Fairbury Buys Property For Clean Up

By Gordon HopkinsThe Fairbury City Council voted to purchase property at 200 C Street at a meeting Tuesday evening, December 16.“The proposal,” explained Laura Bedlan, Development Services Director, “Is to acquire the property and clean it up. It is in the flood plain. It is an environmental condition and it is surrounded on three sides, that we know, of by city property. So, it’s an opportunity to kind of make the trail head look better, protect the levee and protect the water soil in that area.”Bedlan described the property, “It’s roughly 2.5 acres total, with (Steve) Beetley, owner of Fairbury Iron and Metal, owning roughly 2.1 acres and the old railroad right of way, roughly point four acres through the middle of it.” Clean UpWhile the city is buying the property to clean it up, how extensive that clean-up will be depends on available funding.The city already has a grant for an environmental assessment, Bedlan noted, “That does cover the assessment of the site that’s required. So, once we get that assessment done, that provides the purchaser with EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) liability protections.”Bedlan said once the assessment is completed, the city will apply for a grant to fund the clean-up, “If we get the grant, obviously there’ll be funding to clean up the property. If we do not get the grant, the proposal is to kind of clean up the debris, but not to the extent that we would if we, if we get the grant.”“As part of the grant application, on the 12th of January, there will be a town hall,” said Bedlan. “To kind of discuss what the proposal is.” What Will the property be Used For?There are no specific plans at this time for how the property will be utilized. It will depend in part on how extensive the clean-up is.“The grant covers the hazardous waste cleanup specifically, but as part of that grant,” said Bedlan. “Hazardous waste cleanup down there would require capping it, which is about 18 inches of soil. It would require probably some deep-rooted vegetation, trees, stuff like that, to clean the soil as well.”There are heavy metals in the soil, so if the soil is not capped, that limits what the property can be used for, Bedlan said, “We can’t put a daycare on it. We can’t put a kid’s park on it, stuff like that.”“If we don’t get the grant,” asked Councilperson Phil Rogge. “It’s not something legally we have to clean up. It could still be utilized, say, as a dog park?”Bedlan said, “It could be used for just a walking area, or, like you say, possibly a dog park.”Purchase PriceThe vote came after a public hearing to allow citizens to express opinions on the purchase. No one from the public spoke.What was not stated in either the hearing or the discussion after by the city council, or in the published Notice of Public hearing, was the cost. The purchase price for the 2.1 acres was $9,900. According to Fairbury Mayor Kelly Davis, the land is assessed at $11,564.

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