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TO: Mayor Thomas J. Weisner
FROM: John Russell, grant writer
DATE: April 21, 2015
SUBJECT:
Requesting approval to apply for a Grand Victoria Riverboat Fund grant for the creation of an Aurora Veterans Memorial at Phillips Park. The Aurora Veterans Advisory Council is planning the new Veterans Memorial
PURPOSE:
The new Aurora Veterans Memorial will join the two existing war Memorials at the Sunken Garden at Phillips Park. The present monuments honor all Aurorans who were killed in action in World War II, and Army Air Force Lt. Walter E. Truemper, the only Auroran to receive the Medal of Honor. The new Memorial will honor all Aurorans who have sacrificed their lives for their country in the nation's conflicts since World War II -- in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan.
BACKGROUND:
The Aurora Veterans Advisory Council began working on plans for the new Veterans Memorial more than a year ago. Design plans already have been drawn up for the Memorial, which will stand about 13-feet high, with a 6-foot-diameter base. The Memorial will be made out of granite quarried and manufactured in the United States. The fallen Veterans names will be etched into the black granite, and emblems of all of the nation's military branches will be attached. Estimated cost of the Memorial project is $72,900. AVAC has raised $8,300 through fundraisers to support the Memorial project, and in March 2015 received approval for a $50,000 grant from the Dunham Fund for construction of the Memorial. AVAC is seeking a $14,600 Grand Victoria Riverboat Fund grant, which would bring the total revenue to $72,900.
DISCUSSION:
AVAC has created an account through the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley for the Veterans Memorial project. All money - grants, donations, other funding - is submitted to the AVAC account through the Community Foundation. No money can be withdrawn from the account at the Community Foundation without the signatures of two of AVAC's three officers - the Chairman, Co- Chairman, and Secretary. Stipulations of the account also say that funds cannot be withdrawn by an individual, and that two signatures are required on each invoice after the AVAC board has voted upon it.
AVAC's City Expense Account number is 101-134-450.53-10. The Revenue Account is 101-1341-337-30-40.
AVAC received a $52,900 cost estimate for the Aurora Veterans Memorial from Maurice Moore Memorials of Chicago Ridge, IL, in March 2015. The cost covers a 6-foot in diameter base and the black granite Veterans Memorial structure, which will be about 13-feet high. The estimate also includes the carving and lettering of the names of the deceased Veterans.
AVAC has received a verbal estimate of $20,000 for removal and replacement of the current base at the site, and for apron installation. The present base where the monument will be erected is not strong enough for the Veterans Memorial structure, and must be replaced.
Still to be decided is how the base of the monument will be structured to include an apron where paving bricks will be installed. Donors will be able to have their name or "in memory of" etched on a brick and placed at the base of the Memorial. Income from the Memorial bricks would be used to provide scholarships for graduating children of Aurora Veterans.
The City Parks Department will maintain the new Veterans Memorial site, as it does the World War II and Lt. Walter E. Truemper monuments.
IMPACT STATEMENT:
The Memorial will provide an opportunity for children who know of war only through Hollywood movies and video games to see the names of real men and women from their own community who died to preserve freedom for us all. The names on this monument will be of graduates of East Aurora and West Aurora and all of the other high schools in the Aurora community. These heroes attended the same grade schools and middle schools as today's children - and were the classmates of their parents and grandparents.
The Veterans named on this monument will give a personal and local link for those to whom war seems so far away. (AVAC has 22 names of Aurora Veterans killed in Vietnam, and five others from the nation's conflicts post-Vietnam. AVAC is working now on getting information on Aurora Veterans who died in Korea.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
I request approval to submit a grant request to the Grand Victoria Riverboat Fund in the amount of $14,600 for assistance in creating the new Aurora Veterans Memorial at Phillips Park.
cc: Alderman O'Connor, Chairman
Alderman Mervine
Alderman Bohman
Alderman Peters, Alternate
CITY OF AURORA, ILLINOIS
RESOLUTION NO. _________
DATE OF PASSAGE ________________
title
A Resolution Authorizing Application for Grand Victoria Riverboat Funds for Construction of an Aurora Veterans Memorial at Phillips Park, and Execution of All Necessary Documents.
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WHEREAS, the City of Aurora has a population of more than 25,000 persons and is, therefore, a home rule unit under subsection (a) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution of 1970; and
WHEREAS, subject to said Section, a home rule unit may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the City of Aurora ("City") has determined that it is in its the best interest to submit an application for Grand Victoria Riverboat Funds in the amount of $14,600 for the Aurora Veterans Memorial being planned by the Aurora Veterans Advisory Council for the entry area of the Sunken Garden at Phillips Park; and
WHEREAS, the new Veterans Memorial will pay tribute to Aurora residents who sacrificed their lives for their country in the Nation's conflicts since World War II; and
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WHEREAS, the new Memorial will align with the existing Veterans Memorials which honor Medal of Honor recipient Army Air Force Lt. Walter E. Truemper and all of Aurora's Veterans who died during World War II; and
WHEREAS, a grant from the Dunham Fund and money raised through Aurora Veterans Advisory Commission fundraisers will also be utilized to fund a portion of the project, which has an Expense Account number of 101-1341-450.53-10 and Revenue Account number of 101-1341-337-30-40; and
WHEREAS, the Kane County Board must approve said application and will require the
City of Aurora to execute a Funding Agreement and other necessary documents upon such approval; and)
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Aurora, Illinois, as follows: that the Mayor of the City of Aurora and the City Clerk are hereby authorized and directed to execute the 2015 Grand Victoria Riverboat Fund Program Application, a Funding Agreement and other necessary documents upon approval of the application by the Kane County Board, and any requests for payment and documentation required to be submitted by the City of Aurora to Kane County requesting the dispersal of funds.