Marketing plan to encourage downtown visitors
The Downtown Naperville Alliance will be using a few marketing tools to encourage customers to head downtown to shop, eat, work and play during the streetscape construction.
This week the Naperville City Council gave the organization permission to install hopscotch game decals along sidewalks that feature the logos of businesses and to place temporary signs and banners on city rights-of-way downtown to improve business visibility. They’ll be in use until the project to replace infrastructure below and above ground is completed about Labor Day.
In addition, DNA will install pieces of protective plastic glass at locations in the construction area to give families a safe spot to observe the work.
“We’ve noticed the last couple of days that families are actually bringing their kids out to sit and watch the construction crews work,” DNA Executive Director Danielle Tuffano said.
She said a viewing area could add more foot traffic.
New contract for city water/wastewater workers
The council has approved a five-year contract with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 196, which represents the 49 technicians who work in the city’s water and wastewater department. It replaces the pact that expired Dec. 31, 2020.
The new agreement includes annual wage increases of 2% retroactive to Jan. 1, 2021; 3% in 2022, 3% in 2023 and 2% in 2024. No increase is scheduled in 2025.
Additional 2.5% wage increases will result from added shift differential pay, a hike in lead man pay and the new pay scale, which reduced the number of job classifications from four to two.
The cost to the city, not including the insurance plan design cost savings, over the five-year term of the agreement is $409,511.
Naperville creates utility assistance program
A utility assistance effort Naperville piloted with Loaves & Fishes Community Services during the pandemic will become permanent program.
In 2021, the council created a temporary program administered by Loaves & Fishes to help customers experiencing financial hardship created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the program, the city provided $104,186 in assistance to customers and paid Loaves & Fishes $10,406 for administrative costs.
Last month the council directed staff to develop an ongoing, needs-based utility assistance program modeled after 2021 pilot that ended Dec. 31. It will have a $300,000 annual cap.
Loaves & Fishes was chosen because it already has experience in utility assistance through its emergency assistance program and is familiar with city utility billing procedures.
While the 2022 budget does not include money for utility assistance, city staff said the costs can be managed within the existing utility fund budgets.
subaker@tribpub.com
