The Salem City Council talked about how to address the needs of the city for more than four hours during a planning session Tuesday night.
The evening began with a listing of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Mayor Nic Farley wanted the session to plan for the next two years he is Mayor.
“I think doing a swot analysis was good for us as we move forward keeping in mind what our strengths are and how we can tackle some of those opportunities we haven’t addressed in the past. I think department heads have a real good understanding of where the council’s at and what they can stomach and what we can do to address this and still be fiscally responsible.”
Farley said he didn’t hear anything new, but a need to move forward in a number of areas.
Farley is particularly concerned about housing. The first concern is the lack of mid-level housing.
“I talked to employers and tried to match up the unemployment numbers with the amount of job openings but I keep hearing I would bring them in but we would have to move them to Mt Vernon. I’m looking at our area and the houses seem to sell pretty quickly and all of those triggers tell me that the market is in need of more housing. I don’t have that magic bullet, but am looking at ways the city can help incentivize private development.”
The second issue is low quality rental homes.
“When you get sub-standard housing, often time you see an increase in crime rates. When we look in our community we have to be realistic in looking at those problem areas and how do we address them? And is it a symptom that we can help address?”
There was discussion on doing more code enforcement on those homes, especially if there had been arrests for criminal activity. However, the council was told additional staff would be needed as current Code Enforcement and Animal Control Officer Dave Lusch had his plate full.
Other councilmen and department heads also shared their concerns and goals. Watch for future stories on some of that discussion.
