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Salem City Council to consider contract with new city manager; add spring cleanup

By Austin Williams Mar 17, 2025 | 1:37 PM

The Salem City Council Monday night will consider entering into a contract with a new city manager.  The new manager will start around July 1st when current City Manager Annette Sola retires.   Mayor Nic Farley says the name of the new city manager will not be released until later this week after she has a chance to inform her city council about her decision to come to Salem.

The council will be asked to amend the trash collection contract to allow for the addition of a spring cleanup the third week of April.   The city currently has only one cleanup a year in the fall.

Approval will be sought to secure employee health insurance coverage with Assured Partners.   Sola says employee benefits will not be affected by the change.  The proposal is for a one year period.

University of Missouri at Columbia Journalism student Henry Morton will come back before the city council seeking approval for the city to grant permission for an exhumation permit through the State of Illinois.  It would be used to attempt to identify the unknown remains from the 1971 Tonti train derailment buried in East Lawn Cemetery.   The council earlier informally backed the idea, but wanted Morton to find the financing.  The Salem Tourism Council has now agreed to fund the portion of the project not being donated.

Javier Barrios with Good Energy will present a renewal contract for the electric aggregation contract that was extended in December of 2024.

The council will also review the first part of the city’s proposed 2026 Fiscal Year Budget.

The meeting begins at six Monday night at Salem City Hall.