The Dale Maley Family Web Site

This survey asked 20 general questions. The survey results from these 20 general questions is shown below.

We received 150 miscellaneous comments/suggestions from the survey. These are shown below.......after the results of the 20 general questions.

On the recently completed 2019 Survey of Fairbury, done by the Fairbury Improvement Group, there were a total of 150 different miscellaneous comments/suggestions.

These 150 comments/suggestions were divided into 22 different categories. These categories are shown below. The results are rank-ordered, starting with the category with the largest number of comments/suggestions. Spelling was not corrected on the responses.

The action plans for each of these categories is shown at the end of each category.........In Green

If anyone has any questions, please contact me at [email protected]

Thanks

Dale

Miscellaneous Survey Comments (150 total comments)

Compliments to Efforts of Fairbury Improvement Group (23 comments)

• Thanks to the Fairbury Improvement Group and the volunteers for all they've done to make Fairbury even a better place to live and raise a family.
• Great job!
• No misc comments at this time. Keep up the good work.
• Thank you for all the hard work!!
• Really loved last years work of the painted signs and updated Marsh Park!
• You all are doing great!
• Great job.
• Great job.
• You all are doing great!
• Would like to see more projects to bring people to Main Street. I am happy with what has been done so far.
• No misc comments at this time, but thank you for doing everything you do!!
• The Fairbury Improvement Group has done a wonderful job. Mr Maley and volunteers are an asset to this town.
• I think the improvements have been great, like to help when I can and maybe there will be more volunteering to come.
• This group is wonderful! so many great things coming from dedicated folks. Thank you!
• Thank you for all that you do to improve our city. I am looking forward to being more involved after I retire!
• keep up the momentum!
• We really appreciate all that Dale Maley has done and is doing for Fairbury - very commendable!
• The volunteer groups have done a great job and we sure appreciate their efforts.
• No thanks for opportunity to reach out to citizens.
• -I very much believe in the projects you have successfully completed. Your list for 2019 is impressive. Thank you
• Great Work.
• The FIG has generated a lot of positive improvements and provided a vision to work towards.
• I love seeing the big events for the whole town. I love seeing everyone together all happy, communicating and being together. A great way to bring the town's together!
• 
  

More Activities for Kids/Teens/Families (19 comments)

- forrest and fairbury both new updates. there needs to be more events + places we could go and do. especially for younger people

- Fairbury should have more street dances and outdoor concerts. I think it would add more excitement to our small town.

- we need more activities for the teenagers/ high schooler to do, outside of school events and activities

- it would be nice to have more stuff to do when hanging out with friends

- We need more activities for kids of all ages.

- On the other hand we also need more for families to do that doesn't cost a big amount of money. A small movie theater would be great as well.

- I commend the small group of volunteers and folks who put so much effort into making our community what is. You are appreciated.

-more family centered events- teen only events send out volunteer opportunities more outside events- Fugate woods use to do some things but hasn't done anything for a while teen trips in the summer to events

- I think the things we do in our town are fine I just think they need some for other months as well. And I think our older youth need some place to hang out with positive influence.

- The biggest thing Fairbury is missing is having something for families to do on a regular basis. The large-scale events are a great addition, but I’d love to have somewhere to take the kids regularly, especially on evenings and weekends, to do some sort of family event or activity together.

- Would love to see some activities for teens in our area

- Need more kid friendly activities to keep the kids in the community busy and keep them away from the drugs and vandalism that goes on in Fairbury.

- Fairbury needs to offer more for the teens to do, especially during the summer. Maybe offer some work study programs with some of the local business. give them a purpose , something they can possibly use in their future.

- For family events, how about potential Gospel, or Blue grass concert? Extra time to volunteer is part of my problem.

- I feel Movies in the Park would be a great Family idea

- And what happened to Fairbury Fest that we use to have ? I would like to see that back !

- A Christmas Carol sing-along walk through downtown or in the new bandstand at Marsh Park. A patriotic window display event for the downtown businesses around July 4th.

- Town events - Last year the car show was moved up town to main street and coincided with Dave's Race car meet and great. It was an awesome event that I think could be promoted more. Build on this! The street events are very nice when promoted correctly. I would let some of the businesses make suggestions and help them promote.

