Aurora mayor warns OnLight nonprofit faces near-term cash shortfall; council briefed on stabilization steps

Mayor John Lash told the Aurora City Council Committee of the Whole on Sept. 2 that OnLight, the nonprofit that manages the city-owned fiber optic ring, is close to insolvency and councilors should be prepared for several possible outcomes if the organization cannot be stabilized. “OnLight is our fiber optic ring that runs around the city,” Lash said in opening his briefing. He later said, “Currently we have about enough oxygen to get us to the end of the month.”

The mayor said the network’s nonprofit operator, OnLight, has about $1 million in debt, carries roughly a $27,000 monthly operating deficit and has taken out letters of credit with Old Second Bank to cover obligations. He told the council the city owns the physical fiber infrastructure and that, “if OnLight dissolves, all the assets revert back to the city of Aurora per the MSA.”

Why it matters: the fiber ring carries service to municipal facilities including wells, the Public Works building, new fire stations and other city infrastructure; loss of the…