Fireworks Safety

Only boats with gas engines require permits. If your boat only has a trolling motor, you don't need a permit. The cost of an annual permit is $20 if you live in town, and $40 if you are a visitor. The permits are good from May 1st through April 30th. For more information about our watercraft ordinance please click the link below.

 https://library.municode.com/il/eureka/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CH50PARE_ARTIILAEU_S50-25BOOTRE

There are a few different ways to pay your water bill: 1. You can pay in person at the City building located at 111 West Court Street. Our hours are from 7am - 3:30pm (we do close for a half hour lunch at noon), and all payments need to be in the form of cash or check.  2. You may pay after hours at the City building using our drop box located on the east side of the building.  3. You can pay through the City's website using a debit or credit card.  4. You can request a form to have your bill directly taken out of your checking account each month. Once the form has been filled out and submitted with a voided check we can enroll you in our auto-pay program.  5. You can always pay your water bill by mailing it to us at 111 W. Court Street Eureka, Il 61530.

Whether it's for a pool, fence, garden, or tree removal it's always important to have the utilities in your yard located before you begin to dig. To get the utilities located on your property all you need to do is call 811 and provide your information to the J.U.L.I.E. service. For more information on locating utilities and why it's important click this link.   https://www.illinois1call.com 

Sometimes it's hard to know if you need a building permit, for instance putting up a pool. Do you need a building permit to put up a pool? The answer to that question is both "yes" and "no". If your pool is seasonal and you take it down at the end of the season only to put it back up when the season starts the following year, then no you don't need a permit. If your pool is going to be up year round, then yes you do need a permit. Sometimes finding out an answer can be complicated, to make it easier on yourself just call us at the City Building at (309) 467-2113 and we will help to navigate you to the correct answer for whatever your project might be.

There are two ways to make a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request. One way is by using the link on the City's website, and the other is to pick it up in person at the City Building. The City of Eureka has 3 FOIA officers who can take your request they are; Marilyn Walter (City Clerk), Jennifer Davis (Deputy City Clerk), and Cameron Fawley (Municipal Liaison). The City of Eureka can only provide information that pertains to the City's jurisdiction and it's own departments and staff. For example if you need a copy of a police report, we only have access to the police reports generated by City of Eureka Police Officers. If another entity such as Woodford County Sheriff's Department or State of Illinois Trooper wrote the report for an accident, you would need to go to that agency to get the report or records that you are looking for.

To rent the pavilion at the park you can call or come to City Hall to check the availability of the pavilion for the date you are looking for. If the date is open you just need to pay the rental fee ($30.00 for residents and $100.00 for non-residents), pay the $50.00 deposit, and then sign the rental agreement. We hold the deposits with a signed copy of the rental agreement so we ask that if paying by check, you write 2 checks. One for the rental, and the other for the deposit. If everything is left clean, there’s no damages, and the keys are returned within two days of your event you get the deposit back.

To start, stop, or change the address of your water service is a simple process that in many cases can be done over the phone by calling (309) 467-2113. If you are renting we will not be able to put you into the system until we receive a photocopy of your I.D. as well as a water deposit of $75 in either cash or check. 

While the Police Department is located within the City Building, there isn't always an officer at the building for people to talk to. The officers are often out on patrol, responding to calls and complaints, and in general busy all day long. The best way to get a hold of an officer if it is a non emergency is to call dispatch. The reason that this is the best way to reach an officer is because dispatch is in constant communication with the officers and relaying information to them. The non emergency number for dispatch is (309) 467-2375. The people working the phones there will take your information and relay it to the on duty officer for Eureka. In the case of an emergency, call 911.

The best thing to do is to call us at (309) 467-2113. We don't want to shut anyone off, as a matter of fact we keep a list of local agencies that can help with past due utilities that we give to people who are struggling. We also work with people and can come up with a payment plan to help keep your service on while paying down your balance. So again, if you get a disconnection notice the best thing you can do is call us.  

Fishing is allowed during the normal park hours of sunrise to 11pm, however all boats must be off of the water by sunset. Eureka Lake fishing regulations are governed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources information on the lake can be found on the link provided to their website.

https://www.ifishillinois.org/profiles/waterbody.php?waternum=00038 

More information on site specific regulations for Lake Eureka can be found on pages 10,11, and 35 of "2024 Illinois Fishing Regulation Information".

https://www.ifishillinois.org/regulations/FishingDigest.pdf

In general the park opens at sunrise and closes at 11pm, boating is permitted from sunrise to sunset only. 

Most days City Hall office hours are Monday - Friday. We open at 7am, we are closed from 12-12:30 for lunch, and close for the day at 3:30pm.

As of January 6th 2025, the City of Eureka follows the IBC 2018 building code.

The City Hall closes for the observations of the following holidays: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day and the Friday following Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. While City Hall is closed on these days, the police department will still be open with an officer on duty. To reach an officer when City Hall is closed you can call the non-emergency number for Woodford County Sheriff's Office (309) 467-2113 or in case of an emergency call 911.

A pool credit is a credit that we give out once a year to people filling their pools using their tap water. The way it works is the homeowner calls us up and lets us know that they've filled their pool and give us how many gallons it took to fill the pool. We will then make sure that you don't encure a sewer charge for the water that you used to fill your pool. If you fill your pool by hauling water from the filling station you will not qualify for the pool credit. If you don't know how many gallons of water your pool holds then the best way to find out is to take a picture of your water transponder before and after filling your pool, the difference between the two numbers should give you an idea of how much water it took to fill your pool. To record your pool credit just call (309) 467-2113.

Unfortunately from time to time the City will have to issue a boil order. Sometimes a boil order is generated by a broken water main, whereas other times the boil order is caused by the replacing of pumps or parts at the water plant. No matter why the boil order is generated the reason it is issued is for public safety. With that in mind, here is a link to the CDC's website with information on what to do when under a boil order. 

https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/drinking/drinking-water-advi…

The City of Eureka's water billing cycle works like this:  1. At the end of the month the Water Department gathers the data from the transponders located in everyone's house or apartment.  2. That data is turned into the city building where it is uploaded to our system for generating the water bills and are printed off for each individual residence in town.  3. The water bills are then mailed off at the beginning of the month and are due at the end of the month.

If you've not received your water bill by the middle of the month, please feel free to contact us at (309) 467-2113 and we will look up your account and let you know what your balance is for that month.

The City Building is located at 111 West Court Street. 

There could be a few different reasons as to why your brush wasn't picked up. As stated on the City's Pick Up Schedule:

"Stack brush parallel with the curb, but not in the street.  Limbs must be manageable by our forklift.  Limbs must not exceed 8 inches in diameter or 10 feet in length. Brush and twigs less than 24 inches long must be boxed, tied in bundles or in paper bags.   NO MATERIAL IN PLASTIC BAGS WILL BE PICKED UP.   Do not stack materials behind parked vehicles or on or around any water shut-off, power pole, guide wire, tree, sign post, mail box, etc.  If the above requirements are not met, materials will not be picked up."

Other reasons that your brush wasn't picked up is if it was put out late, or if there was trash or debris mixed in with it that isn't organic yard waste.