The first meeting of the Fairbury City Council for 2020 was a fairly brief one which featured the swearing-in of Cody Fosdick as a full time police officer.
Police Chief Robert McCormick administered the oath to Fosdick and congratulated him on the milestone. Fosdick will be presented with a “challenge coin” at a later time. Fosdick had been working for the department part time for a while, according to the chief.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, ESDA director Deb Moran showed the council a document which indicates all of the entrances and exits to Dave’s Supermarket in case of a disaster. This diagram is included in the city’s disaster plan, which aldermen have a copy of.
“We really need to decide as a city if we are going to have a pre-designated tornado shelter,” Moran said.
In another matter, City Superintendent Brett Ashburn thanked Diane Pawlowski for bringing a defective trash can lid to the city’s attention. Attorney Steven Mann reported the Village of Forrest has given a thumbs-up for the police contract which should become official Monday night.
Alderman Jerry Hoffman requested a police and finance committee meeting to discuss numbers. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. and will be held in executive session.
Council members approved the purchase of new desks totaling $2,569.82 for the City Hall office area.
“We’d like to get something new there,” explained Superintendent Ashburn.
One desk will come from Amazon at a cost of $1,098.86 with another from Fairbury Furniture for $1,470.96. Some of the current office furniture came from State Farm and Old City Hall years ago. A motion was made by Alderman Jon Kinate for approval.
Under new business, Alexandria Voorheis was approved as a check signer at Bank of Pontiac, Busey Bank, Morton Community Bank and First State Bank of Forrest.
Consent agenda items approved include Dec. 18 meeting minutes, voucher invoice report, treasurer’s cash report, check register and overtime.
