Aurora approves new ambulance purchase, road resurfacing and more

City councils hold the purses that taxpayer dollars fill and must decide how to spend the contents. Aurora City Council approved a number of bills during its July 22 meeting, including:

• $713,343 for Ronyak Paving to resurface Oak Hollow Drive and East Pioneer Trail from Page Road to the city limits. Funds will be drawn from Aurora’s road and bridge levy fund, which will be bolstered by accounting transfers elsewhere in the city budget.
  
• $347,158 for a new ambulance that won’t be delivered until 2026. The lead time for such vehicles tends to be long, Assistant Fire Chief Shaun Lutz told council. Funds will be drawn from the city’s fire paramedic levy fund.
  
• $194,775 for asbestos abatement and demolition for homes in the Geauga Lake neighborhood’s FEMA project area. The city purchased some homes in the neighborhood with plans of razing them to increase the floodplain and relieve flooding in the area. A related $89,327 expense is for Kimley-Horn & Associates to design greenspace within the Geauga Lake neighborhood. Funds will be drawn from Aurora’s capital FEMA grant fund.
  
• $146,618 for two new radio consoles for the police dispatch center. The units will replace used 20-year-old consoles Aurora police bought in 2013.
  
• $71,075 for a signalization project that was completed 18 months ago. Public Services Director Harry Stark said lines cut into the road detect vehicles and activate traffic signals, so they cannot be paved over.
  
• $44,910 for recently installed solar panels on the roof of Fire Station 1 did not come from public funds. That money came from Aurora’s electrical aggregation program provider, Energy Harbor.
  
• $39,452 for Chagrin Valley Engineering to come up with water main improvement plans for the intersection of routes 82 and 43. Funds will be drawn from Aurora’s water fund. Stark told council members that major issues were discovered during a project to replace the Maple Lane water main.
  
• $21,551 for cloud storage of video from body and dash cams. Council members reasoned that the price is a $2,000 savings over what they’ve been paying, and that they believe the quality to be equal.

The city’s $4.5 million bid to buy about 40 acres of the former SeaWorld amusement park, all of Geauga Lake and accept an easement around the lake remains on hold. Law Director Dean DePiero has repeatedly stated that negotiations are ongoing. City leaders intend to develop the land and lake into a public park. Funds are slated to come from Aurora’s general fund and the city’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.