Over the past several years the City of Gilman has made many improvements to the infrastructure of Gilman. Years ago, drainage was a major problem in our city. Many of our older population will remember flooding areas such as S Central, S Main, S Thomas, Mann Park, Thomas and Fifth and N Peoria. Many other areas have been vastly improved. There will still be more drainage projects in the coming years.
Most of our sanitary system was installed in the 1930’s. Several thousand feet of sewer mains have been replaced over the past 30 years. We are currently upgrading the main trunk line from the sewer plant going to Fifth and Maple, then west on Fifth under the CN tracks. As part of this project, Fifth Street will be completely reconstructed. It will be asphalt and will be wider than the original street. This project is a $2.3 million loan through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. When the project is completed, 30% of the final dollar amount will be forgiven. The remainder is a loan with a rate of 0.93% for 20 years. To get this approved, we were mandated by the IEPA to raise our sewer rates by $1.50 per thousand gallons to make the payment. There are still several blocks of sewer that need to be replaced.
In 2021, Gilman was notified that we would receive a $2 million streetscape grant for our downtown business district. To qualify for the grant, we had to include landscaping and beautification. Water main upgrades were made in the fall of 2021 and construction of street improvements began in 2022. There were many headaches and unforeseen problems with this project. The downtown looks great with the new lighting being one of the biggest improvements. The downside of the project is that we did lose some parking.
With many underground projects being completed over the last 25 years, the city has started to concentrate on more street improvements. Beginning in 2017, South Main was completely rebuilt. This included new water mains and major drainage upgrades. The same then happened on North Thomas and East Second in 2019. This year’s project was on East Third and North Maple. This job had delays due to overhead utility relocations. The first lift of asphalt was put down late fall. The second layer of asphalt will be put down this spring along with final grading, grass seed and 30 new trees.
All of the above projects come with many problems and frustrations. Most of the residents and businesses have been fantastic to work with when there is a problem. I also understand how some people can get upset when there is a problem. We will work together to find a reasonable solution when these problems occur. The Maple Street project this year had one resident who had his cable line cut. Not long after, a semi-trailer tore the electrical service to his house and then his gas line was cut while excavating for new curbs. The resident took it all in stride and I would like to publicly thank Gary Pugh for his patience and understanding.
I realize that the town has been torn up these last years. Gilman is very fortunate to be able to make so many improvements to our aging infrastructure. This year’s major project will be another street project on Third Street from Thomas to the CN tracks and Main Street from Second to Third. Bids are to be submitted for our March meeting. We are also trying to plan and design another water main upgrade for later this year. The Old Boys and Girls Reunion is in 2025. Projects for that year will be in areas not to impact the reunion.
Gilman has started the process to build a new water treatment plant on Rte 24. We are applying for another IEPA loan. With this being a water project, we should be eligible for 50% loan forgiveness and the remainder should be less than 1% for 20 years. The engineers’ estimate for this project is approximately $2.4 million. In 2000, Gilman added a 400,000 gallon water tank near the interstate. This significantly improved our fire rating, which helps determine insurance rates for our community. We will continue to upgrade our aging water system.
All of the above projects come with a large financial investment. We have received millions of dollars in federal and state grants over the years. Our current engineering firm (Piggush Engineering) has been very successful in finding grants and low interest loans over the past years. That is only a small portion of the costs of these projects. In 2018, the city implemented a 2 cent a gallon local gas tax and increased it to 4 cents in 2021. When studying other communities that have local gas taxes, we found that most charged 5 cents. Watseka has 5 cents and Onarga has 3 cents. One community has over 8 cents. Last fiscal year, Gilman collected $690,000 in local motor fuel tax. This is one reason we have been able to make so many street improvements. I believe that 90+% of those funds collected are due to I-57. The local gas tax helps keep our real estate taxes low. The people traveling on the interstate are helping fund the infrastructure of Gilman. We pay other communities when we travel to and buy goods usually in much higher sales tax.
TIF funds have been a large source of funding these projects. A TIF (Tax Increment Financing) district was created in 1998 and expired at the end of 2022. TIF funds come to the city from the increase in assessment within the boundaries that were established with the creation of the district. We must spend these funds for projects within the boundaries. We are in the process of establishing another TIF district so we can continue to make improvements to our aging infrastructure. There are still millions of dollars that are needed for sewer, water and street improvements.
Since 2021, Gilman has had a contract with Iroquois County for police protection. This is becoming a better option for small communities. It is hard for small departments to keep qualified help. Once a young officer becomes trained and qualified, they often want to move on to larger departments that can offer more pay and benefits. We are guaranteed coverage for a minimum of 40 hours per week with the county. Residents still call 911 for emergencies and (815) 432-4918 for non-emergencies.
Gilman does permit golf carts on city streets. To be legal, you are required to register your golf cart at city hall and be a licensed driver. There is no charge to register but proof of insurance is required.
The past and the current city council have been great to work with. All current council members attended our local school district. We may not always get everything perfect, but every council member has the best intentions for the City of Gilman. We have numerous projects that need to be completed over the next years. Let’s continue to make Gilman a great place to live.
Rick Theesfeld
Mayor