit on rtd for the month of august representation by staff well actually that's mine so this is the general assembly passed legislation that would cover affairs for august and we asked the cities through the metro mayor's caucus as well as i believe the members of dr karg uh to go back to their respective cities and to promote um the the ridership during this this period of free fares which are were covered by the general fund of the state of colorado and to try and get ridership back to its uh pre-pademic levels i think this is extremely important for the for the city given that we have a number of people quite a few people that are relying upon mass trans transportation and that we have a number of transit oriented developments that are also relying upon uh light rail and so uh would you staff could you add to that i've got to make sure i have the mic on this time good evening mayor i'm michelle gardner with the city attorney's office this is your resolution to move forward i can add that kim stewart our director of communications has put out advertisement for the free ride on rtd on channel eight and i know that she's available if you have any questions questions of staff or the sponsor uh seeing none motion is in order mayor councilman mcconnell thank you sir move to approve 10a moving by councilman mcconnell seconded by jeremy secretary councilmember coombs to approve our number 10a discussion mayor councilman mcconnell thank you sir i just really want to encourage members of the public to take advantage of the fair free month back when i was commuting to downtown denver every day i rode the light rail and it's a great experience it's like it's time to read it's time to catch up on some extra sleep maybe so i highly recommend it very well further discussion mayor councilmember combs and i would just also encourage folks to tell your friends make sure that the other folks around you also are aware and have the opportunity to really um use this fair free month so that we can show what kind of ridership we can generate but also what kind of impact we can have on our climate by reducing the number of cars on the road further discussion uh seeing none the question before us is the adoption of item number 10a call for the question on item number 10a the motion passes to adopt resolution 2022-140 clerk now please read the title to item number 10 b item 10 b is resolution 2022-141 a resolution of the city council of the city of aurora colorado to approve the appointment of a new poet laureate midori clark with a smile as always good evening mayor and council members thank you so much for considering this today um mayor steve hogan and the aurora city council created a poet laureate position in 2013 to celebrate and highlight the creativity of the thriving arts community in aurora colorado the poet laureate advocates and promotes poetry and the love of literature within the city what a great mission jovan mays and nasi tujango have served as the first two poet laureates for the city the objectives of the poet laureate are to promote poetry within the city to raise awareness of the power of poetry in the spoken word to help students embrace the world of poetry assist the citizens of aurora in sharing their own poetry and stories to celebrate the diversity of aurora and community outreach programs and to commemorate city in national events in poetic format a new application process was started in january of 2022 to select the city's third poet laureate amaze and django who were our first two poet laureates for the city as well as colorado's poet laureate bobby lefevre served as judges council member danielle jorinski represented all of you from the council and our incredible library board president paula vargas served as the representative from the aurora public library board of directors and i served as the staff member on the judging panel and it was an awesome night it was really a lot of fun we had six applicants who went through the process that process included a written application an in-person interview and then also the performance of an original work and asia fox was selected by the judging panel and is recommended for approval to be aurora's next poet laureate with her term starting in may 2022. no questions to staff august july what month are we in questions of staff mayor uh councillor combs i'm just wondering for what period of time did we kind of either not have a poet laureate or that acetu was kind of serving as emeritus like what was that time frame that she was kind of past her original term so with the pandemic and not really having any opportunities for the poet laureate to perform we asked assaytu to extend her appointment for a little while i'm trying to think of the exact timeline we for sure did not have a poet laureate for all of 2022 and i think that aussie two may have served partially through 2021. further uh questions of staff mayor councilmember just to address that the night i spoke with aussie too when i was one of the judges i think she said it was extended by almost a year for further discussion i mean sorry further questions of staff seeing none thank you motion is in order mayor uh councilman joyce motion to approve item 10b it's removed by council member uh jorinsky it's second by combs second by councilman recruits to approve item number 10b uh discussion uh seeing no further discussion the question before says the adoption of item number 10b call for the question the emotion passes to adopt resolution 2022-141 well clerk now please read the title title number 10c item 10c is resolution 2022-142 a resolution of the city council of the city of aurora colorado expressing the aurora city council's approval of an iga between the city of aurora acting by and through its utility enterprise and the united states of america department of the interior bureau of the of land management for wild tourist reservoir permit application costs representation by staff good evening mayor city city council i'm sarah young deputy director in aurora water this is an iga with the bureau of land management for right-of-way and permitting reimbursement costs for our wild horse reservoir in 2016 we purchased the majority of the pieces of property for wild horse reservoir but two of those parcels are actually owned by the blm so we requested right away for them and because there are federal lands as a part of the project now we have to adhere to nepa sorry which is the national environmental protection act as well as the historic preservation act and the endangered species act so there's pretty extensive environmental assessments that need to happen and so basically this is a reimbursement of costs to the blm for their staffing and administrative costs which is quite typical of federal agencies questions of staff mayor councilman crumbs i know we already had to see some shifting of the location where we thought that the reservoir was going to be is there any risk or likelihood that these assessments will result in additional changes to the location and structure of the reservoir now at this point