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TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Minnella, Alex
DATE: October 5, 2018
SUBJECT:
A Resolution Recognizing the Importance of Pollinators to Ecosystem Health, the Value of Increasing Awareness about Pollinators to Support, Protect and Sustain Pollinators (City of Aurora - 18-0920 / KDWK-18.120-PZ/S - AM - Ward )
PURPOSE:
The City of Aurora is requesting to recognize the importance of pollinators to ecosystem health, the value of increasing awareness about pollinators to support, protect and Sustain pollinators.
BACKGROUND:
Pollinators face a number of difficulties in modern society and as a result many species are threatened and their populations are in decline.
The pollinator’s population has declined 90% in the past two decades, partly due to the loss of habitat.
The Fox Valley Park District, and municipalities up and down the Fox River pledged to take action on behalf of pollinators. The City of Aurora, with its natural features such as parks, and the Fox River, is strategically located in the central flyway used by several pollinators for their migrating journeys and is in a position to make a contribution to their recovery. The Monarchs butterflies are among them. With the City’ commitment and its invaluable natural asset, the City will have many opportunities to make an impact for pollinators.
One of the City’s core values is environmental education, stewardship and sustainability. The pollinator resolution is consistent with the City’s ongoing initiatives to maintain milkweed and other native pollinator plants in our parks. The City currently offers educational information on its website and will soon feature interpretive signs at the rain gardens located along Water Street Mall, explaining the benefits of native plants and pollinators.
Going forward, the resolution incentivizes the City to take the following actions:
• Increase plantings of milkweed and other native pollinator plants
• Install signs near pollinator-friendly plantings to increase public awareness
• Refrain from using insecticides in milkweed areas as much as possible.
DISCUSSION:
Staff has researched and validated the benefits of recognizing the importance of pollinators in the ecosystem.
IMPACT STATEMENT:
Staff would anticipate that this initiative will enhance and improve the overall quality of the ecosystem and specifically the habitat of pollinators.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Staff would recommend APPROVAL of the Resolution Recognizing the Importance of Pollinators to Ecosystem Health, the Value of Increasing Awareness about Pollinators to Support, Protect and Sustain pollinators
ATTACHMENTS:
n/a
cc: Alderman Saville, Chairman
Alderman Jenkins
Alderman Franco
Alderman Donnell, Alternate
CITY OF AURORA, ILLINOIS
RESOLUTION NO. _________
DATE OF PASSAGE ________________
title
A Resolution Recognizing the Importance of Pollinators to Ecosystem Health, the Value of Increasing Awareness about Pollinators to Support, Protect and Sustain Pollinators (City of Aurora - 18-0920 / KDWK-18.120-PZ/S - AM - Ward ).
body
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, sustainability principles contained in the Aurora Sustainability Plan provide guidance for healthy land use in the City of Aurora; and
WHEREAS, the Aurora City Code allows native landscaping, which reduces storm water runoff; and
WHEREAS, the City of Aurora, has long been on the annual monarch butterflies’ annual migration route of thousands of miles from Mexico to Canada; and
WHEREAS, Pollinators include butterflies, bees, some birds, bats, and other insects that play a crucial role in flowering plant reproduction and given the breadth, severity and persistence of pollinator losses, it is critical to expand efforts to take new steps to reverse pollinator losses and help restore populations to healthy levels;
WHEREAS, native milkweeds are the sole source of food for monarch caterpillars; and
WHEREAS, Illinois designated the iconic monarch butterfly as the official state insect in 1975 as the result of lobbying by Illinois schoolchildren; and
WHEREAS, for migratory pollinators, such as bats, hummingbirds, and the monarch butterfly, we recognize the importance of identification and protection of our nectar corridor;
WHEREAS, scientific studies point to the rapid decline of the monarch butterfly due to the loss of milkweed habitat needed to lay their eggs and for their caterpillars to eat, resulting from development, land management practices, and chemically-aided agriculture in the United States and Canada; and
WHEREAS, the decline of pollinators, including the North American monarch, which serves as an iconic species, has potential negative consequences for natural ecosystems as well as for human food production, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently studying the species to determine if it should be listed under the Endangered Species Act; and
WHEREAS, on a national level, conservation organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have undertaken efforts to restore and enhance milkweeds and other nectar-producing plants to help restore pollinators habitat in open spaces, suburban and urban gardens, and other locations; and
WHEREAS, because there are many different species of milkweed in the U.S., it is important to recognize that only native milkweed species are vital to the restoration and survival of the monarch habitat in Illinois; and
WHEREAS, the Conservation Foundation, Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, Greater DuPage Wild Ones, and River Prairie Group of the Sierra Club are encouraging communities to plant native milkweed and valuable nectar plants where appropriate; and
WHEREAS, on October 11, 2018, the Planning and Development Committee of the Aurora City Council reviewed said Planning and Zoning Project and the before mentioned recommendations and recommended APPROVAL of said petition; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Aurora, Illinois, to support the preservation of the Monarch butterfly and other pollinators in the Midwest.