As the new year of 2010 began, Aurora learned it had a new fire chief, as Ian Laing assumed this role for Central York Fire Services.
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Nigel Kean became the first person to announce his candidacy for Aurora Council in the October 25 election.
By the time the nomination period closed in early September, 18 candidates had thrown their hats in the ring for councillor, and five were running for mayor.
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The 500-metre gap in the Nokiidaa Trail between Newmarket and Aurora at the McKenzie Marsh continued to spur debate throughout the year.
Despite several studies and community meetings, many people were still unhappy with any of the plans, which included extensive ecological enhancements estimated at almost $400,000, and the escalating cost of the entire project.
The link was finally approved by council later in the year, with construction of the trail and boardwalk connection to be completed in 2011.
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In late January, it was announced that David Tsubouchi would be the town's new Integrity Commissioner, replacing David Nitkin, who had been fired by council the previous August.
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In February, Aurora's Hot Spot closed after 18 years of providing a forum for thousands of local teens to spend Friday nights with their peers.
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In late February, construction was completed on the 860-space GO parking garage, east of the train station.
Later in the summer, controversy arose when preliminary discussions about the future of the GO site suggested eliminating the parking on the west side of the tracks.
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In early March the town's Master Parks and Recreation Plan was approved after several months of discussion.
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Aurora was awarded
with the prestigious Lieutenant Governor's Ontario Heritage Award for Community Leadership in Heritage Conservation and Promotion.
In part this was due to the work in establishing the Church Street Cultural Centre, which officially opened in early April.
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In mid-March the Aurora Food Pantry moved to a much larger and more handicapped accessible location on Industrial Parkway, the previous home of Aurora Cable Internet.
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On Easter weekend a local resident was attacked by a neighbour's dog, which was eventually put down.
In November, a 12-year-old boy was attacked by a different dog in Aurora.
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In late April, Wells Street School lost its final hearing, when an administrative review agreed that the York Region School Board acted properly in its decision to close the school.
Adding insult to injury, later in the year the Board declared that the school had suffered significant structural damage from the summer earthquake, resulting in the school being fenced off.
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The town would have to wait at least another four years for the town to be split up into wards, when council turned down a proposal to add the question to the ballot in the October 25 election.
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Discussions on the development of 2C lands in the northeast part of town sparked a great deal of interest not only from Aurorans, but from Newmarket residents bordering the area.
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In the continued efforts to eliminate the sounding of train whistles in town, council approved the construction of pedestrian gates at the level crossings at Engelhard Drive, Centre Street, Wellington Street East and Center Street, and at a pedestrian crossing at Cousins Drive.
While train operators would have the option of sounding their whistles within Aurora, they would not be required to do so under normal operating conditions.
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In late June Magna announced that it would once again sponsor Hoedown, after a one-year absence due to the poor economy.
The 22nd version of this event held in September raised more than $500,000 for local charities, sports clubs and community organizations.
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The town reported an operating surplus of more than one million dollars for 2009.
The much-needed funding was reallocated into various reserve accounts.
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The town saw a number of successful events throughout the summer including the Street Festival, Canada Day parade and festivities, Concerts in the Park, Movies in the Park, Doors Open Aurora and Ribfest.
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In August Councillor Evelyn Buck was reprimanded by council for posts written on her blog regarding the approval process for the town's Master Recreation Plan.
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In September, the town and 46 of its workers reached an agreement on a new labour contract, which included at 2.5 per cent wage hike over three years.
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At one of their last meetings before the election, council adopted the town's new Official Plan and Promenade Plan, leaving it to the next council to implement these initiatives.
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As Fall began, there was a great deal of interest in the upcoming municipal election, with many people attending debates and other information sessions.
Unfortunately, the looming election also saw an increase in the vandalism of election signs.
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In mid-October, just a week before the election, it was announced that taxpayers would pick up the legal tab for the lawsuit brought forth by Mayor Phyllis Morris against three bloggers accused of defamation.
It was felt that this played a part in the eventual outcome of the election, as the results showed that Aurorans wanted change, with Geoff Dawe being voted mayor by a significant margin, and five new councillors being elected. Voter turnout was 38.5 per cent, up slightly from the last election.
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Mayor-elect Dawe pledged to act quickly on his promises of reviewing the position of Integrity Commissioner, cancelling town financial support of Morris' lawsuit, and reviewing council's Code of Ethics.
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The election stretched out a little longer than usual when a recount was requested by Stephen Granger, who had finished just out of the running for the final councillor's seat by 21 votes.
The recount, undertaken after much discussion by council, showed an even greater gap between Mr. Granger and the eighth place finisher.
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Despite continued discussions throughout the year on the potential use or demolition of the historic Petch log house, its fate had yet to be resolved.
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As the year closed, it was announced that Eric Joliffe would replace Armand La Barge as Chief of York Regional Police.
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Those are some of the highlights of what happened in Aurora in 2010.
With a number of master plans to be implemented and a new council eager to make its mark, 2011 should prove to be just as interesting.