The Fairbury City Council authorized funding shop local signs on the west side of town during Wednesday’s regular meeting at City Hall.
This is the location where Fairbury Fair signs were most recently placed and prior to that, another version of “shop local” which has faded. City Superintendent Brett Ashburn said the fair board owns the structure which holds the signs and is willing to donate the space rent free. Aftershock Decals & Design is donating the installation labor.
The idea is for travelers on Route 24 to see the signs reminding them of the importance of spending money locally before heading out of town to do so. This is the effort of a group of local businesses known as Shop Local PC. Council members were presented with a few different options and liked the version with fewer words. The cost was slightly over $3,000.
In other action, the council approved pricing for city dumpsters. This is an increase from $12.60 to $13.00 as it is easier to explain to people, according to Ashburn. This basically adds a dollar per yard to the dumpsters the city sets out. Initially, the city approved going from $12.00 to $12.60.
A bid was approved from Popejoy Inc. for $11,357 to install new wire from City Hall to all of the light poles with Christmas lights on them. Outlets will be installed with a weather proof cover on each pole and a new cord would be installed in each Christmas light.
Street Superintendent Martin Steidinger noted the current wiring doesn’t take extreme weather, such as wind, very well.
“This is to clean all of these things up,” explained Ashburn.
Ashburn reported agreements for the old hospital have been signed so final preparations are underway to take the building down this month.
Police Chief Robert McCormick updated the council on the new cadet who graduated last Friday and is currently working and doing well so far.
McCormick presented information on the C.H.A.O.S. Task Force, which is a multi-agency group focusing specifically on child trafficking and child exploitation cases. C.H.A.O.S. stands for “Crimes Happening Against Our Students.” The purpose is to have officers ready to investigate crimes involving children and be able to keep up with trainings to be better prepared when an incident happens.
“We get calls almost every week of agencies wanting us to teach them,” said McCormick.
Nearby police agencies which have been trained include Paxton and El Paso.
During public comment, Odell Collins with Palen Real Estate spoke about pot holes in front of their building on west Hickory Street. Collins showed photos to the council.
“We’ll take a look at that,” stated Mayor David Slagel.
Street Superintendent Steidinger said he looked at a dump truck for the department and it runs well.
“It’s been a plow truck since 2006. The bed is actually in decent condition.”
The frame has no paint behind the cab but something like this could be painted locally. The city currently uses a 1995 Chevy which has a crack in the transmission.
“You’re looking at $11,000 to paint it all if we did that,” Steidinger explained.
Following an executive session, the council approved putting in a sealed bid on the dump/plow truck from Carbondale Township for the Street Department. Bids must be in by Friday.
Comments