The Aurora City Council on Tuesday night approved a contract for a fueling station at the new Public Works facility on the far East Side.
Approval came despite objections from some nearby residents and one alderman.
The about $1.4 million contract will be awarded to Streamwood-based Crowne Industries, LTD, to build the station at the new Public Works facility, which is underway on Liberty Street, near County Line Road, on the far East Side.
The facility itself has been under construction for a while. Mass grading and much of the site development, including building of the new salt storage dome, is finished. Several buildings that already have roofs are being completed.
One of the bigger contracts left was the one for the fueling station, which would provide both diesel and unleaded gasoline to city vehicles, including for the police and fire departments.
It will consist of three dual-pump dispensers, four large underground fuel storage tanks, above ground controls and monitoring, a canopy, a concrete island, curb, drainage and spill protection.
Ken Schroth, the city’s Public Works director, said at this week’s City Council meeting that the fueling station has been planned since the Public Works facility site was put into the city’s comprehensive plan six years ago.
But some residents of the nearby Legacy Fields subdivision said that did not give them comfort. Some of the same residents who opposed the city building the Public Works facility on the 25.4-acre site along Liberty Road said this week they still oppose the fueling station at that location.
Dawn Cavagnetto, a Legacy Fields resident for 20 years, said the fueling station is the equivalent of putting “a massive gas station” next door to residents.
Charles Rohlfs described the fueling station as a potential “dump site,” which he said could be dangerous because of the nearby wetlands. Plus he said the site will be loud and smell of all kinds of vehicles.
“Tanks leak – you know it,” he said.
Mary Olson said the health issues of a fueling station near residential areas are obvious. She recited some of the ailments benzene from gasoline can cause.
“The biggest thing is people are going to be harmed by this,” she said. “There is a great risk of illness and even death.”
Schroth said the fueling station will be 600 feet from the nearest residence, further away than gas stations are to residences along nearby New York Street and Eola Road.
He said the tanks used will be corrosion-resistant fiberglass with sensors providing 24-hour, seven-days-a-week monitoring for leaks. He also said runoff from the site should go south toward New York Street, and not toward residents on the east or west of the property.
“We’ve been trying to be the best neighbor we can,” he said.
Aldermen voted 11-1 to approve the contract, with the lone vote against from Ald. John Laesch, at large. He said he could “work toward” two tanks, above ground, but he said underground tanks will be used for “an old way of moving around.”
“As we start to transition to alternative fuels, these tanks will be difficult to take out,” he said.
The Public Works Department is looking to consolidate the personnel and equipment from the Electrical, Streets, Fleet, Water and Sewer, and Water Meter Maintenance divisions into the new, combined maintenance facility.
The council on Tuesday also unanimously approved a $153,825 purchase order for RC Wegman Construction Co., of Aurora, the project’s construction manager, to buy shelving for the facility.
slord@tribpub.com
