City News

UPDATED: Council advances new airport fees, tables Siletz tribe agreement

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Salem city councilors voted unanimously Monday to advance  new airport fees to help close the Salem-Willamette Valley Airport’s budgetary shortfall.

The new fee would charge aircraft that weigh 7,000 pounds or more a landing fee and an overnight aircraft parking fee. The airport will use new technology to track all flights coming in and out of Salem and will be able to send invoices accordingly, airport officials said Monday night. 

That income would help balance the airport’s budget by generating an anticipated $50,000 to $100,000 annually. Locally-based emergency services, government, and military aircrafts would be exempt, and the fee would be levied on larger general aviation aircrafts including business jets, the city’s Public Works Director Brian Martin wrote in a staff report. 

Councilors will vote on approving the fees at a later meeting.

The suggested new fee comes after airport expenses increased to $664,000 annually, primarily from salaries and wages, once Avelo Airlines began offering commercial air service to Las Vegas, Nevada, and Burbank, California in 2023. 

As flights began, the city had to hire new full-time firefighters in order to have someone on-duty at all times, a full-time police officer for airport security, and five airport positions in program management and maintenance. 

Airport revenue in the meantime was about $183,000 over the first year of operations. 

Airport manager John Paskell said during Monday’s council meeting that the new fees are in response to the council’s mandate for the airport to generate more income.

The airport has historically been self-sustaining, but the recent increase in expenses means the city’s general fund has had to subsidize operations while the city faces a substantial budget deficit.

Paskell said Salem will follow the lead of dozens of regional airports across Oregon and the country, and said Salem’s program will be similar to the program at Medford’s airport. 

He said there are two levels of landing fees, one charged to aircraft based at the Salem airport, and one charged to aircraft operating under an agreement such as those used by Avelo Airlines. 

The rate for Salem-based aircrafts is $2.25 per 1,000 pounds of max gross weight, and for visiting aircrafts, the landing fee is $3.00 per 1,000 pounds.

“It is really a fair system, it is a fair way to charge aircrafts that are presumably doing more wear and tear on your facility to pay more as they go,” Paskell said. 

While more flights are expected as the airport works to attract new carriers, the increased expenses have set the city’s airport on an unsustainable financial path based on the city’s five-year financial forecast.  

In November, an air service consultant hired by the city reported Avelo flights brought roughly $19 million to the region’s economy over the first year of service. 

Council tables service extension to Siletz tribal land 

Salem city councilors voted unanimously Monday night to table an agreement with the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians to extend city services to tribal-owned city land after the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde asked for language explicitly prohibiting a possible casino project be added. 

The agreement would cover the 20-acre tribal property within city limits at 4751 Astoria St. N.E. The Siletz tribe has for years sought to build a casino on that land and the project’s approval remains pending with the federal government. Grand Ronde tribal leadership has opposed the project.

The Siletz tribe’s tabled agreement with the city does not mention plans for a casino in the text, and City Attorney Dan Atchison said during the council meeting that the agreement does not express the city’s support or opposition for such a project.

In spring 2023, Gov. Tina Kotek said she would not support a new casino project four years in the making by the Siletz tribe in northeast Salem indicating she intends to maintain the status quo of “one gaming facility per tribe on reservation land.” 

In its letter to council, Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy cited its deep ancestral connection with the area that is today Salem and said approving the agreement as it currently stands would disrespect the relationship between the city and the tribe and undermine its sovereignty. The Grand Ronde said, “Full consultation with Grand Ronde as the primary consulting tribe of the Salem area has not yet happened.” 

If approved, the Siletz tribe, a federally recognized, sovereign tribe, would be afforded the same rights and obligations as other residents and property owners within the city limits, with the understanding that the tribe is a sovereign nation and exempt from many local, state and federal laws, Atchison said in a staff report

“In working on this agreement at the request of the Siletz tribe there is no intent by the city of Salem to disrespect the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. We have had a very good working relationship with the Grand Ronde over the years…and I personally deeply appreciate the relationship we have had with the Grand Ronde,” Atchison said Monday. “Our work in this agreement was at the request of the Siletz. It really had nothing to do, from my perspective, with affecting our relationship with the Grand Ronde, and I am sorry to see the Grand Ronde’s letter but I understand where they are coming from.” 

City Councilor Paul Tigan had the agreement pulled from the consent calendar, and City Councilor Vanessa Nordyke moved to table the matter until the council can discuss more in depth and consult with the tribes and the city attorney’s office. 

“We don’t want to rush things. We don’t want to disturb long existing relationships,” Nordyke said. “I am mindful of the fact that American governments do not have a great history of respecting the rights of sovereign nations, so this should be treated with respect and I think it is appropriate that we take a pause, look at this a little further, and come back when we have a little more information.” 

The city of Salem and the Siletz tribe have a prior intergovernmental agreement for services to be extended on tribal land at 3390 Blossom Dr. N.E., an area developed into affordable housing. 

