The DeKalb City Council will bring in new faces and discuss the sesquicentennial celebration at a special meeting Monday night.

Newly elected members of the city council and Mayor-elect Frank Van Buer will be inaugurated, and the new council members will decide the members of DeKalb’s 150-year anniversary committee.

DeKalb was officially established as a village with less than 1,000 people in 1856, City Manager Mark Biernacki said. The city has since grown to a population of roughly 43,500.

The city recommended 14 people for this committee and set aside $15,000 for marketing, he said. The committee will decide when the 2006 celebration will take place, how long it will be, come up with ideas for activities and garner the support of private sponsors and donors for the event.

In continuing a decade-old DeKalb tradition, Farmer’s Market will return every Thursday this summer to Palmer Court between Second and Third streets. The city will allocate space to Main Street DeKalb Inc. from June 2 to Oct. 27 for this purpose.

In other business, the council will vote on the construction of a 3.5-mile gas pipeline for Nicor gas along Peace Road.

At a previous meeting, council members expressed concern about the pipeline being in the way of future Peace Road expansions. The pipeline’s location has been moved 20 feet toward the east to address those concerns.

The city has allocated a third of its $3.3 million volume cap to assist first-time home owners through the Stern Brothers Assist First Time Home Buyers Program.

The volume cap is a tax-free, bonding authority allocated by the state and based on a city’s population.

Eight to 10 home owners will benefit from this program, Biernacki said. This is one of three programs to assist first-time home owners in financing mortgages.

The council is also preparing for the start of the new fiscal year.

In preparing for the start of a new fiscal year, the city will hold budget workshop meetings May 16 and 17, and if necessary, May 19.