- Outdoor Movie events during the summer or a community Easter Egg hunt similar to what Chenoa does.

Restaurants (16 comments)

- Like I said, an outdoor esc store would be neat to have near the outskirts to either the east or west. Maybe a new fast food restaurant. Maybe we give the McDonalds chain another shot, eh?

- I want a Taco Bell and a chick fil-a

- Maybe a Jimmy johns

- I would like to see another fast food restaurant like Steak-N-Shake.

- Restaurants - We currently have a good mix of eateries in town, the one type we are missing is a more upscale restaurant with a full menu.

- We could use a true fast food restaurant possibly as part of a gas station

- Restuarant that offers a variety of dinner food along with alcohol option. Steak, chicken, salmon etc

- Taco Bell

- i would like to see a higher end restaurant where you could take special guest for a steak supper, or surf and turf meal

- Personally I think we have a good amount of restaurants in town but I just wish one of them offered healthier foods or more options for people who don’t eat meat.

- We need more fast food type restaurants beside Dairy Queen.

- A BBQ or upscale steak restaurant would be a nice addition.

- BBQ

- Indian or Mediterranean, would love to see a farm to fork or family style restaurant (don’t need anymore fast food)

- Just wish restaurants one or two would be open on mondays

- Food place: drive up diner like sonic

Recommended Future Usage for Old City Hall (10 comments)

- The old city hall is used by the Fairbury boy scouts. It is fine if other parts are used but the uper portion where the scouts are is already heavily used and shouldn't be used for other things. It could however use somerepairs as many rooms have mold or are run down due to neglect by thr city who is responsible for repairs.

-2. As far as old city hall. I think it needs to be kid driven if gonna dump money into it. We have antiques and museums and I think it needs to be driven towards kids and younger generations.

- Old city hall to be the Fairbury echoes museum. Fire trucks have enough attention in town.

- old city hall as welcome center AND conference room

- A museum with antique fire truck would be nice but we probably don’t need the whole building to be museum? Definitely see the benefit for a “visitors center” as we continue to try and draw visitors. Can we do both in that building?

-Due to the fact that I have my Red Cross office at Old City Hall...I am very picky about what you think may need to be there. A museum with antique fire truck - good what will the hours be, who will maintain it, will it be a building that looks nice but gets little use? Senior center...sounds good... once again who maintains it, who schedules its use, who is in charge of cleaning? There is already tourist info thanks to Bekah Fehr. Does it need to be open 6 days a week? Anybody got an idea of where I could move Red Cross to...for free of charge

- As far as the Old City Hall, I didn't care for the suggested uses. The Library already has nice community meeting rooms or I would have liked that one. So I'm not sure what to put there

- If the Old City Hall is turned into a museum, the Fire Dept. has antique hose carts that might be able to be displayed.

- All city hall uses given in quiz are terrible. Museum is money pit Senior center, too small an inaccessible Library already has tax supported conf center with little use Likely only practical idea would be a remodel and offering space to a variety of small local non-profits to share.

-both museum and visitor center of some sort

Additional Music Festivals (9 comments)

- Would love to have a Christian Music Festival. "Life- Fest" rural Illinois style

- It would be nice to have some music groups perform in one of the parks once in awhile. There are several groups in and around Fairbury that maybe would provide music.

- There is a lot of things to do in Fairbury. But would like to see outdoor concerts during the summer if possible.

- Musical jam sessions at the downtown park

- we need more fun events at the park instead of gospel music; perhaps some old time rock and roll, a dance contest, street dance.

- also happy hours and more live music in a more open settings.

- I think instead of just Chenoa having a street dance Fairbury should have one too (at a different time than Chenoa's)

- It would be amazing to have a Jazz Festival or Beer/Blues thing like they do in Bloomington. Maybe Something tied to a Community BBQ event or something.

- I would love to see a music festival similar to the one in Mahomet with Contemporary Christian, Country and Rock music all represented.

Compliments about Fairbury (8 comments)

- What ever is added can't take away from the charming small town atmosphere that we have in Fairbury.

- Fairbury is great

- Fairbury is a great town!

