At Aurora’s city council study session and regular meeting Monday, councilmembers will discuss a variety of topics including the creation of a new animal shelter, a proposal to change the way the city handles auditing and a resolution to support careers in construction. 

At the study session, the council will discuss a resolution to create a new animal shelter due to overcapacity at the current facility, according to council documents.

Specifically, it would “allow for the reimbursement of expenditures related to the construction and equipping of a new facility.” A resolution like the one coming forward is required by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), documents said.

Councilmember Curtis Gardner will bring forward an ordinance in study session proposing a city auditor position. 

Currently, the city has ten elected councilmembers and an elected mayor. The city council appoints a city attorney, currently Dan Brotzman, a presiding judge, currently Shawn Day, a city manager, currently Jason Batchelor and a court administrator, currently Candice Atkinson.

The city also currently has an Internal Audit Department that reports to the city manager and audits other city departments under the city manager’s chain of command.

Gardner’s proposal will go to voters in November, he said, asking Aurora’s residents if they want their elected officials to be able to appoint a city auditor.

If approved, the position would transition the existing Internal Audit Department from under the city manager, creating a position selected by majority council vote, Gardner said in the release.

Gardner is not suggesting the position because he has concerns about current city management, he said, but rather to make the internal auditing process “more accountable and transparent.”

At the regular council meeting, Councilmember Francoise Bergan is bringing forward a resolution to create a workforce donation option for residential and commercial builders for the careers in construction program, which helps students interested in construction get experience.

According to council documents, the state of Colorado had 182,000 construction employees in 2023 and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment estimates that the industry will need 220,000 in 2027, or 38,000 more employees in the next three years. 

Bergan’s resolution would give private and commercial builders the option to donate to Careers in Construction, a high school construction trade program, along with their permit fees. 

The council is also vote in its regular meeting to finalize an ordinance adopting the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan.

The study session will be held at 5:15 p.m. in the Aurora Room of the Aurora Municipal Center, 15151 E. Alameda Parkway.

The council’s regular meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. in the Paul Tauer Aurora City Council Chamber, 15151 E. Alameda Parkway.

Both meetings will also be live streamed at auroraTV.org and Youtube.com/TheAuroraChannel. The meetings will also stream live on cable channels 8 and 880 in Aurora.

Those who want to speak during “Public Invited to Be Heard” must submit a speaker slip by 6:30 p.m. Monday, the day of the meeting. Anyone who wants to comment on an agenda item must submit a speaker slip before the city clerk reads the title of the item.