Fairbury seeking feedback on downtown via survey, town hall meeting

FAIRBURY, NE — Leaders of a southeast Nebraska city want to hear from locals on how they should approach improving the downtown district.

The city of Fairbury is pursuing up to $400,000 in grants to fund downtown renovation projects but first wants thoughts from the public. The city created an online survey that’s open until November 9th. It also organized a town hall meeting for Tuesday.  Mayor Homer Ward says it’s important to involve the public.

“I hope we get lots of input from people. I hope that they show interest and they come and express their viewpoints and their hopes.”

Officials say they want to preserve the historic features of the district while modernizing some aspects to attract new businesses. Ward also sees the potential to turn second floor spaces into new housing.

“If we could improve that, I think we would pick up a lot of support from people who used to live here who might like to come back or have indicated that they might like to come back if there was a nice place that they could live in.”

The city hired an engineering firm to help run the survey and town hall meeting. The City Council appointed a six-person committee to contribute to the project.

The town hall is Tuesday at 5:30 at the City Council chambers.