Soon the city of Fairbury will be able to say 'You can find us on Facebook.' 

On Tuesday night Fairbury's city council approved a resolution to create a Facebook page and formally establish the city's social media policy. 

City leaders want the page to act as a "positive, informational tool for community outreach." 

"The idea of the Facebook page is to be informative only, it's not to banter or to engage back and forth, it's to pump out information," city clerk Erin Reimer said. "Whether that's for LB840 programs or other grant opportunities, or certain information like if there's a water main break, those types of things." 

They plan to use the page to post alerts about weather emergencies, road closures and power outages, spread the word about city-sponsored events, and showcase what goes into the daily lives of various city employees. 

"I think that there's a lack of communication on a lot of the things that the city does, and it would be another place, even if it's not the only place, to at least echo some of that stuff," councilmember John Ebke said. "It's just one more place to find that information."  

Reimer and others said the Facebook page will not be a substitute for the city's website, but just another way to bring specific pieces of information more directly to a relevant, interested audience. 

"The reason I asked about the cost is, we spent $13,000 to do our webpage, and it's very disappointing to me," councilmember Phil Rogge said. "I have numerous people that tell me they can't figure it out. So I think that was maybe not the best funding we ever did." 

"I think that social media platforms as a whole are changing, and [so is] the way people are accessing the information," Reimer responded. "I don't think the website is a bad place because it stores things differently than a Facebook or a TikTok or Snapchat would do. My kids will say Facebook is for old people, but it does reach a population that we're aiming to seek out." 

Paired with the city council's approval last month of a pilot program for a notification platform called Outifi that will help ease the burden on dispatchers in the event of a widescale power outage, the city believes the adoption of an official social media platform is a way to directly interact with residents in a digital age.  

Fairbury plans to launch the Facebook page within the next week or so. 

And on top of a new virtual home, Fairbury's city council will soon have a new physical home, too. The construction of a new building to house the city offices and council chambers is almost complete. Located literally right across the street from the current city HQ, the new building was designed by Ayars and Ayards and has been in the works for much of 2025. City leaders expect to open the new space in February or March.