actually we're far enough enough along in the feasibility that we're confident in this current location and the dam analysis we're actually moving further into the feasibility design so comfortable that that won't be the case for the questions of staff i've seen none thank you uh motion is in order mayor mr robert jordan motion to approve item tennessee uh it's been removed by councilmember jordan seconded by sundberg councilmember sunberg uh to approve on number tennessee discussion i've seen no discussion uh question before says the adoption of item number 10c call for the question on item number 10c councilmember lawson yes the motion passes to adopt resolution 2022-142 well the clerk now please read the title number 10d item 10d is resolution 2022-143 a resolution of the city council of the city of aurora colorado authorizing the assignment of the city's 2022 private activity bond allocation to the housing authority of the city of aurora dba housing aurora housing authority a brief presentation by staff hi um mayor and city council i'm alicia montoya the community development manager and um i am here to ask for your consideration and moving forward with the private activity bond um we are actually on july 18th i had made the presentation about the assignments to three different projects and us assigning about 21 million dollars of the community development investment round of that of those that funding the of the pav was about 21 million dollars and in order for us to actually distribute the funding we need to assign our private activity bond to the aurora housing authority um so that they can actually distribute it to the developers for utilization so i am asking that we move forward and get final approval on the private activity bond um through the assignment to the aurora housing authority questions to staff let's say none a motion is in order mayor uh councilman mcconnell thank you sir move to approve 10 d and it's been moved by councilman mcconnell seconded by medina that's second by council member medina to approve on number 10 e discussion i see no uh discussion question before says the adoption of item number 10 ae call for the question on item number 10 the motion passes to adopt resolution 2022-143 well chlorine now please read the title daughter number 10f item 10f is resolution 2022 144 errors oh geez i stand corrected uh with clark now please do title title number 10e 10e yes resolution 2022-144 a resolution of the city council of the city of aurora colorado authorizing staff to use funds allocated to the city under the american rescue act to assist food and beverage outlets within the city and other related matters brief presentation by staff yes good evening andrea ammanek development services manager on april 18th when the city council approved the restaurant program to assist food and beverage operations council asked that we set some criteria which is included in the resolution before you for formal consideration tonight there are three main provisions and that are listed participation by the property owner business operator and the city in approximately equal amounts that the property will be in the city of aurora colorado and have been previously vacant with existing restaurant infrastructure and establishments assisted with this program will be spread across the city questions of staff assuming none of motion is in order mayor councilmember motion to approve item 10e removed by council members second by birkin uh by mayor pretend bergen to approve our number tennessee discussion um seeing none question before says adoption environment 10 e call for the question on item number 10e the motion passes to adopt resolution 2022-144 court now please read the title todd remember 10f item 10f is resolution 2022-145 a resolution of the city council of the city of aurora colorado approving an iga between arapahoe county and the city of aurora amending the standing iga between the parties pertaining to approved vspcs for the november 9th 2022 general election a brief presentation by staff yes mary this is katie rodriguez a city clerk in may 2020 the city of aurora approved an iga with arapahoe county for the use and occupancy of city owned facilities for use as voter service and polling centers and dropbox locations for 2020 2021 and 2022 elections this amendment would add three new voting centers which are city-owned facilities for the november 2022 election arapaho county needs 32 instead of 29 and that's due to growth in voter counts in a gap in the geographic coverage the site visits and the ada inspections have been completed for the three additional facilities and uh that's then this iga would be amending the original one from may 2020 presentation by staff that was me you are okay sorry uh questions of staff i was saying none question before says the adoption of it number 10 f uh call for the question on lieutenant we need a motion mayor i'm sorry uh gee whiz um mayor motion is in order mayor casper lawson um i moved to approve 10f boom by councilmember lawson seconded by mcconnell councilmember mcconnell to approve item number 10f uh discussion mayor councilman jordan i just have one question and i asked it before but i was told that this is strictly for voter service and polling centers are there going to be ballot drop boxes at these locations yes so in the exist existing iga the ballot box drop locations are not changing so they didn't need to add any additional ballot drop-off boxes they just needed additional vsp centers thank you that's the clarification i needed thank you for the questions of staff mayor councilmember combs so to clarify though people can drop off their ballots already completed at the voter service and polling centers yes they can drop them off there and they can also drop them off at the dropbox locations if you go to the county websites you can look on a map and see where they're at this existing iga does contain some of those ballot drop locations but they didn't need to add additional ones and so that's why we're amending it for this year to add the vspc centers for other questions to staff i see none motion is in order mayor we have commented we already did that further discussion mayor councilman combs um i just want to you know thank katie and our clerk for working together to make this happen it's very important that people have access to the ballot regardless of where they live and that it be convenient for them to get that access further discussion i was seeing none question before says adoption of honor number 10 f call for the question on 10 f the motion passes to adopt resolution 2022 145. so now please read the title item number 10g item 10g is resolution 2022-146 a resolution of the city council of the city of aurora colorado expressing the aurora city council's approval of the southeast recreation center and field house dedication plaque free presentation by staff good evening mayor and city council council members i'm joe sack recreation services manager i'm here tonight seeking approval for the resolution of the southeast recreation center and