The Ellsworth Village Board met last week Monday, August 3rd.

The Board had good news for residents looking to enjoy the outdoors this summer.

“Cairns Woods is clean, people can use it,” Parks Committee Chair Lance Austin informed the Village Board.

The 34-acre piece of land, consisting of 19 acres of wooded area, recently had all of its’ trails widened and cleaned up.

Later in the meeting, the Routes to Recovery local government aid grants program was discussed. The Village of Ellsworth elected to use the money, totaling just over $54,000, to update some different technological needs: one being new laptop computers.

It was reported that the voting equipment will need to be updated as well, but that it could wait until next year.

Village Administrator Nicole Stewart informed the Board that she will turn in quotes to the State to verify that the cost will be covered by the Route to Recovery Grant.

Library Director Tiffany Meyer gave the Board her monthly report, detailing some different expenses that have come up dealing with the pandemic.

“Along with cloth face coverings for library staff, paper masks and hand sanitizer for the public, and extra cleaning supplies, the library has purchased a custom-made sneezeguard for the circulation desk, air purifiers for various parts of the library and a mobile PA system to use when programs resume so people can continue to practice physical distancing, yet easily hear a performance or presentation,” Meyer outlined.

Meyer also explained the need for the air purifier system, detailing that they are unable to open doors or windows to let air circulate naturally.

The Ellsworth Public Library has also updated their process on quarantining library materials after more information has come out about how long the COVID-19 virus can linger on magazine pages.

As a result, the library has increased quarantine time to 96 hours.