A smart phone app is a possibility for the City of Fairbury.
Members of the Fairbury City Council heard information from City Superintendent Brett Ashburn during Wednesday night’s regular meeting at City Hall. Ashburn said there were a few different proposals which included a company designing the app and turning it over to the city or incorporating it into the city’s website to automatically update.
According to Ashburn, this would not need all of the “bells and whistles” of the bigger city apps.
“They keep it updated with all the iOS and Android updates that come along,” he explained.
Users would be able to pay a bill or see what’s going on the city. Federal money could be used toward this.
“We’ve already got a Facebook page we are posting this stuff on already,” said Alderman Lynn Dameron.
“Is there a demo somewhere out there we can look at?” asked Alderman Bill Schmidgall.
The city of Carterville has an app that would be a template of what Fairbury could do. Sesser is another town this company did an app for.
Council members would like to look at the app to see what it does before making a decision. The cost is $750 per year with three years available for the price of two.
Police Chief Robert McCormick talked squad cars and ammunition. He said a new squad car is something to consider in the near future as there is a certain length of time between ordering the vehicle and actually getting it.
“They’ve changed the body styles somewhat so some of the equipment wouldn’t switch over,” said McCormick.
It was noted at the meeting ammunition is in low supply but the problem is prices are high currently.
“I don’t know if it’s going to go down anytime soon either,” stated Mayor David Slagel.
Slagel said the city would revisit the issue.
In another matter, the group adopted the county’s multi-jurisdictional All Hazards Mitigation Plan. In order to receive federal funding in the event of a disaster, the city needs to have a plan in place.
“It has to be revamped every so often,” explained Superintendent Ashburn.
Also at Wednesday’s regular meeting, the Fairbury City Council:
-Approved the 2021 City of Fairbury meeting calendar.
-Authorized the solicitation of bids to resurface the pickle ball courts to be paid for by a donation through Prairie Lands Foundation.
-Approved the consent agenda which included previous minutes, voucher invoice register, treasurer’s cash report and a sidewalk request for the 300 block of east Walnut Street.
