Representatives of Hello Fresh said this week they have made changes to their far West Side facility in Aurora to address neighborhood issues, and will continue to do so.
Neighbors and other residents who have monitored the situation, however, are skeptical of the changes.
Company officials appeared before the Aurora City Council Tuesday night to say they have made changes that have improved the sound coming from the food preparation company at Indian Trail and Orchard Road, as well as light pollution, into the surrounding residential area, particularly the Greenfield subdivision.
Officials also said they are continuing study and work on addressing aromas that nearby residents have said are at times overwhelming, and have affected their quality of life.
“We are interested in the means to improve our operation in regard to noise, odor and light,” said Jeff Childs, Factor 75 managing director. Factor 75 is owned by Hello Fresh.
The company also repeated its commitment to Aurora. The company recently purchased the vacant former Restore building next to its facility, and said it will remodel it into offices to become the corporate headquarters.
Some of the corporate employees spread throughout the Chicago region will come to the Aurora site, many from the current Batavia office, which the company will close and consolidate in Aurora.
“Factor is here to stay,” Childs said. “We are part of this community. We enjoy being part of this community.”
The company recently conducted a review and assessment of regulated air quality and emissions, and are compliant with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency ROSS permit, which stands for Registration of Smaller Sources, officials said.
Dave Wengerhoff, regulatory advisor for Factor, said because regulation over the Factor site was unclear, the company voluntarily went ahead with the ROSS assessment and said the IEPA gave the company its permits. To get the permits, the company had to be in compliance with IEPA emissions standards, Wengerhof said.
“And this is an annual recertification – this is not a once and done,” he said.
Childs said Factor 75 has never been found in violation by the IEPA and never been assessed any fines.
“We have always been in compliance,” he said.
Wengerhof said the company also has finished putting in its sound barrier, and said a study it had commissioned by Kimley-Horn, a national third party sound consultant, on Nov. 9 and 10 showed a 17% reduction in sound, thanks to the barrier fence.
He presented results from Kimley-Horn that show the “primary and loudest noise contributor” to the area is the traffic along Orchard Road, not the Factor 75 site.
Neighbors and other residents, though, remain skeptical of the Factor 75 changes.
Nate Pichler, a 5th Ward resident, appeared before the council this week to say there still is noise from idling refrigeration units on trucks at the Factor 75 site, and that the sound barrier does not work because “it’s the wrong kind of wall.”
He said odors continue to be “psychologically harmful” to the neighborhood.
“Our problems have not been solved,” he said.
Ald. John Laesch, at large, said he spoke with two residents of the area who said while monitors might show a reduction in air particulates, there is “still a heavy smell.”
“The people who have lived there 10, 12 years say the atmospherics have changed,” Laesch said.
Laesch has called for air quality monitoring from the city, rather than the company, and a meeting between residents and the company.
Alex Alexandrou, Aurora’s chief management officer, said he and the mayor have discussed having a third party do air quality tests for the city, but said that would likely be done after the company is finished with all of its changes.
That would be the same for any meeting between the company and the neighbors. Childs said the company “still has a lot to do” before meeting with nearby residents.
Upon questioning from Ald. Edward Bugg, 9th Ward, about what residents could do, Childs said if the company can get the time and day of egregious noise complaints, it can “address them with the trucking company.”
Bugg suggested a hotline-type number people could call, and Childs said the company would look into that.
One of the things the company is looking at is aroma reduction equipment, possibly a new system the company is testing in its Arizona facility.
Alexandrou said people should continue to alert the city, which passes all complaints to the company.
“We are allowing them the time to get everything done,” Alexandrou said. “We’re doing the best we can. They’ve made a lot of progress.”