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TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Jason Bauer, Assistant Director of Public Works/Assistant City Engineer
DATE: August 4, 2023
SUBJECT:
A resolution authorizing the Director of Purchasing to execute various contracts to purchase and/or rent holiday lighting decorations for use throughout the downtown in various wards in an amount not to exceed $132,000.
PURPOSE:
Each winter, downtown Aurora comes alive with various decorations, displays and lights designed to draw visitors, residents and out of towners alike, and support our local business community by creating a holiday destination. As the downtown continues to redevelop, the importance of attracting new visitors and encouraging other visitors to stay longer and explore downtown Aurora grows.
BACKGROUND:
The city has enjoyed a long and successful partnership with Aurora Downtown who has served as the primary entity managing holiday décor in our downtown with support from the city. The city has been working steadily to increase our participation and enhance the holiday décor to create more of an experience for downtown visitors. By creating an inviting environment and encouraging people to explore the downtown through enhanced holiday decorations and lighting, visitors will stay longer, visit more shops and restaurants, and enjoy everything the downtown has to offer.
Entering the City's second year as host to the Christkindl Market, which attracted 150,000 visitors to Aurora in the winter of 2022, there is more opportunity than ever to make Aurora a must-visit destination. In addition to the Christkindl Market, the City of Aurora sees many visitors throughout the winter to attend shows at the Paramount Theatre, Copley Theatre, Riverfront Playhouse or The Venue and visit the Festival of Lights at Phillips Park. Investing in the downtown holiday lighting and creating an interactive experience will add a new element and attract even more visitors to the city. Notably, the City has not made any significant financial investment in new decorations for several years; as a result, staff has spent considerable time and effort throughout the first half of 2023 to determine how to best supplement the current décor. This process has been done in conjunction with Aurora Downtown with the goal of creating a cohesive environment and continue our partnership.
Staff is recommending purchasing new displays for three new areas downtown and purchase additional lighted spheres to supplement the existing spheres in the downtown. In addition to the purchases, we are proposing to rent a display for the greenspace across from City Hall, some smaller displays to spread throughout the downtown and pre-lit wreaths to place on the streetlights along Broadway Avenue and River Street.
DISCUSSION:
A great deal of research has been done to identify not only the locations in need of additional décor, but also the proper displays for each location. The identified purchases were vetted by staff from both the City and Aurora Downtown to ensure they are of the desired quality and the proper aesthetic for each location. Due to the amount of time it took throughout the first half of 2023 to determine how to move forward and what products are needed, there is little time left to publicly bid the purchase and acquire the items for this winter. In accordance with City Procurement policies, public bidding is always encouraged but in certain circumstances bidding can be waived by the City Council in accordance with section 2-335c of the City Code; moving forward in this manner will allow the city to reserve these decorations in a timely manner. The vendor is actively taking orders and only has a limited supply; if the city does not reserve their decorations soon, they may become unavailable as they are sold or rented to other municipalities. Now that the direction forward is set, rental agreements will be established earlier in 2024 to avoid this issue in the future. In addition to those purchases, the GOBO projectors will be purchases through a cooperative purchasing program and Hazelton Carpentry will be asked to build addition spheres, similar to the ones they created previously and have been deployed throughout town. Staff is requesting authorization for the Director of Purchasing to rent and/or purchase materials in the not-to-exceed amounts listed below:
Hazelton Carpentry - $10,000 to fabricate and furnish new lighted spheres
B&B Services, Inc. - $55,000 to purchase new displays
B&B Services, Inc. - $32,000 for rental displays and rental wreaths (for streetlights)
Graybar, Inc. - $15,000 for two GOBO projectors for building illumination displays
Additional misc. purchases/rentals - $20,000 (smaller misc. purchases from local stores, other rented displays and creation of wayfinding signage)
Total Authorization of $132,000
The funds for this were previously approved by council for use on other downtown decorations this summer. The expenditures for summer decorations were less than expected and the surplus from that allocation can be used for these purchases. Account 101-1405-450.53-14 has an unencumbered balance of $146,507.09 which is available for use to upgrade and enhance the downtown holiday decorations.
IMPACT STATEMENT:
The prices reflect purchases and rental of decorations; the labor associated with the installation will be provided by the City of Aurora Public Works Department, including the Streets Maintenance, Downtown Services and Electrical Divisions.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
I request the proposed resolution be approved.
cc: Finance Committee
CITY OF AURORA, ILLINOIS
RESOLUTION NO. _________
DATE OF PASSAGE ________________
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A Resolution authorizing the Director of Purchasing to execute various contracts to purchase and/or rent holiday lighting decorations for use throughout the downtown in various wards in an amount not to exceed $132,000.
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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, downtown Aurora has become a regional destination for activities throughout the winter months; and
WHEREAS, the City has not made any large investment in holiday decorations for a number of years; and
WHEREAS, City Staff in conjunction with the Aurora Downtown not-for-profit organization have spent considerable time and effort over the first half of 2023 to identify suggested improvements to the existing holiday light displays and are recommending various purchases and the execution of various rental agreements; and
WHEREAS, competitive bidding is not possible due to the wide variety of options available and the need to reserve the selected displays before they are rented or sold to other municipalities; bidding can be waived in accordance with Aurora Code Section 2-335c; and
WHEREAS, funding was set aside in account 101-1405-450.53-14 for decorations in the downtown that were to be implemented this summer; and
WHEREAS, the summer decorations came in well under budget and that account has a balance of $146,507.09 remaining that will cover the anticipated not-to-exceed purchases and rentals associated with this resolution that total $132,000; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Aurora, Illinois, as follows: the Director of Purchasing is authorized to execute various contracts to purchase and/or rent holiday lighting decorations for use throughout the downtown in various wards in an amount not to exceed $132,000.