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Record of Proceedings

Aurora City Council Study Session - June 22, 2026

City Council — Monday, June 22, 2026
BodyAurora, Colorado
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, June 22, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:05

The council for Monday, June 22nd, 2026 is called to order.

0:09

Would the clerk Mayor Kaufman?

0:15

Councilmember Andrews.

0:20

Councilmember Andrews.

0:23

Councilmember Bergen.

0:25

Mayor Petam Coombs?

0:28

Present.

0:28

Councilmember Gardner.

0:31

Here.

0:32

Councilmember Hancock.

0:34

Here.

0:35

Councilmember Horton.

0:38

Councilmember Jackson.

0:42

Councilmember Lawson.

0:45

Do we have a call?

0:46

Councilmember Medina?

0:47

Here.

0:47

Councilmember Wiles.

0:49

Here.

0:50

We don't have to.

0:51

Council and zero.

0:52

Sorry.

0:53

We don't need a quorum.

0:54

We're good to go.

0:55

We have a quorum.

0:56

Oh, we don't need one.

0:57

Okay.

0:58

There is no mayor's update, uh, issue updates.

1:01

Mayor Pro Tem Coons.

1:03

Um, yes.

1:04

In light of all the communications that we've been receiving from community members about fireworks.

1:12

Um, I would like to request a special meeting in which we can hear a resolution to address the concerns related to fireworks and the statewide uh drought emergency declaration and our uh city of Aurora drought declaration where city attorney um procedurally um how do we uh so call for a special meeting right?

1:39

So we have to have 24 hours of answer to this and is a person council has to agree to change the council um no calendar bases for the a special meeting the mayor can call unilaterally or six members.

1:52

Okay, I'll call it unilaterally.

1:54

Okay.

1:55

So I don't know if who I send that message to or orally if it's if it's fine verbally.

2:01

Maybe Katie for the scheduling.

2:04

Uh public discussion.

2:06

Okay, so I'll work on that and we'll talk um in terms of yeah.

2:11

Very well.

2:11

Umcock.

2:16

Yes, um, we are having public safety committee meeting coming up.

2:21

Why wouldn't we do this during public safety?

2:25

Uh Mayor Pratem.

2:27

Um because this we're not going to take the time of going through public safety and study session and council because we only have like 12 days or so left of fireworks for this season.

2:43

Um I would beg to differ.

2:45

We'll be having fireworks for the rest of the summer.

2:48

And so I I don't see that this would be emergent and that to circumnavigate going through the public safety committee.

2:57

We've already communicated with the prior chief.

3:01

He is well aware of this issue and he's well aware of the uh emails and concerns that we've gotten from community about this.

3:11

So I I just I have a problem with us having another emergency meeting for something that could totally go through public safety.

3:19

Um I think your point's well taken.

3:23

Um however, uh, due to the fact that July 4th is generally the toughest uh day and night when it comes to uh uh fireworks, particularly illegal fireworks, uh I think it's appropriate that we go ahead and and do uh a special meeting before that, but uh your your point is well taken.

3:39

Uh for this.

3:40

Well, just one more thing, Mayor.

3:42

Uh you know, I don't know what this special meeting is going to do in terms of stopping people from doing fireworks.

3:49

If they're gonna do a legal fireworks, a meeting is not gonna stop them from doing that.

3:54

So I just want to make sure that that point is well taken.

3:57

Thank you, uh uh Councilmember Hancock.

3:59

Uh it's a it's I think really at this point it's about um having the public be aware of uh of what's going on.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Economic Development█████████████████████21%
Public Safety███████████████████19%
Water And Wastewater Management█████████████████17%
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████████16%
Procedural███████████████15%
Technology and Innovation████████████12%
Summary of Proceedings

Aurora City Council Study Session - June 22, 2026

The Aurora City Council held a study session on June 22, 2026, addressing several items including a request for a special meeting on fireworks, approval of the consent calendar, IT lease purchase authority, opportunity zone designations, and a directive to amend landscaping requirements in industrial zones.

Consent Calendar

  • Items 2A through 2B were moved forward without objection.

Discussion Items

  • Special Meeting on Fireworks: Mayor Pro Tem Coons requested a special meeting to address community concerns about fireworks amid the statewide drought emergency. Councilmember Hancock expressed support, citing public awareness. Councilmember Pratem argued the issue could go through the Public Safety Committee, questioning the effectiveness of a meeting to stop illegal fireworks. After discussion, Mayor Pro Tem Coons indicated he would call the meeting unilaterally or seek six votes by email to schedule.
  • 3A: 2026 Information Technology Lease Purchase Authority: Chief Information Officer Scott Newman presented an annual ordinance to renew lease purchase authority, noting it saved the city approximately $500,000 last year. Council approved the staff recommendation without objection.
  • 3B: Opportunity Zones 2.0 Map Designations: Daniel Krasanowski from Planning and Business Development briefed council on the federal opportunity zone program, presenting staff recommendations for prioritization of eligible census tracts. Council gave direction to submit the recommended tracts to the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) before the June 30 deadline.
  • 5A: Amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) for Landscaping in Industrial Zones: Councilmember Gardner sponsored a resolution directing staff to begin work on updating landscaping requirements in industrial zones to conserve water, starting with industrial areas and later expanding to commercial and residential. Council directed staff to proceed.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent calendar approved.
  • IT lease purchase authority renewed for another year.
  • Council directed staff to submit recommended opportunity zone tracts to OEDIT.
  • Council directed staff to proceed with UDO amendments for industrial zone landscaping.
  • Mayor Pro Tem Coons to schedule a special meeting on fireworks, either by unilateral call or by obtaining six votes via email.

Meeting Transcript

The council for Monday, June 22nd, 2026 is called to order. Would the clerk Mayor Kaufman? Councilmember Andrews. Councilmember Andrews. Councilmember Bergen. Mayor Petam Coombs? Present. Councilmember Gardner. Here. Councilmember Hancock. Here. Councilmember Horton. Councilmember Jackson. Councilmember Lawson. Do we have a call? Councilmember Medina? Here. Councilmember Wiles. Here. We don't have to. Council and zero. Sorry. We don't need a quorum. We're good to go. We have a quorum. Oh, we don't need one. Okay. There is no mayor's update, uh, issue updates. Mayor Pro Tem Coons. Um, yes. In light of all the communications that we've been receiving from community members about fireworks. Um, I would like to request a special meeting in which we can hear a resolution to address the concerns related to fireworks and the statewide uh drought emergency declaration and our uh city of Aurora drought declaration where city attorney um procedurally um how do we uh so call for a special meeting right? So we have to have 24 hours of answer to this and is a person council has to agree to change the council um no calendar bases for the a special meeting the mayor can call unilaterally or six members. Okay, I'll call it unilaterally. Okay. So I don't know if who I send that message to or orally if it's if it's fine verbally. Maybe Katie for the scheduling. Uh public discussion. Okay, so I'll work on that and we'll talk um in terms of yeah. Very well. Umcock. Yes, um, we are having public safety committee meeting coming up. Why wouldn't we do this during public safety? Uh Mayor Pratem. Um because this we're not going to take the time of going through public safety and study session and council because we only have like 12 days or so left of fireworks for this season. Um I would beg to differ. We'll be having fireworks for the rest of the summer. And so I I don't see that this would be emergent and that to circumnavigate going through the public safety committee. We've already communicated with the prior chief. He is well aware of this issue and he's well aware of the uh emails and concerns that we've gotten from community about this.

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