Fairbury City Council Approves Purchase Of Land For Water Treatment Plant

By Gordon HopkinsThe Fairbury City Council held their first meeting in the newly construction City Hall building Tuesday evening, April 7, 2026, when they voted to purchase property for the water treatment project for $30,000. However, the council also voted to approve a change order that will save the city $260,000.The council voted unanimously to purchase the land at 313 A Street in Fairbury after a public hearing. No one spoke at the hearing and Fairbury Mayor Kelly Davis noted, “Zero written comments were received.”There is a house currently on the property. Fairbury Water Superintendent Gregg DeFrain told the council that the city will be handling the demolition. While the purchase of the property will cost $30,000, at the same meeting, DeFrain advised the council that a change order will save the city considerably more than that.The city is working with Vessco Water for both a temporary treatment plant and a long-term permanent plant. DeFrain told the council he had discussed with Vessco making changes to how wastewater would be treated, “They put in there more of an automated waste neutralization containment system to neutralize the chemicals before sending them to the sewer plant. After discussion with Vesco and our engineer, we think we can simplify that but still make it efficient. And this change order would basically decrease the price of what they did by $264,000 and we just think we can use that money better somewhere else.” City Councilperson Phil Rogge told DeFrain, “Thanks for your diligence. Always nice to save money.”City Councilperson Brian Schmidt, who also serves as chair of the Water Sourcing Committee, said, “I know nobody likes change orders, but a project like this, there’s going to be more. It’s nice to start off with a deduction.” The city has struggled with both quality and quantity of available drinking water for years. The acquisition of this land is a single step in the construction of a treatment plant that will address both of those problems by treating water from the Crystal Springs wellfield, which has been offline since 2021 due to biofilm.

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