The Fairbury city council is composed of eight people plus the mayor, but now one of those seats needs to be filled - and it has nothing to do with Election Day last week.

Last Tuesday night's city council meeting was the final one for Dusty Schmidt, whose family is moving out of Fairbury. That makes him ineligible to represent the city's third ward on the council, so someone else who lives in that part of the city must be nominated to fill the seat.

Schmidt has served on the city council for the last four years. Mayor Kelly Davis said Tuesday he's been preparing for Schmidt's departure for a few months, and thanked him for his service to the city for the past four years.

"Dusty, I do want to thank you for stepping in when we needed you, and for all the stuff you've done for us all," said Davis, who was a member of the city council when Schmidt first joined the group. "We'll miss you, it's been appreciated, and thank you."

Schmidt was first appointed to the council himself in 2021 to fill the seat vacated when former councilmember Rick Carmichael passed away. Schmidt was then re-elected to the position in 2022.

Mayor Davis said Tuesday he's been considering successors for the last few weeks. Last Tuesday's meeting was Schmidt's last as a member of the council, when means next Tuesday's meeting will be the first where the seat is formally vacated.

The next member of the council will be an interim member until the seat comes up for election next year, the same process Schmidt followed when he first was appointed to the vacant seat in 2021. After the one meeting where the seat is vacant, a candidate for the role will be presented at the first council meeting in December, and if the rest of the council approves them, they can be sworn in that night.