Aurora Weekly Times

2 Aurora Weekly Times

3Aurora Weekly Times

Jesse White awards $10.8 million grant to LibraryPress Release

Secretary of State and State Li-brarian Jesse White has notified the Aurora Public Library it has been awarded a Public Library Construc-tion Act grant of $10.8 million in reimbursements for construction costs.

The entire $10.8 million will be ap-plied to the $28 million cost of a new downtown public library. Construc-tion is set to begin this spring. Sec-retary White will formally present a check to the library at a ceremony in March.

“The Aurora Public Library Board of Directors and I are extremely ap-preciative to Secretary of State White and the Illinois General Assembly, including our local lawmakers State Senator Linda Holmes and State Representative Linda Chapa LaVia, for approving the program and re-leasing the funds,” said Eva Luckin-bill, executive director of the Aurora Public Library. “This grant will low-er the bond debt for the construction of the new library, thereby lowering the amount Aurora city property taxpayers will contribute toward the new library and other improvements to the library system.”

Luckinbill praised Bonnie Sebby, special projects librarian, for her meticulous and professional work in writing the grant and managing the application process. City of Aurora Finance Director Brian Caputo was instrumental in assisting the library

with various fiscal compliance re-quirements for the grant.

Luckinbill said Aurora aldermen, who approved the sale of bonds for the new library in April, 2012, also deserve hearty thanks for their part in making sure the Library will be able to fund a state-of-the art library that is planned to open next year.

Jeffry Butler, president of the Library Board of Directors, said he had been cautiously optimistic about the pos-sibility of the grant award since the library made the application last April. “I can honestly say that the new Main Library and receiving the grant is the highlight of my tenure on the board,” said Butler. “I am thrilled with the support of Mayor Tom Weis-ner, the city council, and library staff who have worked diligently toward the new library project. I am really looking forward to breaking ground and seeing the building start to take shape.”

The new, 92,000-square-foot Main Library will be built on the corner of River and Benton streets on a parcel of land that was purchased by the li-brary in 2009. The firm of Cordogan Clark & Associates was chosen as the architectural firm for the project in 2010. Joining that firm on the pro-ject are R.C. Wegman Construction Company as the construction man-agement firm, Schoppe Design As-sociates as the landscape architect and KDI Design Interiors as the in-terior design firm.

The current Main Library opened in 1904 and was built with a $50,000 grant from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The building, located on Stolp Island, was expanded in 1969.

Once the new building is completed, it is the intent of the library board to sell the current library building. The

City of Aurora has the first right of refusal to purchase the property.

Public Library Construction Act Grants provide state matching funds to support design and new construc-tion, remodeling, renovation of main-tenance of public libraries in Illinois. The funding of the State’s share is made in payments for project costs upon submittal of documentation by the library. The State’s total appro-priation for Construction Act Grants for 2013 was $50 million.

Monday Town Hall MeetingState Representative Stephanie Ki-fowit is hosting an Aurora Town Hall meeting on Monday, Feb. 4 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at McCoy Commu-nity Center, 3770 McCoy Drive, in Aurora.

This is a chance to discuss the issues important to the community. This event is free and open to the pub-lic. For more information, contact 630.585.1308 or email [email protected].

Pathways To Prosperity Project LaunchesPress Release

On January 25, the Aurora-area took a significant step toward support-ing economic development with the launch of the Aurora Regional Path-ways to Prosperity Project that will increase student employment suc-cess and career-readiness skills.

Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner and Jo-seph Henning, the Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce president & CEO, hosted the Pathways event for business, education and community leaders at Cabot Microelectronics. Representatives from Harvard Uni-versity’s Graduate School of Educa-tion and Jobs for the Future were on hand to share recently completed re-search on the Aurora region’s assets and challenges.

“In Aurora we know that collabo-ration is the only way to get things done effectively and efficiently,” said Mayor Weisner. “I believe that the City is uniquely qualified to create a nationwide model in student work-force development.”

“The long-term economic vitality of our region demands a qualified, skilled workforce,” explained Hen-ning. “Our business community re-alizes the importance of the collabo-rating with our local school districts and government leaders to improve student-to-career readiness. With the launch of the pathways initiative, we are eager to capitalize on our re-gion’s strengths to create pathways to success for all.”

In 2011, the Pathways to Prosper-ity Project at the Harvard Gradu-ate School of Education released a report, Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Cen-tury, challenging the excessive focus on the four-year college pathway. The report presented the need to create additional pathways that com-bine rigorous academics with strong technical education to equip the ma-jority of young people with the skills and credentials to succeed in the country’s increasingly challenging labor market.

Bob Schwartz, Harvard Graduate School of Education, spoke about the growing evidence of a “skills gap” within the U.S. economy in which many young adults lack the skills and work ethic needed for many jobs that pay a middle-class wage. “While the good news is that most high school students over the past two decades have been convinced that a high school education is not enough to secure a high paying job, the truth of the matter is that by the time they reach their mid-20s, half of adults don’t have the skills and credentials needed to compete for careers in to-day’s marketplace,” he said.