field house dedication plaque the purpose of the plaque is to give recognition to the past and present public servants responsible for the creation of the southeast recreation center and field house so present and future generations can recognize their service to the city in making this project possible the staff requests approval of the re resolution to proceed in ordering the dedication plaque uh questions of staff assuming none thank you uh motion is in order mayor mayor tenberger uh yes i make a motion to approve 10 g it's removed by man for 10 burgers second bye second by councilmember sunberg to approve item number 10 g discussion yes mayor mayor potemberger yes i just want to thank my colleagues that were on council when i went before them at a budget workshop the first budget workshop i did not have the votes to make this happen and at the second the next year we did get the support and so i do think all of my colleagues i think all of you here do support recreation centers and i appreciate that very much some people were not in support of it further discussion sitting on the question before says the adoption of item number 10g call for the question the motion passes to adopt resolution 2022-146 the time is now 7 31 we will take a 10-minute break until i'm sorry a five-minute break until uh 7 36 council stands a recess call by those watching on channel 8 call 855-695-3475 to be connected and then press star three council is taking a short break to allow any additional speakers to sign up please be patient and stay on the line until the operator is able to take down your information thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] so [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] with the clerk now please read the title item number 11a item 11a is ordinance 2022-42 public hearing in consideration of an ordinance of the city council of the city of aurora colorado rezoning a parcel of land measuring 2.99 acres more or less at the southwest corner of east mississippi avenue and south kenton way from medium density residential district to mixed used corridor district and amending the zodiac map zoning map accordingly public hearing is now open presentation by staff good evening mayor and city council i'm rashid rabal planner one presenting for staff of planning department tonight for your review is an application for a proposed zoning map amendment the applicant is commongo is requesting approval of a zoning map amendment of a parcel of land located at southwest corner of east mississippi avenue and south kington way the current zoning is our two district which is a medium density residential and to be resigned to muc mixed use corridor district the planning department recommend approval of the zoning map amendment because the proposal comply and meet all the criteria for rezoning and thank you and the applicant is here to answer any question you might have presentation by the applicant so do i need to change the slides on here okay great thank you perfect left right okay perfect awesome um my name is krista houchins and i'm with entitlements and engineering solutions on behalf of cumingo i'm here to discuss the proposed rezone of lot one and two of the southeast corner of mississippi ave and kenton way our project team including michael drago from ees as well as robert fibig and dan garneau with come and go are available for questions as mentioned here's a picture showing the property site you can see it's the r2 and as you can see we're surrounded by multiple other mu and mixed use commercial parcels in this area the site does fall within a city corridor which supports the commercial retail use along the primary street to serve the daily needs of the residences attached is um an image of the site plan that we're proposing along with us that's gone through planning commission and city review as you can see at this time we're proposing a come and go on the northern portion of the site and the southern portion is an unknown user at this time there's no no plans at this time with the rezone we've listed a few of the other potential commercial uses that could go here and support the neighborhood including restaurants theaters etc as listed on the slide come and go is fairly new to the aurora so we just want to kind of give you guys a brief history on what come and go can bring to the community since the first store opened in hampton iowa in 1959 come and go has grown to more than 400 stores in 11 states and employs more than 5 000 people they recently announced an expansion to salt lake city and grand rapids michigan markets and are excited to be able to serve folks in the 12th and 13th states they have one store open here in aurora and currently our one having one open this month hopefully this week and have four more in development so what makes come and go different from other gas stations and convenience stores chain chains out there there's a lot first they create a much better experience for customers and that includes designing stores to be attractive as well as provide healthy choices inside the store come and go makes food ready to order come and go makes food to order from fresh ingredients and is in the process of adding even more choices to the menu come and go also donates a portion of its profits to charities and has made a real commitment to sustainability and we'll get into that on a couple slides further the jobs created by come and go are also different than the rest of the retail industry these are full-time jobs with regular set schedules and full benefits there are part-time jobs available for those who want them but the ability for employees to be able to plan on a regular paycheck each week and a schedule they can depend on has been a huge differentiator for come and go 70 of their associates have full-time roles at their stores at come and go corporate social responsibility is one of the pillars of the company they're committed to diverting waste from landfills and reached a 34 diversion rate in 2019 and that includes food waste as well as waste sent recycling centers come and go became the first and only convenience chain store certified in the led lead volume program and to date 109 of their stores have achieved this leed certification and each new store they build is designed to meet or exceed these same standards a commitment that come and go has made is to always give back to the communities that they serve this is done in part by donating 10 of their profits to organizations that directly benefit those communities reaching thousands of individuals families throughout the country this has reached colorado they've listed a few of the places that they've been able to donate to since 2015 as they've come into the communities nearby in addition to the financial contributions they've led the way in donating food to local food shelters school pantries and communities in need through their food rescue program this program is still picking up speed and they're excited to divert and reduce waste to help groups in need and to continue to roll out the program to more