Council Honors Veterans, Approves Re-Striping on Commercial

[Public Policy]

"Wednesday is a day on, not a day off to thank Veterans and Veterans Day is important to City Council every year," said City Councilor Dan Clem. Clem and other City Councilors thanked all those who have served in the armed forces as a part of Monday night's meeting at City Hall.

City staff and elected officials were honored to begin the evening's agenda. Those recognized included:

- Council President Bruce Rogers, United States Navy (1964-66 - Vietnam)
- Deputy City Manager Sean O' Day, United States Army (Currently active, served in Afghanistan)
- Mark Freed, 11 and 1/2 Years of service beginning in 1979, Nuclear Submarine Service
- Mike Gotterba, United States Navy, (1967-71 - Vietnam)
- Bob Whitney, United States Navy, 1978-84
- Andy Wilch, United States Air Force, 1985-89
- Alan Alexander, United States Army, 1969-73, Vietnam and 2005 service in Iraq
- City Councilor Dan Clem, United States Army, 1980-2000

Mayor Taylor also encouraged citizens to be a part of the Minto-Brown Park Restoration Outreach. Two remaining community forums will provide residents with an opportunity to talk about the types of restoration work they would like to see. The 2 meetings will take place on Thursday, November 12th from 6-8pm at Leslie Middle School
and Saturday, November 14th at 10am at Pringle Hall in Pringle Park on Church Street.

Staff of the Public Works Department provided a report on the status of pursuing quiet zones for rail lines within the City. The Keep Salem Moving bond for streets and bridges (which passed in November of 2008) included dollars to establish quiet zones. The city is currently pursuing a quiet zone for the rail line between Mill Street north to Madison Street. Steps that will need to be taken to get the quiet zone into place include the purchase of additional safety equipment and coordination with the railroad as they are responsible for maintenance of any installed equipment. The report by staff was preliminary and more status reports are expected over the next year.

During public hearings, the City Council approved a rate increase for infectious waste pick-ups. The request came from the garbage haulers as a result of an increase in their operational costs to accommodate infectious waste pick-ups. The 11.2% increase will result in a minimal impact dollar wise. For an average doctor's office, the increase would result in an additional monthly charge of under $2 per month. City Council voted 8-1 (Cannon in opposition) in support of the increase.

Council is also moving forward with plans to re-stripe Commercial Street between Marion Street NE and Trade Street SE. Four lanes of vehicular traffic will be reduced to three lanes and "sharrows" will be added to the outside lanes. Sharrows are markings on the street used to identify lanes that can be used by both automobiles and bicyclists. At first, businesses in the area expressed opposition to the plan to remove one vehicle lane. However, outreach by the Public Works Department proved successful in convincing stakeholders of the safety benefits. According to city staff, traffic studies also show that the flow of traffic will not be impacted negatively. Council voted 9-0 to support the change.