Gilman Village cleanup will have to wait for the time being

Normally, Gilman holds a community cleanup in the spring, but with the COVID-19 pandemic putting a hold on almost every aspect of life, the recycling day was postponed. The Gilman Village Board discussed the matter at a regular meeting May 13, but couldn’t give the public a definite answer.

“If the county kept their recycling (date), then we had planned to offer ours after that,” said village president Jane DeStaercke.

Since the county cleanup is also in limbo, DeStaercke suggested Gilman follow the county, which means the date is still in question. DeStaercke says Gilman could also look into possibly doing a curbside pick-up through Express Disposal, while waiting on the dumpster dropoff until fall.

There has also been some interest in the village mobile home courts, where building inspector Jim Flood said an appraisal should be completed for the mobile home courts, in the event the village would want to move forward with an offer to purchase the courts. The village has a couple bids “out” to see the best offer.

Residents may notice the village’s test siren sounding on Wednesdays from now on, instead of Saturdays. The noon testing is to fall in line with other municipalities in the county, after Colleen Handrick, Taylor County Emergency Management director, requested Gilman coordinate for a better use of resources.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a real big issue,” said DeStaercke.

DeStaercke also mentioned that Gilman is set to follow guidelines for reopening in a safe way, but that information is ever changing.

“The bottom line is, we can’t spend enough money to qualify for any FEMA financing anyway,” she said of any financial help from certain agencies.