Salem has a new police sergeant. Blake Phillips was sworn in at Monday night’s city council meeting. He replaces Greg Wright who retired.
The Salem City Council Monday night approved a special use permit to allow second-floor living at the former Coaches Corner building at 115 West Main. The applicant Lisa Lamb Erlinger is planning to use the main floor for a coffee bar and relocation of her Go Gourmet business. Mayor Nic Farley says this is the type of use they’d like to see on the upper stories of downtown buildings.
The council delayed action on a proposal to raise fees and put restrictions on gravesite decorations at East Lawn Cemetery until the next meeting to allow for a list of rule changes to be compiled and made available to residents for review.
Salem Public Works Director Annette Brushwitz says their department was kept very busy on Friday after the severe weather hit that brought down many trees and tree limbs. She announced residents with down tree limbs have a few options to get rid of them. They can cut the branches into three-foot-long sections and place them at the front of their home for pickup on your normal landscape waste collection day. Brushwitz notes city code also allows for the burning of tree limbs from eight am to four pm. A third option would be to hire a professional company to do the work. She noted the city did not have enough staff to remove damaged trees and tree limbs for residents.
