The city of Aurora is considering updating its building codes, which are now several years out of date, using a nearly $40,000 grant from the federal government, officials said.
The update would move the city to building codes based on the 2024 International Code instead of the currently-used 2015 version. City staff told the Aurora City Council Finance Committee last week that the city’s current building codes need to be updated anyway, but this grant will allow staff to get it done more efficiently and with more training.
The better standards will hopefully help make new and remodeled buildings in the city more resilient against disasters like fires, tornadoes or floods, as well as help those buildings better recover from disasters, Aurora Director of Development Services Josh Ream said at the meeting.
The project also fulfills one of the goals outlined in the 2023 Kane County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan, according to the presentation.
In addition to using the federal money for the upgrade, Aurora would also have to put forward at least $13,327 of its own funds as a condition of the grant. Ream said Development Services’ 2025 budget already includes the funds needed to cover this amount.
The grant and matching city funds would allow the city to purchase new code books for city staff and the public, according to Ream. His presentation showed that the city plans to buy 15 full book sets as well as three to five separate books, which are expected to cost in total around $32,400.
The rest of the funds would go toward training, expected to cost around $23,400, and books comparing the old codes to the new codes, which are expected to cost around $1,000, he said.
According to the presentation, city inspectors and managers will need multiple trainings each, and prices on those trainings range from $160 to $600 per registration.
The $39,981 grant comes from the Department of Homeland Security’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. According to the program’s official website, it is designed to support state and local governments, along with Tribal Nations, in reducing their hazard risk.
A resolution accepting the federal grant was unanimously recommended by the Finance Committee.
On Tuesday, the Committee of the Whole placed the resolution on the consent agenda of the Aurora City Council’s Jan. 28 meeting. The consent agenda is typically used for routine or non-controversial items that are all approved with one vote and without discussion instead of needing to vote on and talk about each individual item.
According to Ream, the project must start within 30 days of the City Council accepting the grant, but he said that won’t be an issue. The city has until September 2027 to spend the funds, but this time constraint also won’t be an issue, Ream said.
John Curley, Aurora’s chief development services officer, told The Beacon-News on Wednesday that staff has already worked to create some recommendations for ways to amend current city building codes to bring them up to the 2024 International Code.
These proposals are set to be presented to the city’s Permanent Building and Fire Code Committee, and that committee’s recommendations will then be presented to the City Council, according to Curley. He said that, when those recommendations are brought forward for final approval, staff will also present an overview of code changes.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
