GAYS MILLS - At their meeting Monday night, the Gays Mills Village Board discussed and then passed a motion prohibiting swimming in the Kickapoo River near the dam.

The motion made by village trustee Emily Swiggum, and seconded by trustee Lee Ruegg, prohibits swimming below the dam–from the dam to the bridge. It also prohibits swimming in the river for 500 feet above the dam, which should stop swimmers from going past the canoe portage landing toward the dam.

Swimming in the river has become increasingly popular it seems. Gays Mills Village President Harry Heisz received seven calls reporting swimmers in the river near the dam recently.

While the motion passed by the board does not prohibit swimming in the river beyond 500 feet away from the dam, it should be noted that just blocks away, the village maintains a pool with lifeguards for anyone’s swimming enjoyment.

Chip sealing on roads

The meeting began with a public works report that wound up authorizing doing chip-and-seal work on four of the village’s outlying asphalt roads at an estimated cost of $85,000.

The village will approach the bank for a loan and pay back the money in three years, according to village president Harry Heisz.

The roads or portions of roads that will be resurfaced include West River Road from Highway 171 to O’Neil Ridge Road; West Point Road from Highway 171 north to the village limits; about 1.6 miles of Old Gays Road from Highway 171 up the hill to the village limits; and a portion of Opal’s Road off Highway 131 near the fairgrounds.

In other business

In other business, the board:

• learned from a citizen’s and trustee’s comments that speeding vehicles in the Rebecca-Railroad Street area, including ATVs and cars, are endangering pedestrians; and decided to use some speed bumps in the area to slow down traffic.

• learned the resurfaced tennis court and pickle ball courts are getting some more filler in cracks before the project is completed

• approved a $1,200 contribution  toward installing lights at the village softball field, with a lot of other equipment that has been donated

• heard that directional signage will be created and installed in the downtown

• agreed to look into installing fiber optic cable to some location to enable the village to install surveillance cameras

• briefly discussed handling the unused dam house buildings west of the Kickapoo River, and how to have them razed

• learned the Friends of the Gays Mills Library and others would like to get the projector being used in the Community Commerce Center’s big meeting room upgraded.