The Salem City Council wants more information before moving forward on the addition of a drone to the Salem Emergency Management Agency.
The agency’s Assistant Director Andrew Strong notes other Emergency Management Agency’s are finding the drones useful and he feels he can get enough donations from area businesses to pay for it.
“Altered mental status person that wonders away from a care center, you can have those missing in the nature trail. Those are all things drone can get launched and do the work of 5-10 people in 5 minutes. I think it would be a good asset for the city. I think it would be another way to draw some volunteers from the community that may not know what all the Emergency Management Agency can do.”
Strong says drones can speed up damage assessments from natural disasters and could even be used to go into buildings ahead of police.
Strong says the FAA will waive the pilot certification requirement for Emergency Service organizations. He understands there have to be a number of rules and has obtained those used by Franklin County Emergency Services for the city council to review.
Salem Police Chief Sean Reynolds told the council they also needed to be concerned about privacy issues because the drones would fly over private property.
The issue was tabled for further discussion.
In other action, the council approved sending a resolution to the Illinois Department of Transportation for closure of Route 37 and US 50 for the Little Egypt Festival.
Public Works Director Annette Solo reported she has received reports on four homes code enforcement feels need to be torn down. She is now reviewing the requests before moving forward.
The Salem City Council thanked Police Chief Sean Reynolds for his work ahead of his retirement on Friday. He in turn thanked them for their support through the years.
