The trickle down affect of a poor economy can shake the foundations of a small town.

And now some Central Illinois towns are looking to conserve and move on, from the ground up.

Pekin residents are facing a harsh reality as gas has risen about 20-cents overnight.

City Manager Dennis Kief says with the ever-rising gas prices, he's had to find ways to cut back.

"A flexible fuel fleet..." said Kief.

Kief says they are in the process of buying city vehicles that use E-85 fuel.

"We have several of our inspector's vehicles that are now flexible fuel" said the City Manager.

Pekin is home to two ethanol plants that Kief says provided part of the funds for the new fleet.

The City Manager says the he is also looking to extend bus service between Pekin and Peoria to make hourly routes.

With four dollar a gallon gas it's pretty expensive, so it you can do it on a bus, I think you're going to see more and more people doing it"said Kief.

And soon Pekin's city offices will be required to keep their thermostats at 72 degrees year round.

High-energy prices are affecting everyone these days, and Pekin isn't the only city trying to find ways around them.

Ann Ruggles of the Peoria police department says they are also trying to make cost effective changes...They are looking into buying Segways.

"It would be on a small scale, but we feel that there's probably a lot of areas they could be used" said Ruggles.

She says it would mostly be for Parking enforcement, events on the river and even some street patrols.

In addition, the department is also asking officers to help conserve while they're out on the street.

"When they're out of their vehicles, the vehicles are to be shut off...they're not to be left idling" said Ruggles.

Although it seems these changes may not save lots of money, city officials believe it's a positive start.