- We have recently moved to Fairbury and we truly do enjoy living here.

- Fairbury is a nice wholesome town.

- Fairbury is an awesome town.

- We are quite fortunate to have so many stores and restaurants available in our small town. Thanks for all you do! I love that we have designated pickle ball courts. It would be great to see some organized play set up.

- Fairbury is the best small town to live in...we call it Mayberry😁

Disc Golf (7 comments)

- It would be nice to have more things for kids to do. The disc golf course would be a great start.

- I've lived in fairbury and have asked for a disk golf course for a while now and I'm glad that they are finally considering it. I play for the Bloomington normal disk golf league but I live in fairbury and if you needed any help disk golf related, I would be more than happy to help any way I can. I have been playing disk golf for eight years.

-As far as the disc golf -- if there is interest and it's not too expensive, go for it.. I could see kids playing it. But I can't judge the interest.

-Frisbee Golf - I like the concept but to be honest I travel around to various towns quite a bit. I have seen Frisbee parks and I rarely see anyone using them. The ball diamonds at the park are underused as well

- Disc golf will need play days, tournaments scheduled to get that going and keep it going. Who is in charge of disc equipment?

- Miniature golf course in the community.

- A putt/putt course would be nice too for something to do with my kids. The closest one is 30 minutes away.

North Park Improvements (5 comments)

- I would like to see lights for the outdoor volleyball courts at North Park. They are used multiple times during the week after adults get off work, and we usually are pressed for time because of darkness. I am sure we could get support from the citizens who use the courts regularly to help keep the initial costs down, and even some volunteers to help get them set up. I know it’s on the list of projects already, but it is a very low priority at this time. There are lots of people who’d like to see this project get pushed forward. Thanks.

-. i would also like to suggest the addition of a second play area at North park, closer to the closed in pavilion because when groups have reunions, church groups etc. people have to leave the group to take their children to play on the otherside of the park.

- I think that Fairbury should consider a usage study or survey of North Park. Notes from a meeting indicated that there weren't enough dog walkers or sand volleyball players to justify dog walk stations or court lights, but I think that this is incorrect. We use North Park facilities very often, and see numerous dog walkers and plenty of groups using sand courts during the warm seasons (which would be further augmented by adding lighting).

- Lets get North Park screens done!

- North park needs attention, Marsh park looks great but north park needs playground equipment painted and better lighting. Also cleaned up, so many families us it and there is garbage in the chips in the summer and the picnic tables need repainted/boards replaced.

City Maintained Sidewalks on Main Street or Street/Alley issues (4 comments)

- Also, in parking in front of the Bluestem Bank on main street, the holes need to be fixed so the front tires don't go into them, especially bad when snow or ice is on the street as it makes it hard to get a car to back up if the front tire is in the hole, which there are more than one.

- street repair at various areas of the town are needed. also some alleys such as ours needs constant attention as nearly everyone on our block uses it

- The only business sidewalk I'm aware that needs fixed is in front of Fairbury Furniture.

- Half block of sidewalk on first street needs to be completed on the west side so people don't have to walk in street.

Homeowner Owned Residential Sidewalks (4 comments)

- Do make the homeowners redo the side walls but the city works because not that many people have the money to do that and it's a hazard for people walking and in wheel chairs

- Sidewalks: most are in good shape but some are absolutely terrible! I wish there could be a minimum standard that would require a homeowner to repair sidewalks to a usable state. Even if city needs to step in.

- Fairbury sidewalks are difficult and dangerous to walk on. We need sidewalks on Wanda Lane to the high school and Cherry St towards 4th St as well.

- The residential sidewalks are steadily improving - good job Martin and his crew!

Fairbury Fair and Race Track (4 comments)

- The Fair and the community need to cooperate more. The Race program has had support in the past, not sure what the future holds for it. The Fair seems to suffer from a lack of family type activities. Over the last few years it has become a beer tent festival with no real attempt to attract families for some good fun.

