Broken sewer line repaired with more extensive route taken

Initial repair of the broken sewer line in Gilman, is done, with all new PVC piping. Although the Gilman Village Board hoped to simply sleeve the break, after speaking with Jakel, the company in charge of repairs, it was decided that is not going to be the best option. In a regular meeting July 14, director of public works Rick Johnson said with this option, if there is a problem, the village will be able to jet out the line.

However, that doesn’t mean it’s been an easy fix, as the repairs were made running under the highway, which involves the Wisconsin DOT. The state is insisting that the village repave the road immediately, but Johnson said he can’t get anyone to pave it for a couple weeks after the project is done. In the meantime, he will use cold mix, then have the pavers do a couple other street projects while they’re at it.

“So, that’s the way this is going to roll,” said Johnson.

In addition, a portion of the sidewalk needs to be replaced, but the board agreed they need to do the rest of the sidewalk in front of the village hall/library and get it done, as pitting is occurring heavily in that area. The most cost effective method is to take out the sidewalk to the curb, for about $10,000, in addition to extra removal work from a local subcontractor.

“It makes more sense to just do it all,” said trustee Mark Person.

“I didn’t think it was that bad,” said trustee Eileen Grunseth of the cost. “It could be worse.”

Another project the village is dealing with, is the installation of two cameras in the park, which are now set up, except the solar panels to “juice them,” relying on battery power for the moment. Gilman Police Chief Tom Tallier, who is in charge of the project, said they can add to the camera system, but that he wants to wait for a while.

“We’ll see how they work, how they turn out,” he said. “We have plenty of money to go order more to supplement the ones we did order.”

For now, Tallier is trying to avoid paying $100/month for WiFi and instead, is relying on cellular data to operate the cameras.

Tallier also said, in regards to tall, grassy lawns within the village, if someone is over the length the ordinance specifies, he prefer a village official or resident requests the property owner be notified they are in violation, instead of the police department taking the reins.

In the event, they receive any comments, village president Jane DeStaercke told trustees she received a communication from Keaton Schultz, owner of the mobile home parks, requesting a meeting regarding proposed ordinance changes.

DeStaercke contacted Schultz, stating the village is quite willing to work with him and discuss changes, but never heard back.

“We never did find out for sure what that was,” she said. “So, the ball is in his court, as they say.”

There was also news for the trustees to digest, as village clerk Candice Grunseth informed them that Peoples Choice Credit Union is merging with Royal Credit Union (RCU) and with the merger, RCU is closing the Gilman branch of Peoples Choice, around Sept. 1. The nearest location of a branch of the merger will be in Medford.

“So, we will have to decide…if we’re going to make RCU an approved depositor or move the funds,” said C. Grunseth.

Johnson also notified the board that he ordered two replacement trees – one for near the bank and one for in the park on Main Street.

“Why do you think this one didn’t make it?” asked E. Grunseth of the park tree.

Johnson says it’s because of the poor topsoil, since the area used to be an old parking lot for machinery. He mentioned that some of the trees there are starting to reach some age and are living, so he hopes the one ordered will thrive.

“I’ve replaced a lot of trees in that little park, already,” he said. “It’ll get better with time.”

He also reported that the village flushed all the fire hydrants and because some of the wells were changed out, residents might have noticed high oxygen in the water, making it cloudy coming out of the faucet. Johnson says the foggy water won’t hurt anyone and that it should straighten out after a few days, but sympathizes with people’s concerns.

“It’s something you got to put up with,” said Johnson.