>FINANCE COMMITTEE
3:00pm 5th Floor City Hall, 44 E. Downer Place | Map | Agenda
>GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
4:30pm Alderman's Office, 60 E. Downer Place | Map | Agenda
>AURORA CITY COUNCIL
6:00pm City Hall, 44 E. Downer Place | Map | Agenda
-Red-Light Cameras
-Hotel Development on Rt. 59
-Junk House at 409 W. Downer
-Financial Reports
-Tonight's Spending: $8,010,897.49
(as of 9am Tuesday, large bill list was not available)
To address the Aurora City Council for up to 3 minutes on any of the above or any other issue,
please contact City Clerk Cheryl Vonhoff at 630-844-3615.
18 comments:
HOTEL DECISION WILL SAY A LOT ABOUT AURORA
August 10, 2009
By ANDRE SALLES
On Tuesday, the City Council is going to make a very interesting decision.
It may not seem that way. They're just going to be talking about a hotel on the far East Side, one that's been in the works for more than two years. But the implications of this decision could be fascinating.
Aurora property owner Lee Fry wants to build a new Hampton Inn on Route 59 in the Meijer lot he owns north of New York Street. Fry has brought in several other businesses to that lot, including Panera Bread and Chipotle Grill, and he sees the hotel as the perfect complement.
He believes it will be a direct competitor for the Naperville and Warrenville hotel markets, and won't cut into Aurora's demand for rooms.
But aldermen are set to deny him his project because they are worried it might fail. More than that, they are worried that Fry's hotel will then sit empty for years because hotel buildings are very difficult to repurpose.
They're not just guessing about this. They have reports that show demand for a hotel in Aurora is down to below zero, particularly in this faltering economy.
City leaders are still hoping to land a large-scale hotel and convention center, and they don't want to keep approving smaller hotels that will eat away at future demand for rooms.
They've done their research. But developers Jack Moran and George Pappas, of National Lodging and Leisure of Indianapolis, have done theirs as well, and they believe a Hampton Inn will thrive at that location. No Hampton Inn has ever failed, they said.
Lee Fry believes the city is preventing him from competing by not letting him in the game. And it's hard to argue. Even if he succeeds, aldermen are saying his project might cause another hotel in Aurora to close, leading to the same problem.
To Fry, this seems counter to the idea of a competitive market and of individual property rights.
City attorney Alayne Weingartz says aldermen are free to consider anything they believe to be relevant when making their decision. Lee Fry is, of course, free to pursue legal action. Where this goes next will be worth following.
But more important to me is the wider ramifications of denying this project. Opponents seem to be saying they can turn down a private developer's plan for his land based on their predictions for his success. One alderman even said that three years ago he'd have been all for this project, but the economy has changed.
The irony is, a hotel approved three years ago would probably have opened its doors last year and would be struggling now.
The future is a tricky thing. Every project is a gamble. The question is: does a private property owner have the right to gamble with his own money? Does the city have the right to keep private developers from taking their own risks?
If a team with a proven track record thinks they can make something work and their project meets all the proper criteria, should city leaders stand in the way? Even if they believe it's for the greater good?
These are difficult questions. On Tuesday, 12 people will try to answer them. It should be an interesting thing to watch.
if Aurora votes against this hotel project, we might as well fire the entire economic development, tourism and chamber of commerce staff.
I think Andre got it right on this one. This is America not Cuba or Russia. They have no right to restrain trade of a legitimate business who went through all the proper channels. Oh, I forgot this is the same Mayor who called an immediate press conference, said Planned Parenthood deserved a occupancy permit when they so-called "snuck" their way into town, after he received a phone call from a Democratic bigwig, after PP lied to Alderman Lynda Elmore stating they weren't "sure who the tenant will be" after building a medical office with 13 recovery rooms (more recovery rooms than area hospitals). We can really count on this Mayor and City Council to do the right thing. They already said a "lot about Aurora", it deserves to be a death camp for babies and put them in dumpsters as medical waste.
I think I would go to Mr. Fry for economic or business advice before seeking that of Whitey (Rollin on the River fame) Boob O'connor (shingle above the door lawyer) Stef (enough said) and the rest of these bottom feeders. Get out of the way and quit protecting Rocco and Vanteres's egos. Mr. Fry is real and Mr Fry is NOW!!! Plus...he is going to pick the pocket of Naperville, not Orchard Rd.
Unbelievable vote by the city council. Kudos to Alderman Lawrence, who tonight, actually sounded like a Statesman. And surprisingly Elmore woke up and said something of intelligence.
Unfortunately the rest of council, all being experts on the economy, and successful entrepreneurs saw fit to make consumers suffer with higher prices and sided with the local hotel lobby. I note the owners of the hotels were not present, merely their employees. Interesting they cared not enough to make an appearance which goes to show you how much of a threat those bankrolling the hotels felt this was.
The city of Aurora continues its trend of hostility toward businesses that do nto come hat in hand to the city council to ask for favors and money. Hmmmm....wonder what the real story is there. Inquiring minds want to know.