Those jobs in the Aurora area are most abundant in the health care and manufacturing industries as well as in information technology (IT), according to Amy Loyd, a senior leader of the Pathways to Prosper-ity Network at Jobs for the Future. An Aurora project would focus on combining rigorous academics with strong technical education to equip the majority of young people with the skills and credentials to succeed in these areas.

Loyd commented on a critical suc-cess factor that researchers found is currently in place in Aurora: A core group of educational, business and community leaders already have be-gun the task of mapping out a col-laborative approach to the project.

“Aurora has all of the puzzle pieces in place to put together a world-class model capitalizing on collaboration,” Rendering of new Main Library. Photo courtesy Aurora Public Library.


Loyd said. Those assets include lead-ership provided by local colleges, fi -nancial support from the Dunham Fund; a strong alliance with Illinois Pathways—a State of Illinois educa-tional initiative; the active participa-tion of State Rep. Linda Chapa La-Via, chair of the House Elementary and Secondary Education Commit-tee, and the important leadership of Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner.”

Rep. Chapa LaVia characterized Au-rora’s Pathways Project as “think-ing outside school walls.” “We need every child to succeed. Through Pathways to Prosperity, we have an opportunity to engage employers and align what students learn in the classroom to jobs available in today’s market.”

Jason Tyszko, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Illinois Department of Com-merce and Economic Opportunity, explained the Illinois Pathways pro-gram recognizes education’s impor-tant role in economic development

statewide. Our goal is to have a tal-ent pipeline made up of students in our state from which companies can choose so they can continue to com-pete globally.”

William Noglows, Chairman, Presi-dent and CEO of Cabot, said that while being a good community part-ner is part of the company’s phi-losophy, their participation in the Pathways Project is not exclusively altruistic. “We need a pipeline of skilled and trained people who un-derstand math and science to work at all levels of this company.”

Researchers said a typical next step for Aurora would be the formation of an intermediary organization to set priorities and sequence initia-tives in the IT, health care and man-ufacturing industry sectors under consideration.

A copy of Aurora’s Asset Map-ping Report can be found at:http://www.jff .org/

publications/education/illinois-asset-mapping-project/1503.

Keep Watchful Eye for Coyotes Press Release

With winter in full swing, City of-fi cials are issuing a reminder that there is another species prepared for the cold—coyotes.

Aurora Animal Control and Care of-fi cials say that coyotes may be spot-ted more in Aurora neighborhoods at this time of year, as the coyotes’ mating cycles lead to younger ani-mals leaving their family territories and venturing out on their own. They are also on the hunt for more food as they get ready for winter. Al-though coyotes are a common wild animal in Illinois, their population has experienced a large increase over

the past two decades, especially in the Chicago area.

In 2012, Aurora Animal Control and Care has received 150 calls for coyote sightings, compared to 40 in 2011. Although many of the sightings have been in areas near wooded or rural locations, calls have been placed from neighborhoods Citywide.

Clever and adaptive, coyotes fl ourish over much of North America, in part because of their keen hunting and foraging skills. Photograph by Michael S. Quinton


While coyotes are mostly nocturnal and are leery of people, they can still be dangerous and unpredict-able. Small children should never be left alone. It is also not unusual for the animals to attack dogs or other pets. However, the majority of at-tacks could be prevented by follow-ing some simple safety rules.

Since in the wild, coyotes primarily feed on rabbits, rodents, birds, fruit, and insects; the most eff ective way to prevent attacks is to avoid feeding them either intentionally or acciden-tally. Coyotes can be attracted to bird and squirrel feeders, bread that is fed to ducks and geese, pet food that is left outside, and other unin-tentional food sources. When coy-otes fi nd these types of food in resi-dential areas, they may lose their fear of humans and eventually test both people and pets as possible prey.

If a coyote is spotted during the day-time, people should exhibit caution since the animal may have become habituated to humans and thus more likely to attack. People approached by a coyote should yell, wave their arms, and/or throw an object at the animal – but should never run away. It is also a good idea to carry a walk-ing stick when in areas that could be inhabited by coyotes. Young chil-dren should not be left unattended in areas where coyotes may live. It is likewise important that family pets such as dogs and cats – especially those smaller in size – not be left un-watched while outside.

Coyotes are attracted to cluttered ar-eas including brush piles and old con-struction sites, so keeping those types of areas clear will help prevent them from lingering in a particular area.

Wildlife experts agree that trapping and removing coyotes should only be performed as a last resort and seldom results in the animals staying away from a particular area over the long term. The best solution is for citizens to make their neighborhoods unattractive to coyotes.

City offi cials remind residents that removal of nuisance wildlife from private property is the homeowner’s responsibility and is best left to pro-fessional contractors with the proper training, experience, equipment, and state permits. Private contrac-tors handling nuisance issues can be found in the phone directory by looking under “wildlife removal ser-vices” and many are on-call 24 hours a day. Contractors with proper state permits can also be found online, organized by county, at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources website: www.dnr.illinois.gov.