markets in which they plan to operate in and finally come and go is placing an emphasis on fresh healthy high quality food they're in the process of adding even more fresh items to the menu and are excited to debut them soon thank you for your guys time and as i mentioned we have our team available to answer any questions you may have is there anyone who wishes to speak on this item yes mayor we have one person david kerbari in person hello again thank you for your time once again speaking as an aurora resident and vice president of the second village east town home hoa board please don't put another gas station in my neighborhood this this site you know being developed into a gas station convenience store that seems kind of far-fetched but it ties directly to inflation right so if you were to rezone this mixed-use residential a transit-oriented development you know some lower-income income housing something like i talked about before where there is a you know the first step on the property ladder rung for aurora families that's tremendously impactful has far more impact on the resident's daily lives in the neighborhood than another gas station on that map just cropped out of it is another gas station a shell convenience store there's within a two-minute drive there are probably six different identical gas station convenience stores just like this there it's not needed in the neighborhood can't really say that it's wanted there is just adjacent to this lot there is the havana gardens the shops there a lot of potential for foot traffic ease of use or ease of access to workers in those neighborhoods folks that are working in the gardens working at the big box retailers or small businesses in the area to have an apartment or condo that they could then walk to their place of work and again not have to rely on elevated transit costs the other issue that this causes is cost inflation or cost increases for the city a gas station when it comes to runoff of compounds like benzene or diesel or any of that into our storm water system it's not a matter of if or or when but how much because there is pretty consistent runoff into that system so you're going to be looking at an increased burden on the storm water system in the area increased environmental burden and there is no chance for this to be redeveloped into anything other than a gas station so no one is going to come in and put any of the other uses that were zoned there because there is those below ground storage tanks for fuel thank you is there anyone else who wishes to be heard no are there questions from members of council to [Music] to staff the applicant or the individual who spoke tonight yes mayor mayor uh mayor pretend uh thank you and to um staff has there been any interest by any other development for this particular parcel for multi-family or anything like that no i'm not aware in the notes from the planning and zoning commission there was a note about problems with dumping an rv parking in the space before is that something that we were aware of yes that was uh came to our attention when we had the meeting someone said that that place was just like a dumpster and because of this project now it's been cleaned and hopefully and then just one final question please proceed um there was a question about other gas stations being in this in the same vicinity do we have any restrictions on how many gas stations can be within certain feet no i don't think we do chair romero brandon with the planning department we do uh on the same corners of an intersection but that it does not apply there's not another gas station or auto related use on this intersection so we don't have a regulation that impacts this location thank you further questions of staff the applicant or the individual spoke tonight mayor councilman crumbs yes i'm wondering i don't know if this is something planning staff would need to speak to or water staff but westerly creek runs right along right near this site and it's a an asset that we've invested considerable money into for our storm water system so i am wondering if there are any concerns about having such a site and potential runoff from that site so close to one of our significant stormwater assets will refer this question to the water department and this is brandon with the planning department uh you know through the course of the review for uh the rezone and the site plan worldwater does review the use and you know we don't have any regulatory concerns that they identified through that process and was there any conversation with any of our other uh stormwater partners um mile high or any of the water quality entities that we engage with as a city and that we have relationships with on any potential concerns with this site no we didn't have any conversation is that something that typically would be part of our process it seems like i know other sites in my ward that are around other basins that we have those conversations about water quality [Music] is that something that happens when we put gas stations in in general mayor through you brandon with camarada playing department um as it relates to my high flood district usually they identify for us which corridors that they want to be sent reviews on you know i'm not aware of that ask on this particular location which is an infill kind of location we're right on the back side of havana gardens here that's all the information i have on that topic thank you mayor um councilman mcconnell and then mayor pro tem yes thank you um have we have you heard any concerns um from the community about health implications of a gas station nearby residential areas no it was just one person who raised some concern about the rezoning and he met with with the applicant when we had uh the planning commission meeting and he was satisfied with all the answers and he was happy so during our any concerns all right mayor kennedy please appreciate thank you uh during our outreach process um do we also contact uh renters in the area i know we contact property owners um but i know that this site is immediately adjacent to two apartment towers usually when we send the notice we send it to the to the hoas and to the owners as you said and to the to the management to the property management so the property management they have the right to distribute to all their uh renters okay but there's no requirement for them to do so right we don't okay um and can you tell us more about the uh the conditional use wave or the 300 foot um conditional use waiver that this uh application received i'm sorry for the conditional use permit i'm sorry yes sorry conditional use oh it conditionally yes so um because of the um as part of the criteria if there is any gas station uh sorry yeah usually for a motor vehicle fueling station and 24 hours retail establishment in 300 feet of residential zone district that becomes a subject to a condition use approval and that's conditional use approval needs to meet all the criteria and needs to be approved by the planning commission which we did it uh in june 22nd okay thank you okay mayor perdue