Fat ass Linda Pilmer, turned in another whining fit. Here is the truth about Our Savior Lutheran church. The former Pastor Tim Swanson defrauded the congregation under Linda's watchful eye(all those seniors who donated to an elevator fund that Tim spent on his testament to his ego). For years the church provided aid, comfort, and free housing to an illegal alien known as Juan. When the new pastor arrived he said they could not harbor an illegal alien and approached Juan about getting citizenship, only Juan said in so many words "I am Mexican I don't want your citizenship"...the pastor raised a fuss and Linda(the whale)Pilmer sent him packing for simply trying to follow the rule of law. And now here is Linda(two ton)Pilmer, whining again about Our Savior that is basically bankrupt, as if that church now had two dimes to rub together for expansion after she allowed its coffers to be drained. A bankruptcy under her watch for her misdirection and lack of due diligence bitching about how a well run church functions with a diligent board.
The best part of the evening was when that bald headed flake's girlfriend stood up and gave the city council a glimpse of her enormous features; I thought Whitey Peters was going to drool. Man what a rack.
Well the city council voted down to build a hotel on rt 59 by a 4-7 vote. Mr fry is going to sue the city of aurora now and the city will loose so how much is this going to cost the city of aurora now? Way to go Aurora just spend our money on legal fees.
Lawrence a statesman? His comment about putting a hotel in naperville out of business was not the comment of a statesman. Statesman work to bring people together, Rick likes to tear stuff apart.
9:35 - no his comments about the founding of this country, rugged self determination, freedom, etc. It was surprising and appropriate.
peters is a pig.
The other white-meat.
What right does this City have to tell someone that can't have a motel that they want to build with their own money? Oh, that's right, they would rather give the City away to places like Balydoyle(how much City money here?), Shoodeen(how much here?). Wabonsee(how much here?), nd how much more? so much for the Mayor and certain City Council members wanting to bring more people and buisnesses here and there goes whatever the East side school district would have received. I hope Mr. Fry sues the pants off the City! I have a feeling that this will also deter other business from coming here due to this decision. Just what right does certain City Council members have telling someone how they can or cannot spend their(in this case, not ours)money especially since this City cannot manage it's own money?
Why do we need a hotel when we already have the Hansen Motel on Hill Ave and they always have vacancies.
I wish SugarTits would have been there. I am curious how she would have voted, and if she would have worried about the type of lighting around the hotel and suggested bat houses again as a solution.
Naperville Councilman Richard Furstenau visited Aurora this week to urge the city council to reject both red-light cameras and plans for a new hotel on Route 59.
Frankly, not everyone was impressed.
"It's no surprise that a councilman from Naperville doesn't want competition for Naperville's hotels so he's doing his job here," Fourth Ward Alderman Rick Lawrence told fellow Aurora council members Tuesday night. "We've allowed Naperville to capture that entire market.
"I frankly don't care what Naperville thinks. Frankly, if we put a Naperville hotel out of business we did our job because Naperville has been sucking the tax money out of our city for a long time and I don't frankly care what they think about what we do. That's not our job. We live here."
Furstenau appeared surprised by the response and said he meant no harm. He said Lawrence was a "really, really good friend" whom he intended to call Wednesday to clear the air.
"I've only met the guy five times in my whole life so I wouldn't go that far," Lawrence said. "But I can see that maybe our styles are somewhat similar because if I went to his meeting and did what he did, I'm sure he'd tell me to get ... out and go back to Aurora."
Furstenau said he initially came to Aurora to persuade aldermen to vote against the installation of five red-light cameras at three intersections. In five months, he said, Naperville has issued 5,834 tickets at its red-light cameras, generating $583,400 because none of the citations have been overturned by the court.
"I personally have voted no on the red-light cameras every time and I just believe eventually it's all going to go away," he told the Aurora council. "There is not enough money in the communities to pay for this stuff and I would hope you would just turn it down."
His pleas were to no avail; the council voted 9-1 to approve installation of all five cameras.
Furstenau also ended up speaking against a proposal to build a Hampton Inn and Suites along Route 59. He said there's already a glut of such facilities and Naperville's hotels are "hanging on by their fingernails" with occupancy rates hovering around 40 percent.
The council rejected the plan, even though developers promised the establishment would lure customers from Lisle, Naperville and Warrenville hotels.
Lawrence said he understood why Furstenau attended the meeting but he didn't appreciate it - especially in light of the long-running competition between the two cities to attract and maintain businesses.
"There's some truth to the belief that a lot of people in Aurora do spend a lot of money in Naperville," Furstenau said. "Aurora residents frequent many of our discount stores along Route 59 and we certainly welcome that. We believe a lot of our commerce has also been stolen by the likes of developments in Oswego and Montgomery."
Furstenau said he didn't think it was inappropriate for him to attend or speak at the Aurora meeting.
"What affects Aurora, affects Naperville," he said. "So we need to keep an eye on each other."
Lawrence disagreed.
"Don't come into our city and tell us what to build and what not to build when you have done nothing but line our border with hotels," he said.
Lawrence is such a statesman! NOT!
Well Lawerence, Naperville is celebrating the Opening of an Apple Store -- what is Aurora celebrating? Corruption and pay-to-play politics. Where were you during the campaign when you and your buddy Vantreese were supporting Weisner? Oh election is over and now you grow some balls???
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