- How the American Legion treated its dedicated volunteer board by firing them and now having race people run the fair part of it.What does this show the town and its citizens that a respected organization can treat their dedicated volunteer board that put in countless hours to bring people into this town through the running of fals and the Fairbury fair, which had made the prairie dirt classic one of the nations top races witch brought out of town people to this town which they shopped the stores of this town. And you want to know how to make this town better stop the lies that happened with this situation. I was on the board for 17 years which I made it my life putting the Fair and races before my family. Before that I volunteered at the boys and Girls Club. You look for volunteers to help in this town but after that it makes a person not to volunteer for anything. Thank you

- More events centering around Summernationals & Prairie Dirt weekends. Car Shows, cook outs, etc.

- I was a volunteer for the Fairbury Fair and races for 6 years until the Legion fired the entire board in November. Not ready to throw myself under the bus again yet. 😩

Better Communication of Community Events (4 Comments)

- The city needs to do a better job of publically exposing programs like the BSA and girl scouts and other porgrams to the public

- I wasn't aware of many events until close to the date or on the date and already made plans. Is there a better way to advertise for them?

- More advertising of events!!! Like at Casey or something

- How about cohesive community news? Like announcements of local events and what's happening in town. There are people/ organizations doing some of this but maybe more comprehensive and more clearly presented.

Additional over-21 Events (3 comments)

- We need more activities for all ages. For 21 and over, we need live music and talent that adults can enjoy.

- I’m okay with any restaurant coming to Fairbury (Events 21 & over)

- As far as the over-21 stuff -- I don't know if we need more or not. I've think that on Saturday Race Days, from mid afternoon to Race Start/Dusk there should be picnic tables at the park by the Gazebo and people should be allowed to have drinks outside. Let vendors that are interested in selling drinks or snacks or BBQ set up booth. Let a bands or DJ's request 1 hr segments to play. So people going to the races could hang out downtown until the race starts. Any drunken or disorderly behavior would obviously not be tolerated. This is just to chill out and gather with friends and enjoy life.

Replace Old Hospital with New South Side Park (3 comments)

- Suggestion: a south side park would be much nicer than the old hospital !!

- would like to know of any renewed discussion or plans to tear down old hospital between south fifth and sixth streets

- I think Fairbury should get rid of the old Hospital and make a park there.

Additional Industries and Jobs (3 comments)

- I would like to see more industry or businesses in Fairbury. This would create employment opportunities to attract people to live and work in Fairbury.

- I like the idea of more businesses - the question is whether they can be profitable in an Amazon society....are we trying to gear towards a tourist crowd (think Galena) or provide local shopping to residents?

- We enjoy the Main St. Shops, we could use more of those.

Indoor Public Pool (3 comments)

- I think Fairbury needs a public indoor pool.

-. Also a heated indoor pool would be awesome addition to our town.

- I would love to see the pool updated (enclosed?) to be used year round.

Unacceptable Appearance of Houses or Buildings (3 comments)

- Yes, several houses in town in very bad shape with debris in yards. Why don’t we have any codes or enforcement and if we do, why do several places still look so very bad? This upsets me very much. Do these folks need help?

- i like the updates around town, but also feel some of the outdated building should be let go or tore down for future new construction with updated materials. just a thought. how long will we keep updating and rebuilding old work out stuff and at what expense?

- Would be nice to see dilapidated homes torn down.

Repair Railroad Track Crossings (3 comments)

- I would like to see the train tracks fixed at road crossings.

- The railroad tracks are in need of attention. They are horrible!

- The railroad crossings are very rough, could these be fixed?

Dog Park and Skate Park (2 comments)

- Would be good to have a skate park, and a dog park.

- Would love to see a small portion of one of the parks made into a dog park.

Additional Hotels and Bed & Breakfast Facilities (2 comments)

-1 a hotel would be nice but not another B and B a hotel would nice nobody under 50 wants to stay in a B and B when traveling here and a lot of people stay in Pontiac or Bloomington.

- As far as the bed & breakfasts -- I don't know if we need more or not. It seems air-bnb may solve this?

Marsh Park Annual Event (2 comments)

- Don't hold marsh park event near holidays

- Events - I would like to see the Marsh Park celebration moved to 4 of July. Since Fairbury does not do a large celebration on this day I feel an afternoon event would work well. .

