A Fairbury resident appeared before the City Council Wednesday night voicing concerns over water on her property.
Cherie Boren said her neighbor’s pavement slopes down toward her home which has led to a saturated area that is four inches deep.
“The runoff has caused quite a pool of water,” Boren explained.
She has talked with Street Superintendent Martin Steidinger about the issue and he has some ideas on how to handle the situation. Water used to stand on both properties and now it is standing on one, according to Steidinger.
“It could be re-graded a little bit,” Steidinger said.
Possible solutions will be explored once the weather turns nicer in the spring.
Also appearing before the Fairbury City Council was Randy Wittenberg, representing the Vermillion Valley Dispatch Center. He said they created a capital reserve fund to use for certain needs. New desks are being purchased this year and an equipment replacement plan is in place.
“We are holding the line pretty well on expenses,” Wittenberg said.
Ongoing initiatives with the dispatch include an EMS project with OSF, a Crime Stoppers program and working with the Sheriff’s Department to access school cameras across the county in the event of an emergency.
Wittenberg explained a new alert tool which county residents can sign-up for. This gets the word out quickly in case of a countywide emergency.
In other business, the council briefly discussed the swimming pool. City Superintendent Brett Ashburn noted the city is interviewing for lifeguard positions and Alderman Gary Norris said there is a change in the way pool passes are sold. Anyone wanting one must visit City Hall.
Norris also brought up a window leak at the lifeguard station. There may be a need for replacement down the road.
Fire Chief Martin Steidinger reported the department had one fire near Fairbury during the recent extremely cold spell. Parts of the truck were already frozen when firefighters arrived on the scene. They were able to save a nearby garage from burning.
“It was cold,” Steidinger admitted.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the Fairbury City Council:
-Approved the Morton Community Bank commercial credit card borrowing resolution replacing Janice Ziegenhorn with Dale Diller as a Visa card holder on the city’s credit card account.
-Tabled a request from Lisa Yoder to define a nearby parking space as handicapped.
-Discontinued the $350 vehicle seizure charge for vehicles impounded by the city.
-Allowed City Superintendent Ashburn to attend an OSHA Workplace Safety Outreach event in April.
-Renewed ArcGIS software for GPS mapping for the next year in the amount of $400.
-Granted a request from Nancy Widlacki to attend the Municipal Clerks of Illinois spring seminar in Effingham at a cost of $65 and a one-night hotel stay for $109.