i just wanted to say i do sit on mile high flood district and it was not brought up as a concern uh further discussion mayor i'm sorry questions of the further questions of the staff the applicant and the individual spoke councilmember lawson thank you um so i know mayor pro tem she asked about development in terms of housing um in terms of any other business interest there has been no type of other business interests for that corner besides this particular convenience store with the gas station yeah i'm not aware of any except this one okay mayor councilman joyce my question is for the applicant we heard that this gas station is not needed i can't imagine a company of this size didn't do some sort of market research to find out that the area is not overly saturated can you please talk about the need for this gas station in the area and the market research that your company conducted yeah i want to see rob bebeg are you on the line he's the real estate manager for come and go he might be able to speak to that a little bit better they do do a lot of research so this is dan this is dan gardner site development manager with come and go i don't know that rob made it to the call but correct we do quite a bit of market research uh and the same was true for this location um and we don't necessarily compete directly with every type of fueling center or gas station that might be within you know a certain distance and we focus more on the fresh food uh and the convenience store aspect with our new stores typically we draw customers in from about a quarter mile radius and so the the competition at this location is such that it's it's a very viable project for us uh further questions of um staff the applicant or the individual spoke this evening come here uh councilmember mcconnell thank you i just received word that the second village east hoa was actually not notified of this development could staff speak to that police they were within that one mile radius well we are you're talking about uh notification we sent usually we send it 10 days before uh the meeting uh uh planning commission meeting and we wait to receive any comments from neighborhoods from italy but only as i said received to one comment okay as i said though i just heard that an hoa was not notified mayor through brandon camerata with the planning department uh the hoas that get notified are those that have an up-to-date registration with the city of aurora community services department so i don't have that information if which hoa we're speaking about if they're registered in that context or not so that would be something i'd have to follow up on aft after this meeting uh the staff report that should be attached to as your backup does have the community referrals that we sent that includes whatever hoas that were registered in that mile radius and that was i'm sorry this is rashid rabbi again from the planning department and there was 18 registered neighborhood organization and three adjacent property owners that we got to receive our notice uh further questions sorry for the questions of uh of staff the applicant or the individual spoke this evening councilman mccombs um yeah so i know very well from a recent redevelopment in my ward that it's incredibly common for the information that the department has to contact these hoas is not up to date and is not maintained up to date often due to issues with changes in management companies that work with the hoas so it seems very likely that somebody got a notification and it didn't get out to the community and this is an ongoing problem so i would like to have some discussion in general um i and if we can at least look and see if this was one of the a choice that would be helpful but i would be not surprised at all if it was simply sent to the wrong person and we need to make sure that doesn't keep happening further questions of staff the applicant or the individual spoke this evening seeing none public hearing is now closed and a motion is in order mayor councilwoman motion to approve item 11a removed by council members seconded by sandberg seconded by councilman sunburg uh to approve item number 11a uh discussion mayor casper crumbs um so i work um about a block away from this site and i know that walking distance from there in discussion of the fresh food aspect the fuel aspect i think has been touched on and will continue to be discussed but there's a king supers five blocks away there's a sprouts four blocks away there's a target that has fresh food five blocks away the other convenience stores in the area offer grab-and-go options as well as fresh foods and those are four six and i think about 10 blocks away oh and then there's also another one on potomac so very very close to this site there are many options for not only fuel but also fresh food and pretty extensive options for fresh food so it's a little surprising to me that that there's not an indication that this market would be somewhat saturated in that respect i know that i'm able to walk from my office to get fresh food what i'm also able to do is walk from my office along westerly creek as an amenity you know a nice place to walk that is not surrounded by a gas station and this would change that amenity that people who both live and work in that area have available further discussion uh thank you mayor castro congress thank you mayor and i want to thank mr corbari for his comments earlier i have a very hard time believing that this is the highest and best use for a parcel when in our city when we have so much need for residential options for mixed-use walkable options when we are already saturated in this part of ward 4 with gas stations so again i'm also very disappointed that there was no outreach done to folks who are renting in the area this is something that i think is a common oversight in our outreach process and as part of my comment here uh city attorney brodsman i'd like to ask you a question do we need a resolution or an ordinance to change that process to ensure that we're actually including renters in the outreach process that is currently required in our code and that would be by ordinance by ordinance all right i mean could your office work with me in doing so absolutely all right thank you all right further discussion mayor uh councilmember comes um i also am wondering if we can expand out the businesses that get notified and asked because although where i work is not an adjacent property owner it's very close and there are 10 businesses in our building that didn't receive any notification as well as the building across the street from us so for people to know what's happening not only where they live but also where they work further discussion to item number 10a mayor councilman joins me couple things i just want to say i mean i uh i trust that a business would not open their doors in a place where they couldn't do business so i think at some point we have to trust the professionals on that also too convenience stores have liquor licenses and when you apply for a liquor license in this city you have to post the most massive