The Village Office will be Closed to the Public this week on 25-27 March 2025, so that the Office staff can upgrade to the newest version of our accounting and utility billing software. All payments made to the drop box will be collected and phones answered in a timely manner. Any Maintenance support calls should be handled in the same manner as usual, call and leave message at the Village Office – please DO NOT call the maintenance employees directly. As a reminder, the Village Office phone number is (309) 887-4064/4065.

UPDATE: Postponed to March 12 @ 6PM due to bad weather.

On March 5 from 6-7:00PM there will be a celebration of reading and Dr. Seuss’s birthday! Oh, the Places we will Read!

Hope to see a lot of kids come enjoy some good books!

UPDATE: Water is good for human consumption – BOIL ORDER LIFTED. Thanks for your patience!

As most of you know at this point the Village suffered a major water line break on South Church Street. The belief at this time is that a smaller leak initially developed under the road. This smaller leak eroded the ground under the street until there was a catastrophic failure of the road causing it to fall, severing approximately 20 feet of 6 inch water main. Once the main was severed it caused the remaining water in the tower and system to completely drain, further eroding the hillside. Initial repairs included getting dangerous trees removed from the roadway and surrounding area, stabilization of an exposed 3 inch gas main and stabilization of the ground under the water main. Initial repairs were completed by around 11:30AM and we began the process of refilling the system.

Having the water completely drain is very hard on the system and generally results in additional leaks as was the case on 4^th Avenue North near the baseball park. Crews remained in town and finished those repairs around 8PM. Please be on the lookout in your neighborhood for unusual ponding or flowing water as more leaks may develop or become more noticeable.

Initial water samples were pulled from five sites around town once the system regained enough pressure. The initial samples were delivered to the lab around 4:30PM and we will not get results until late afternoon on the 12^th of February 2025. Residents are reminded that a boil order is in effect until samples are good. During the next few days you may notice additional or unusual smells or your water may be slightly discolored even after the boil order is lifted. Most of the discoloration and smells will be from sediment in the system that was dislodged and slightly higher chlorine residuals. If you continue to have water issues or have concerns please contact the Village Office so that we can investigate further.

Due to the storm system and colder temps moving into the area we will be focusing most of our attention on keeping the roads safe and protecting the repairs from freezing. South Church Street in the area of the repair will remain closed until repairs and stabilization efforts are complete. Please bear with us while we do our best to address the issues in front of us.

Additionally, I would like to thank our Public Works Department, the crews from JCE, BWC and Dan’s Tree Service for their fast response time and their efforts in getting us back online.

Thanks, Jerry

Do you like good ole baked potatoes with all those juicy toppings? Well have we got an event for you! There will be the 2nd Annual Baked Potato Bar presented by the Albany Community Support Group (ACSG) on March 14, 2025 from 5-7:00 P.M. at the Albany United Methodist Church, 502 1st Ave, Albany, IL.

Why not take this opportunity to come out and support your community by enjoying a nice dinner together with your friends. Let’s all show our appreciation too for this hard working group that is trying to keep our town busy with some fun activities. Potatoes not your thing? Just keep watching here for other future activities presented by the ACSG.