Main Street Beautification (2 comments)

- Generally speaking I see many areas that should be maintained or improved before building or starting something new. Let's call it beautification. So I'm not going to vote for new projects when others are falling apart. For example, take a slow drive down main street with the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time. Before promoting tourism maybe we should do a little sprucing up.

- Thankful there is an effort to improve the community and thankful to live here. I want to see the area thrive like it was when I was a kid. Restaurants and businesses not only need to be friendly but produce quality goods to be successful in a small town. My biggest concern is there isn't a good vision for what the aesthetic of our town is. Decisions in the past by the city, and business owners haven't taken into consideration how maybe we should want the town to look/feel like(or maybe they just have had bad taste). Side walks and signs are a very small part of that. Tearing down trees/historic structures for shed buildings or updating downtown buildings cheaply and not using appealing design, these things make a difference. I was born here and when I drive through Fairbury I feel over the years the look of the town has cheapened and I see so much potential for a place that draws people for it's (if it could be done) charm.

Note: The suggested Main Street decor photo that was referenced by this person is shown below.............

Miscellaneous Category (1 entry item each, 17 comments)

-Who wrote this survey? I was excited when I heard the survey was going out, but I feel the selection of questions falls short of what we should be asking. Odd questions and odd selection of choices.

- Movie theater & better tv & internet. Mediacom is expensive and goes out everyday. Yes I’ve tried the other net providers.

- Make the water bill printed on actual paper 8x11.and send them to citizens every month not just once and a while.

- Noise ordinance on vehicles

- And instead of an annual survey, how about an ongoing comments/suggestions service. Do we have one? If so do people know about it?

- Question 13: specialty store What about some thing that can be interactive where people can congregate and enjoy time together. Like a place that can hold cooking classes (similar to ones at Sur la Table), or teach knitting lessons.

- I attended the sunken park event this summer (flavors from the farm??) and while it was ok, I felt like there wasn't anyone organizing it. Odd layout and pretty disjointed. Not quite sure the farm connection. I'd rather scrap that concept and have a regular "taste of" event with all area restaurants. (Think Dave's pig out) More cohesive setup staged on main street with vendors (the block was already closed but only a tiny portion was being used). And something for the kids to do for a family event. My parents and I went this year but we all decided we won't go back again as it stands now.

--Also improve the school system, prairie central is unsble to compete with the quality of education that other schools recieve. They do not effectively prepare students for college or for very many students to get into good colleges.

- I appreciate the work that Prairielands has done at Fugate and James Woods and would be willing to help.

- Race Car Museum - Fairbury is the perfect town to add a museum. This idea has been around for a number of years and a lot of work has been put into it. Funding to get this project off the ground has been very difficult to acquire. Maybe a concerted effort by the group to help this project take hold would be helpful.

- I would appreciate Fairbury planting more trees to replace the ones cut down,, Especially on Oak and north 4th streets.

- We pay a lot of taxes in this town/county, the people just want to see their money going for things that are tangible. What about a city wide WiFi network? Cheaper water bills? Better street maintenance? I do love this town though.

- City of Fairbury needs to cut something I order to help pay for the water plant that is causing the increase in water bills. Families can not afford what we pay already, let alone another increase. It needs to decrease. Our prices are outrageous. Maybe benefits need to be raised to help raise money for it (auctions). Or the town should ask for donations to go towards it. Someone donated to the public library. Maybe that person would be interested in donating towards this expense as well.

- Many events at the library are during the day. Many moms and dads work during the day. The city should keep this in mind!

- The biggest complaint I have about Fairbury. Is the lack of cellphone signal.

- Would like to see a vendor/ craft fair annually in Fairbury

- I believe there is a very strong need for a recreation center in our community. This would have a major impact on EVERYONE in the surrounding Prairie Central areas--both young & old. This would promote healthier lifestyles while providing positive experiences and outlets for our children. A rec center/YMCA type facility would also be attractive to future residents looking to move into and stay in the area. One of the drawbacks of living in Fairbury, is that there is a lack of recreation opportunities. I have heard many different groups of people from retirees to young families all saying how much they wish we had a recreation center. The amount of use the facility would bring in many people and provide a terrific service for our community. Especially our YOUTH!!!!!