it's bigger than life size announcement on the front of your building and it is it is a community announcement and when i tell you it is massive it is massive it's not an 8x10 and that is what lets the surrounding businesses know that someone is applying for a liquor license also too when a brand new build like this on a liquor license they have to canvas the area so they have to go to adjacent businesses and they have to go to people that would include renters within like a mile maybe of of this business and they have to gather a certain number of signatures and it's a rather large amount to even move forward in the application process to get a liquor license so there's a lot of notification to adjacent businesses there's a lot of notification to the surrounding communities and the this sign that i'm telling you about that is massive bigger than life size is posted for i believe 10 days at least and most people just kind of leave them up until their liquor licensing hearing also too what that does is notify the public businesses renters and owners in the community that there will be a liquor license hearing coming up in the city it is at that time that renters have every right businesses have every right to come forward and have their voices heard in that liquor license hearing so part of this shouldn't even be a council issue because there is a whole process for liquor licensing that the entire community is able to come to and have their voice heard and that does include every business owner and every renter in the community mayor cosmetics um so also when there's a liquor license hearing or a liquor license being applied for the council member representing that ward gets informed and asked if they have any questions or concerns council member marcano did you receive any such notification not to the best of my recollection okay we're not engaging in a discussion further well we are [Laughter] okay so i stepped on it um further discussion without going back back and forth very well seeing no further discussion call for the question on item number 11a the motion passes with six yes votes for no votes from council member medina marcano combs and mario to approve ordinance 2022-42 we're now pleased with it oh uh item number 14 a 14b uh were voted on unanimously in first reading and so they can be taken procedurally in the same manner that the consent calendar uh is taken uh need a motion uh a motion is on in order for item number 14 a14b mayor motion to approve items 14a and 14b it's removed by councilmember gardner it's second by mike seconded by councilmember mcconnell to approve number 14 a14 b discussion uh seeing no discussion question before says the adoption of item number 14a14b call for the question the motion passes to adopt item 14a and 14b ordinances 2020-2240 and 2022-41 right now please read the top item number 18a item 18a is consideration to appoint one member to the historic preservation commission motion is in order mayor the councilmember comes moved to appoint emma bertrand to the historic preservation commission by councilman crumb second by second saved by councilmember mcconnell um discussion seeing none call for the question on our number 18a mayor kaufman mayweather the motion passes to adopt item 18a right now please read the title item number 18b item 18b is consideration to appoint one member to the building code contractor pills and standards board uh motion mayor uh mail for tim motion to appoint john lichtner to the building board moved by mayor pro tem second bye second i'm sorry marcona second by councilmember mcconnell to approve our number 18c discussion seeing no discussion uh question before says the adoption of 18c call for the question mayor kaufman uh mayor rochester the motion passes to appoint john victor to the building board and that was 18b uh now please read the title title number 18c item 18c is consideration to appoint two members to the human relations commission uh motion mayor councilman mcconnell thank you sir move to appoint anthony trong and saman mehdi to the human relations commission removed by councilmember mcconnell second by combs second by councilman coombs uh this uh discussion a scene now the question before says the adoption of item number 18c call for the question mayor kaufman uh mayor voces the motion passes to appoint anthony and simon to the human relations commission glory now please read the topic number 18 d item 18 18d is consideration to appoint two members to the arts and public paces commission uh motion mayor councilman combs move to appoint nicholas ingan and shayna thompson to the arts and public places commission ruled by casper cohen seconded by mcconnell councilman mcconnell uh to approve our number 18d discussion i've seen none the question before says the adoption of item number 18d call for the question mayor kaufman americas the motion passes to appoint shaina and nicholas to the arts and public places commission uh reports uh no report from the mayor um councilman lawson thank you mayor last week this is the pfizer report federal state and intergovernmental relations last week the house passed their appropriations bill and included both of the city's earmark requests for the original water line replacement and for the mlk library improvements the senate is expected to release their bills this week and final passage of the appropriations package is expected in december requests for recommendations for state and federal priorities for next year have gone out to all departments in the city council will have the opportunity to contribute and review priorities this fall to finalize our 2023 legislative and federal agendas adams county is seeking members to serve their new board of health which will begin in january of next year this announcement has been sent out to most all of council and we have asked to share this to all of our respected social media or individuals who may be interested i want to thank the public safety committee councilmember jorinski councilmember sunberg and councilmember mazzonik for having a great celebration first responders i want to thank you it was really a good event and well attended and i appreciate everything that the first responders do it was a very learned a lot about a lot of the new things that the public safety committee public safety has so it was a really good event and thank you all for doing that also i want to thank the sister cities international for hoping their global leaders that was a very my myself and many of my colleagues i'll let them speak to each of it we all attended with our young young people youth and they had some very good questions to ask us about council and about issues in the city so i think it's very important and to know that the youth are listening and they're paying attention to what's going on in the city and then lastly um i attended the 720 memorial and that was a very it's all it's always a celebration it's not a celebration it's just to just i guess for me just the thoughts and and everything that happened 10 years ago and to hear all of their stories