AGENDA: Council considers new city flag, navigation center funds
Salem City Council chambers (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Salem city councilors on Monday will select a new city flag and green-light the renaming of Salem Parkway to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway.
They will also accept $3 million from Marion County as a grant to fund renovations for the city’s new navigation center, which will be located at 1185 22nd St. S.E., and a $1.9 million state grant. It’s intended to open 24 hours a day to provide basic amenities like toilets for homeless people while also helping connect them to housing and other resources. The grant comes from the county’s federal pandemic relief funds.
Councilors will vote on directing city employees to change signs on the Salem Parkway to reflect its new name, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway.
Proposed new signage for the Salem Parkway, which is being renamed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. (City of Salem)
They will discuss updates to the city’s comprehensive plan, called Our Salem, which will guide how the city grows over the next decade. The changes are intended to incentivize more walkable neighborhoods and allows more housing to be developed along major arterials. The revision has been in the works for several years. Councilors would vote on the final plan at a later meeting.
Councilors will also select a new flag from four finalists. Salem’s current flag is rarely used, obscure and violates most rules of good flag design in the field of vexillology, the scientific and scholarly study of flags.
Brian McKinley holds up the flag for the city of Salem in city council chambers. McKinley led the push for a new city flag. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
How to participate: View the meeting on YouTube or watch on CC:Media Channel 21. Submit comments on agenda items by 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting at [email protected]. Public comment and testimony may also be provided during the meeting via Zoom. Pre-register between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the day of the meeting at the following link: https://www.cityofsalem.net/government/city-council-mayor/how-to-give-public-comment-at-salem-city-council-and-budget-committee-meetings
-Rachel Alexander
