Fairbury’s Updated Municipal Code Pending For Four Years

By Gordon HopkinsAfter nearly four years, an updated version of Fairbury’s Municipal Code book is expected to be completed by the end of 2024. Until that happens, residents will need to contact the city directly to ensure they are compliant with the current code.The code book currently available online at the City of Fairbury’s website was originally written in 2015 and has not been updated since 2018. Since that time, a number of changes to both the law and the code necessitated the book be overhauled. On February 2, 2021, the Fairbury City Council voted unanimously to pay Rembolt Ludtke LLP, the law firm that represents the city, $11,000 to recodify the book. Half was paid at the time. The other half is due upon completion.When asked why the process has taken almost four years, city attorney Kurth Brashear of Rembolt Ludtke LLP explained via email, “First, there have been multiple city personnel involved, including at least two city administrators, and three city attorneys since 2021. Second, updating the Code involves both incorporating ordinances adopted by the City Council and identifying what ordinances to amend the Code are required due to state legislation. The Code update, then, will include all necessary changes through the 2024 legislative sessions.” Brashaear said the recodification should be complete by the end of this year, “In the process of doing this recodification, the city is developing on a format that can be updated more easily and, therefore, frequently so there is not the same lag in including ordinances in the Code.”Brashear also noted, “The recodification does not in any way effect the validity of the ordinances that have been adopted since 2018.”The difficulty with the out-of-date code is that, while there have been a number of changes, those changes are not available to the public online. For example, the code book online provides only this regarding fire pits: Authority, 91.83 Definition, 91.80 Extinguishment, 91.82 Standards, 91.81The book does not give the current code. FJN reached out to Code Enforcement Officer Dan Lufkin what current is regarding fire pits. He did not respond as of press time.FJN then asked Fairbury Mayor Spencer Brown about the fire pit code. He said, “I have not looked it up, and I do not intend on looking it up unless there is a problem.”FJN obtained the code that governs fire pits, Ordinance 3040, from another source. None of the information from Ordinance 3040 is available online.When asked how citizens can ensure they are following the most recent codes, Mayor Brown said, “I don’t have time to do hypotheticals. I have not had any issues in the last four years, if something comes up, we will deal with it.”Brashear said, “Per state law, ordinances are official when they are published upon passage, which is the legally required notice of them to the public. Furthermore, the subject of all ordinances considered is in the approved minutes available on the City’s website. Ordinances are available for the public to review at City Hall and, of course, they can also contact city staff to ask questions.”

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