Immediately report any coyote sightings to the Aurora Animal Control and Care Division at 630-256-3630, 24 hours a day. In case of a coyote attack on a human, call 911. Residents are encouraged to visit www.aurora-il.org for more in-formation on coyotes and to sign up for email alerts and/or follow the City on Twitter and Facebook.

Mandatory Housing Classes Announced City and police offi cials have an-nounced the next round of man-datory crime-free housing classes

which owners, landlords, and agents of rental and non-owner occupied residential buildings in Aurora must enroll.

Classes in English will be held Jan. 26, Feb. 16, Mar. 9, Apr. 13, and May 18. Classes in Spanish will be conducted Feb. 2 and Apr. 20. All of the sessions will be held in the community room of the new Aurora Police Department, 1200 E. Indian Trail, from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Attendance in one of the classes is mandatory in order to obtain an op-erating license, which is required for all non-owner occupied residential dwelling units and buildings, wheth-er or not rent is paid; and all two-unit and multiple-unit buildings, whether or not they are owner-occupied. Those who have already undergone the City’s landlord training classes taught by Aurora Police since 1992, or an approved crime-free housing class in another city, are exempt from having to attend. Property owners may also have agents who are au-thorized and registered with the city attend the class on the owner’s be-half, provided the agents will assume all duties, obligations and responsi-bilities of the owner.

The required class provides land-lords and property owners with im-portant tools to combat crime and improve the quality of life on their properties. Topics cover City re-quirements concerning licensing and inspections, mandatory criminal background checks and lease ad-denda; as well as Section 8, trespass agreements, crime and fi re preven-tion, gang and drug awareness, and other benefi cial information. Com-prehensive forms and written ma-terials are included with the class.Owners of non-owner occupied residential property, including con-dominiums, town homes, or single unit residential buildings as well as

two-unit, and multiple-unit build-ings are required to be registered and licensed with the City of Aurora.

For more information on licens-ing and inspection requirements, and to register for the class, call the City’s Department of Neighborhood Standards at (630) 256-3770. Email application is also available on the City’s website at www.aurora-il.org under the Police Department tab.

To receive more information on the Crime-Free Housing classes, call the Aurora Police Department at (630) 256-5482. In order to reg-ister, applicants must supply their names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and the addresses of all rental properties they con-trol. Registration will close fi ve days prior to the beginning of each class.

Unemployed, underemployed or not happily employed? Are you unemployed, underem-ployed, not happily employed or worried about keeping your job dur-ing these diffi cult economic times? Do you need a job search/career transition plan in case you should lose your job in the near future? If so, please join the monthly network-ing meeting of the:

Crossroads Career Network Minis-try7 - 9 pm, Tuesday February 12, 2013Eola Community Center & Library, 555 South Eola Rd., Room 111, Aurora, IL.Continued on page 12.

During last week's East-West Basketball Game, the East Aurora Dance Team and the West Aurora Dance Team united to perform the half-time Unity Dance. Photo courtesy of East Aurora School District.

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David Rahn is Director of Infor-mation Technology at the Chicago Campus of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. He has an extensive background in the fi eld of information technology. He has held IT management positions in a wide variety of industries that include capital goods manufactur-ing, money center banking, process manufacturing, systems integra-tion and consulting, legal services, government service and higher education.

No prior registration required for this FREE skills training & network-ing meeting

For more information, call George Carson at 630.675.4509, [email protected].

MEDC announces Offi cers for 2013 Montgomery News, press release

A few changes are planned for the Montgomery Economic Develop-ment Corporation (MEDC) as the Board began plans for 2013.

The following appointments were made and the new offi cers for 2013 are as follows: - President/Chair: Dr. Neil Sch-lupp, “unchanged”- Vice President: Kristen Sand-ers, Castle Bank, “new this year;” previously Denny Lee, Village of Montgomery trustee, served in this position.- Treasurer: Donald Kalish, Rush Copley, “unchanged”- Secretary: Doug Williams, Earthmover Credit Union, “new

this year;” previously Pete Waller’s from EEI served in this position.

For more information about the Montgomery Economic Develop-ment Offi ce Corporation, Visit their website at www.montgomery-illinois.org or call: 630.897.6748 or 815.703.1338. All MEDC Board Members can be found on the MEDC home page under MEDC Membership and Offi cers.

For information on the Village of Montgomery, Please visit www.ci.montgomery.il.us or call Village trustees Denny Lee or Matt Brol-ley. Jeff Zoephel, the current acting Village administrator, also serves on the MEDC Board as an x offi cio board member. Jeff can be reached at 630.896.8080.

Midsummer Jersey at Waubonsie February 7, 8 and 9

Are you obsessed with television shows like "Jersey Shore," "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," or "Jer-seylicious?" So is Ken Ludwig in "Midsummer Jersey," his contem-porary adaptation of William Shake-speare's Midsummer Night's Dream.

Waubonsie Valley High School pre-sents "Midsummer Jersey" at 7:30 pm on February 7, 8 and 9. The story revolves around the impend-ing marriage of the Governor of New Jersey, the love aff airs of four beach-bound high school crushes, a lively crew of fairies and the staff of the local beauty salon. Tickets are $6 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.


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