Local leaders note need for continued cooperation

The Aurora City Council received accolades last week for its recent efforts to partner with local development projects, as well as encouragement from community leaders who say the city’s continued involvement will be critical to keep that momentum going forward.
Gary Warren, a long-time member of local foundation and economic development boards, asked for time on the council’s Aug. 27 agenda, where he began by pointing out how much progress is visible now throughout the community.
“I drove around yesterday morning and realized that we have a lot of things going on in this community,” Warren began. “I called Rick after I was done and said do you realize that every project that’s going, people are actually working on it today. I mean, south of town, west of town, north of town, the Bremer Center Project, just a whole bunch of things and they are all being worked on right now.”
Warren shared that he has talked with numerous individuals involved with various local foundations, the Aurora Housing Development Corporation and Aurora Development Corporation, and realized how dependent all of that progress is on those various entities working in sync.
“When you look at all those things that are going on right now, if we didn’t have the foundations involved, if we didn’t have the development groups involved, if we didn’t have the city involved, you know, all that stuff wouldn’t be happening.”
Warren said that observation reminded him of a Kansas State University study done 25 or 30 years ago which focused on three communities. One was struggling, he recalled, one was holding its own and one was viewed as progressive. KSU officials used Aurora as the example of the progressive community.
“One of the things they said in the middle of this study, and they actually had a diagram that looked like a knitting ball or something, but what they said is they found here that did not exist to the same degree in other communities is how interconnected we were,” Warren said. “They said we had people who were interconnected in multiple ways,” citing examples of council members knowing and working with members of other local organizations. “I mean, there were connections in multiple ways, and it kept the community in sync. 
“We’ve had some informal discussions about this and I think that’s still working,” Warren continued. “We’ve had our rough spots, but I think that’s still working. And we’re looking for ways to do more of that. You know, how do we make that happen? Whether it’s informally, formally, whatever it might be, we think we need to do more of it.”
Warren then cited Mayor Marlin Seeman’s recent reference to “a golden era” of progress which is unfolding now in Aurora, agreeing that there is in fact opportunity now to make significant strides on several fronts.
“I don’t know what it is, but anyway, I think you’re right, I think there’s one heck of an opportunity,” he said. “I mean, we’ve got a lot of things going, and now there’s an inclusive park issue on the agenda. There are people starting to chat about trails. We still need to find a place for the Vettel (International Workforce Services) project to go. I mean, we’ve just got a ton of things going on, and the more we can interconnect, I think the better off we’ll be.
“We’d like to hear from you informally, formally, however we can promote that,” he concluded. “And you know, let’s keep the foundations, the development groups, the city and I’d include the school and the county, communicating with each other so that we’re in sync. You look at the resources that all those groups have and we can do a lot of good.”

Housing update
Some of the most visible signs of progress are unfolding now on the housing front. Jannelle Seim, who serves as president of the Aurora Housing Development Corporation, offered an update on what she called two years of phenomenal housing growth.
“It’s either feast or famine,” Seim began. “When it comes to housing, it seems like right now we’re in a feast, which is really exciting.”
Seim recalled that in 2022 when the Streeter Subdivision was built out there were 59 lots available. Since then, eight of those lots were sold to Messner Development, which built eight townhomes that are all now sold, leading to pending construction of four more townhomes. Nine additional lots were sold to Messier for a tax credit project, which resulted in 18 townhomes for residents 55 and older, all of which are now occupied.
Seim also reported that three lots were sold to Jeff Juzyk, who is currently building a 12-plex, eight-plex and four-flex apartment units, some of which will be available for occupancy this month. Two lots were sold to Jordan McHargue, who built semi-custom homes, and six more were recently sold to Jeff Reed, who was scheduled to start putting basements in for single-family housing units this week. There is also interest from other builders to build five single-family homes, a project still being negotiated.
“So all told of those 59 lots, we have 31 left,” she reported. “In two years, I think that’s pretty good. That’s better than we thought was going to happen and I think it’s kind of unique for a community our size. That’s 50 units. We put 50 units in our community in 24 months, which I think is pretty impressive.”
In addition to that, Seim noted that AHDC has partnered with Brock Henderson’s construction company to build 12 homes on Cottage Park Drive, as well as a home on Birch Street, all located in the Streeter Subdivision.
“So that’s 62 homes, or 62 units that we’ve done in two years, which I think is something that we should be really proud of as a community,” she added. “And then we have another four-plex in the works with another local builder that we’re just trying to figure out the details on. 
“Never in a million years would I have imagined that when we started this project that we would have 62 units in 24 months,” she said. “We had a goal of 16 and 32 lots, and we’ve really grown up beyond that. I appreciate your support in that,” she told the council, “and hope to continue to have it as we charge through, because we’re gonna fill this baby up, and then we’ve got to figure out what to do next.”

ADC input
Also speaking briefly was Jacob Arendt, vice president of the Aurora Development Corporation, who echoed similar thoughts about continued cooperation with the city.
“As you all know, ADC and the city have partnered on a lot of projects here in the past, especially recently, we’ve had some big wins,” he said. “Down south at Mission Critical we partnered on infrastructure there, and specifically completing the CDBG grant, which had been ongoing since 2010. We partnered on new infrastructure moving forward at Mission Critical, and on local projects out west, in the south part of Aurora on Matson.”
Through discussions this spring and during the Nebraska Legislature’s recent special session Arndt said ADC has been asked to be a partner, providing input as needed to the city.
“We’re here tonight to commit to do that and be willing to help where it’s needed,” he said. “ADC’s main goal is to encourage development locally and grow the tax base to benefit the public sector. Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen a surge in new growth in the community, and we look forward to continuing through continued partnership, continuing to grow the trend together and growing Aurora overall. So thank you. We appreciate your partnership and time this evening.”