um from that day so i want to thank becky hogan and the 720 committee foundation for putting on that event and um that's all i have to report now casper gardner thank you mayor uh yeah i i would also like to thank aurora sister cities for the opportunity to uh attend the global leaders uh group um that's i think the third year in a row i've done that and it's always really interesting and the kids have a lot of really good questions and they all have bright futures ahead of them so um that was that was fun and then i also want to recognize the 720 memorial committee uh becky hogan as well for their work on that it's um you know a day for aurora to continue the process of of healing for what happened 10 years ago and you know one of the speakers commented that we all know someone or were touched by that event and it's it's really amazing even after 10 years finding out new ways that um folks were connected um to that event my my mom owned a flower shop i just found this out my mom owned a flower shop it was the closest photo shop to university hospital and did flowers for several the funerals and i didn't know that over the last 10 years and it just kind of speaks to the point that we were all connected or touched in some way and so um you know my heart continues to go out to the victims families as they continue the healing process i i can't imagine um what that's like i think you know there was a mother of one of the victims as well as another victim that survived and you know the resiliency and the strength that they showed is really um encouraging so i just wanted to recognize that event and you know continued uh prayers for for healing in our community is that we'll um that will be a never-ending thing so thank you councilmember yes thank you i also attended the 720 memorial event it was beautiful and the 720 committee did a great job so kudos for me as well and as far as the public safety committee's first responder event this was the first ever of its kind in aurora but i expect that that will now be an annual thing it was very well attended this year but i think it will just get bigger and bigger every year and as always as we commemorate on the 10-year anniversary of 720 it was very important the praise that went out to our first responders that responded 10 years ago on that fateful night and so i think it was very fitting that the first responders celebration was just one week before the 7 20 memorial event and as always thank you to all of our first responders in the city of aurora council members wanting no report councilmember mario uh thanks mayor uh echo the uh thanks to the sister our sister cities committee um our youth are really do pay attention they hit the nail on the head i think one of the questions that they asked was around the camping ban you know you can imagine my response to that question and and having other folks who were on the different you know sides of that vote all being in one room i thought was a really you know unique experience for our youth to you know have one-on-one time with council members and and to ask their questions about um policy that impacts them in their in their city so um thank you for that opportunity um yeah uh just i guess reflecting on the 7 20 aurora theater shooting 10-year anniversary i spoke to this about this rather at my last town hall just on the heels of the ulvalde shooting and just i don't know just trying to make peace and and a really try to understand things that happen in our country in our city and our states i'm not sure i really have a way to make sense of it all but 10 years later i'm very thankful that we still do what we can to honor folks honor the victims of that tragedy and to continue to try to build community after that growing up in colorado where we were taught about columbine and then you know growing up in aurora where the the mass theater shooter shooting happened having been in an active shooter situation myself you know i know that an ounce of what that terror feels like and i remember where i was at that night um and that i had talked to my cousin about going to go see that movie and i you know i just by happenstance decided to not go um and i remember the the panic that ensued when when i tried to get a hold of my loved ones and and they didn't answer and thankfully they weren't victims of that um tragedy but i think i'll forever hold you know a level of sadness in my heart for folks and families that never got that relief never got that call 10 years later it's still a very real thing for me for my family going to school with people who are impacted i mean yeah i'm very like i said i'm very grateful for all of the organizers of the memorial event i'm grateful we have space and time every year to reflect on what we've been able to overcome and how we've been able to grow because i do think that one of the speakers really hit the the nail on the head at the event that you know i regardless of tragedies that you can and cannot explain that she hopes and i hope that we all still remember what it's like to love you know that love really overcomes the worst of the worst and it was just really empowering to to see people who were directly impacted and you know fast forwarding their lives 10 years and yeah still very real i think for many many of us and thanks for you know everyone who hosted and next year i hope will be even bigger to celebrate and honor those folks so i just wanted to express my gratitude my my sorrow my hurt for for my city for my state that we continue to have to heal based on tragedies that happen like this so that's all councilmember sunberg thank you mayor first responder first annual event was a success and very positive thank you council member jorinsky for really spearheading and organizing that event also 720 memorial was extremely meaningful a lot of people put incredible amount of volunteer hours into making that happen lots of incredible stories of determination healing inspiration trauma even just from everyone who witnessed it but i believe that good has come out of it in a tremendous way and hopefully that good always overcomes negativity and evil within our city being out in ward 2 switching topics here there's a lot of open space some animal issues i've been dealing with the aurora campus for renewable energy ward 6 doesn't have anything like that but nearly 1800 acres of open space and renewable energy exploration eagles nests out there pretty incredible and further animal issues i've been dealing with are baby prong horn calving areas a citizen who butts up against that open space was concerned about city vehicles driving right through that area the city addressed that issue fast and rapidly and we'll be mindful of those baby pronghorn and uh prairie dog issue a lot of small animals were dying in a certain area of ward too it was alarming a landowner notified me about it we found out through the health department that it was the plague that was wiping out those small animals so avoid the rabbit haas and pfeffer and i'm sorry but uh great things happening out there with wildlife