Other items

  • Councilors voted unanimously Monday to authorize an agreement between the city and Marion County to get started on sidewalk improvements at the intersection of State Street and Southeast 49th Avenue, Martin said in a staff report. The project will be funded using a grant through the Oregon Department of Transportation Safe Routes to School Program. The sidewalk improvements will link the East Park Village development north of State Street to an existing sidewalk on 49th Avenue. 
  • Counselors voted unanimously to allocate $1.4 million to the Geer Park Skate Park and Pathway Improvement project, Martin said in a staff report. The project’s budget is $3.2 million including a $500,000 grant from the state and $2.7 million generated from development fees. The additional $1.4 million is necessary to complete the project given increased construction costs and to ensure it is completed in a timely fashion. The budgetary adjustment brings the project’s budget to about $4.6 million. 
  • Councilors voted to advance a bill that would designate the Criterion Schoolhouse located at the Oregon State Fair & Exposition Center as a local historic resource, a staff report from the city’s Community Planning and Development Department Director Kristin Retherford said. The one-room schoolhouse opened in 1912 in Wasco County and the building meets the applicable criteria for age, integrity and significance for historic designation. 

Original story published Jan. 24

On Monday Salem city councilors will consider new airport fees to help close the Salem-Willamette Valley Airport’s budgetary shortfall. 

The new fee would charge aircrafts that weigh 7,000 pounds or more a landing fee and an overnight aircraft parking fee. 

That income would help balance the airport’s budget by generating an anticipated $50,000 to $100,000 annually. Locally-based emergency services, government, and military aircrafts would be exempt, and the fee would be levied on larger general aviation aircrafts including business jets, the city’s Public Works Director Brian Martin wrote in a staff report. 

The suggested new fee comes after airport expenses increased to $664,000 annually, primarily from salaries and wages, once Avelo Airlines began offering commercial air service to Las Vegas, Nevada, and Burbank, California in 2023. 

After commercial air service began, the city had to hire new full-time firefighters in order to have someone on-duty at all times, a full-time police officer for airport security, and five airport positions in program management and maintenance. 

Airport revenue in the meantime was about $183,000 over the first year of operations. 

The airport has historically generated enough money from fees and leases to support its own operations without requiring money from the city’s general fund, which faces a substantial budget deficit.

While more flights are expected as the airport works to attract new carriers, the increased expenses have set the city’s airport on an unsustainable financial path based on the city’s five-year financial forecast.  

In November, an air service consultant hired by the city reported Avelo flights brought roughly $19 million to the region’s economy over the first year of service. 

How to participate

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. Monday, January 27, and will be both in-person at the council chambers, 555 Liberty St. S.E., and available to watch online. Members of the public can submit a comment for any item on the council agenda.

To comment remotely, sign up on the city website between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Monday. The meeting will be livestreamed on the YouTube in English and Spanish.

For written comments, email [email protected] before 5 p.m. on Monday, or submit on paper to the city recorder’s office at the Civic Center, 555 Liberty St. S.E., room 225. Include a statement indicating the comment is for the public record.

City votes to extend services to Siletz tribal land 

Councilors will also vote on whether or not to extend city services to land owned by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians within the Salem city limits, according to a staff report by City Attorney Dan Atchison. 

If approved, the Siletz tribe, a federally recognized, sovereign tribe, would be afforded the same rights and obligations as other residents and property owners within the city limits, with the understanding that the tribe is a sovereign nation and exempt from many local, state and federal laws. 

The city of Salem and the Siletz tribe have a prior intergovernmental agreement for services to be extended on tribal land at 3390 Blossom Dr. N.E., an area developed into affordable housing. 

The tribe said it only has one other property within the city, a 20-acre property at 4751 Astoria St. N.E. 

The Siletz tribe has for years sought to build a casino on that property, but the proposal remains pending federal approval. Gov. Tina Kotek, who would have to sign off on the plan, indicated shortly after taking office that she would not approve it.

Mayor Julie Hoy picks 2025 committee assignments

The council agenda includes a report on Mayor Julie Hoy’s picks for 2025 committee assignments which the mayor selected taking into account councilor interests, based on meeting frequency and other factors, according to a staff report

The city’s finance committee will include Hoy, City Councilor Deanna Gwyn as chair, and city councilors Vanessa Nordyke and Paul Tigan. City Councilor Shane Matthews will serve as an alternate. 

The legislative committee will include Hoy as chair, and city councilors Irvin Brown, Gwyn and Nordyke with Council President Nishioka serving as an alternate. 

Hoy and Matthews will serve on the Mid-Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance which includes leaders from around the region. 

Hoy anticipates the opportunity to consider alternate committee assignments after a new councilor joins the city council representing Ward 6 following the May 2025 election.   

A complete list of Hoy’s picks for city committees, boards, task forces, and commissions can be found here

Other items

  • Councilors will vote Monday on whether or not to authorize an agreement between the city and Marion County to get started on sidewalk improvements at the intersection of State St. and Southeast 49th Ave., Martin said in a staff report. The project would be funded using a grant through the Oregon Department of Transportation Safe Routes to School Program. The sidewalk improvements will link the East Park Village development north of State St. to an existing sidewalk on Southeast 49th Ave. 
  • Counselors will also vote on whether or not to allocate $1.4 million to the Geer Park Skatepark and Pathway Improvement project, Martin said in a staff report. The project’s current budget is $3.2 million including a $500,000 grant from the state and $2.7 million generated from development fees. The additional $1.4 million is necessary to complete the project given increased construction costs and to ensure it is completed in a timely fashion. The budgetary adjustment brings the project’s budget to about $4.6 million. 
  • Finally, city councilors will consider Monday a bill that would designate the Criterion Schoolhouse located at the Oregon State Fair & Exposition Center as a local historic resource, a staff report from the city’s Community Planning and Development Department Director Kristin Retherford said. The one-room schoolhouse opened in 1912 in Wasco County and the building meets the applicable criteria for age, integrity and significance for historic designation. 

Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.


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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.