City Council Votes To Spend $50,000 To Investigate Another Offline Well

By Gordon HopkinsOn Tuesday, June 4, 2024, the Fairbury City Council voted to approve $50,000 to investigate a disused well at Crystal Springs.The city has one well at Crystal Springs that was a source of water until 2021, when it was taken offline due to the presence of biofilm. The city’s Water Sourcing Committee was given a budget of $70,000 to bring that well back online. Thus far, approximately $32,000 has been spent, much of that on cleaning and disinfecting the galley system. However, the biofilm problem remains.The $50,000 just approved will go toward a different well, one that has been unused for decades. Some of the funds may also be used to drill an additional well at Crystal Springs.The purpose of this investigation is to locate a source of drinking water for the city with a lower nitrate content. The city’s drinking water is currently supplied by three wells in the East Wellfield. Those three wells have consistently tested in the higher range for nitrates.When asked when the well was shut down and why, Brian Schmidt, chair of the Water Sourcing Committee told FJN, “I don’t know much history on this well. I know it was already on the property when the city took ownership. I would assume it was taken out of service when that ground was put in the CRP program. I believe it was an irrigation well back in the 60’s when Gene Meyer was farming there. It was never used as a city water supply. I don’t think we are looking to make it a water source but rather just another place we can pull a sample out of the ground.”The vote was not unanimous. City Councilperson Doug Brown voted against the resolution. After the meeting, FJN asked Brown why. He responded via direct messaging, “Yes, we had an ample source of high quality water avaiable (sic) with the joint venture with LBNRD (Little Blue Natural Resources District) & it got voted down 6-2. Now we’re grasping at straws, trying to find a source, that I believe will end up costing us more money for less quantity & quality of water.”This is not the only disused well the city is looking at bringing back online. In March of this year, Fairbury’s Water Sourcing Committee voted to spend $7,000 investigating another well unused for decades, this one on I Street in Fairbury.

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