thank you councilman medina thank you mayor a couple things uh yep i also attended the sister cities committee with the youth and i had a lot of great questions very engaging uh councilman risky on the first responder event i was there as well thank you for doing that as someone who's been a first responder i certainly appreciate that as well i also attended the 720 vigil on tuesday night that was pretty moving to kind of watch that and and be a part of that since this is happened in my ward i take that certainly a little more personal in that sense i also was at the 720 event on saturday i also have asked city attorney to review a contract that 720 memorial foundation was charged 25 000 for the art that's there to reimburse them so i will be talking with them on that and hope that you all certainly back me on that and uh my council meeting will be next week august 3rd 6th through 8th at the uh center for active adults so thank you councilman thank you sir so yeah i want to add on to a lot of what my colleagues have said the global youth leaders event was wonderful i was able to attend on thursday with many of my colleagues and we got grilled by those by the folks in that program they did not hold back with their questions and then i was able to attend the next day as well and participate in a council meeting for the city of dogwood which is a mock council meeting that the program sets up for the youth involved in the program so that was it was really great to see so many youth involved with our city and genuinely interested in learning more about their local government and participating as well and i also want to add that yes i think we i think we all were at the 10th anniversary at the metamorphosis celebration this weekend this past weekend and it definitely lived up to its name it was great to see how our community has taken all that hurt and that loss and turned it into an opportunity to really bring our city together and to celebrate the lives of the folks that we lost so i'm really grateful to all the organizers and yeah it was just it was solemn but it was also very heartening to take part in that our next apd family safety check is going to be on saturday august 13th between 11 a.m and 3 p.m and we're going to be at the town center of aurora this time so again this is where you'll be able to get help with car seat installation get steering wheel locks to protect your vehicles get gun locks to keep your weapons safe and prescription drug disposal bags to safely get rid of prescription drugs that you may have there's also going to be free food and additional resources and i was told actually that we're going to be partnering with the colorado state patrol at this event to provide these stickers that i guess chemically burn your catalytic converter so it basically puts a barcode of sorts on there which it should be a strongest incentive for anyone to try to steal it at the very least they won't be able to make anything off of it because of that brand so definitely come by again that's going to be at the town center at aurora from on saturday the 13th between 11am and 3pm and finally our next ward 4 meeting is going to be on thursday august 11th at 6 30 pm and will be a continuation of our dive into the city's criminal legal system so our feature presentation this month is going to be chief public defender doug wilson and he'll cover the function and importance of the public defender's office so i hope to see you all there councilmember combs thank you mayor so i also was able to participate in the 720 memorial foundation um i start or event i started the day at nine in the morning with my baby for the 5k fun run and walk that the 720 foundation put together with survivor zach goldich to create the zach goldich opportunity scholarship and they did tell us at the event that they were able to raise 13 000 for aurora students through that event and so those will be given to aurora high school seniors who are student athletes and going on to college there also was chalk art as there generally is every year and our art and public places commission helped to put that together and to get artists to come out and it was very beautiful it got rained on a little bit and washed out a little bit but still really a beautiful representation of the community again transforming that pain into expression and beauty and sharing with the community and then there also was a beer garden at the event that included six capital brewing creating a special beer that they're donating all of the proceeds from that beer to the 720 memorial foundation as well so a lot of different ways that our community was able to come together there was also the orchestra metamorphosis portion in the evening which was a really beautiful immersive event with dance music and um spoken word poetry from the emeritus uh poet laureate assaytochango so really impressed with our community and everything that they've done to come together in many different ways to honor that event and to share together about how that event has impacted them thank you uh mayor pro-tem bergen uh yes and i just wanted to say also um i attended the first responders event and i i thought it was a great way to thank our first responders for everything that they do had a lot of fun just exploring and learning about some of the different things that they do i also attended the 720 foundation memorial for the 10-year anniversary and it was very moving and touching for us to be able to honor the victims the survivors and and our first responders that were there that tragic night as well i think you know one of the things coming out of that is that it allows us a time to reflect on loss but also that the power of love can have on each of us to heal so anyway just thank you to all the organizers for the event and then i did have my town hall last week i just want to thank the presenters had greg hayes from the budget committee urban the budget office and then heather dirk from americorps she will actually be presenting again later this year to to full council at a study session i think in october and um and thank you to jeffrey moore our oil and gas manager and civitas that also attended my town hall to answer questions from some of the residents that are getting calls on minimal mineral rights and in my area a lot of people are are being offered the mineral rights but not me i missed out so anyway but uh thank you very much that's all well i'd just like to close uh first of all to thank customer dressing for her leadership in putting together uh the event for um our first responders but uh and also just uh becky hogan did such an extraordinary job uh on the seven and in her and the members of her foundation the 720 foundation on putting together that event and i just want to say that uh that the testimony by those who lost loved ones as well as the some of the survivors which is so moving so incredible and just heart-wrenching but just so important and so just a shout out to becky hogan and all those who helped her with that the council meeting is adjourned [Music] my you [Music]