Aurora councilmembers to vote on pit bull ownership ballot question, firearms in buildings

Aurora councilmembers on Monday are scheduled to vote on a water reuse feasibility study, return to conversations about putting an item allowing pit bull ownership on November's ballot and opting out of a state law banning firearms in government buildings.

At Monday night's study session, the council will vote on a resolution that would state the council's desire to sponsor Aurora Pride at the Aurora Reservoir in the amount of $15,000.

The event, on Aug. 3, will have an estimated economic impact of over $487,000, according to council documents.

Councilmembers will also vote on a resolution that would declare a collaboration between Aurora Water, Metro Water and Denver Water to do a regional water reuse feasibility study.

The goal of the study is to identify and evaluate "potential future regional water reuse opportunities and partnership solutions," according to council documents.

Each partner in the study will contribute $150,000, with Aurora's portion coming from the Capital Improvement Program Water Fund.

After a resolution passed in the last council meeting declaring that there would be an item on November's ballot to allow city residents to own pit bulls, there is an agenda item Monday that would update the former resolution.

The resolution comes after a lawsuit from a city resident in which a district judge ruled that the city overrode the will of voters by repealing its breed ban in 2021.

In the city's 2014 election, voters rejected an ordinance that would repeal the breed ban. In 2021, councilmembers voted to repeal the ban. In May of the same year, resident Matthew Snider filed a lawsuit saying the city overrode the will of voters by repealing the ban.

A resolution to ask voters in November if they want to repeal the ban passed. A revised version will go to councilmembers on Monday. The ballot question would ask residents if they want to repeal the breed ban, allowing residents to own American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, and Staffordshire bull terriers within Aurora city limits.

Also at Monday night's council meeting, Councilmember Curtis Gardner is proposing an ordinance, passed by the council in the last study session, that would amend the city code to opt out of a state law that prohibits firearms on certain government properties.

Senate Bill 24-131, signed into law in late May, prohibits firearms in "sensitive spaces" — which include state legislative buildings, courthouses, and local government buildings.

Gardner's proposed ordinance, if passed Monday, would change the city code to say the city opts out of following the law, a move allowed through Aurora's home rule authority.

The study session will be held at 5:15 p.m. in the Aurora Room of the Aurora Municipal Center, 15151 E. Alameda Parkway.

The council's regular meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. in the Paul Tauer Aurora City Council Chamber, 15151 E. Alameda Parkway.

Both meetings will also be live streamed at auroraTV.org and Youtube.com/TheAuroraChannel. They will also stream live on cable channels 8 and 880 in Aurora.

Those who want to speak during the public comment period must submit a speaker slip by 6:30 p.m. Monday, the day of the meeting. Anyone who wants to comment on an agenda item must submit a speaker slip before the city clerk reads the title of the item.