The Salem City Council Monday night agreed to submit a $1-million grant request to the Illinois EPA for sewer system improvements.
City Manager Annette Sola says an area bounded by West McMackin to Mitchell and Washington to Marion Streets is targeted.
“This is a sliplining process where there is a thick membrane that will line the inside of the sewer,” Sola said. “What we’ve done up to this point is we’ve had that entire area televiewed. We’ve looked at areas to make sure that nothing is to the point that it can’t be lined. Right now, everything still looks in good enough shape. The nice thing about this is that you can get substantially more completed for the same cost, and right now they’re looking at a 30-year guarantee on that process.”
Sola says it also keeps down the amount of excavation required to dig up the old sewer mains. If the grant is approved, the city’s share of the project will be about 20 percent. Sola isn’t aware of a timetable to announce those awarded grants.
The council voted to raise two fees. The three-year registration for golf carts or UTVs will jump from $35 to $60. The one-year license for a food truck will go from $25 to $100. Both are designed to assure the city at least covers its costs in issuing the license.
The tentative annual property tax levy was set at 3.4 percent higher than the past year’s collections, up from a 2.4 percent increase last year. It was noted new construction will make up about a half-percent of the increase. Mayor Nic Farley hopes taxpayers are pleased the city didn’t levy the maximum increase possible.
The council approved changing language in all of the city codes to clearly state the city manager is solely responsible for employing the police chief and the police chief is solely responsible for employing the deputy chief.
