The lobby of Salem City Hall. Salem City Council will meet 6:30 p.m. Jan. 28. (Salem Reporter files)
Salem City Council’s second meeting of the year will revisit a pair of issues that have drawn high community interest, appoint a new member to the city’s planning commission and learn about a proposed apartment in downtown.
• Council will hear about a new, 15-member task force that could be formed to look at the now-paused, city-run program to permit volunteers to feed the homeless. Its stated goal will be to consider ways to offer the free meals while “minimizing its impacts to the properties and its users.” Before last week’s eviction of a homeless camp near Marion Square Park, City Manager Steve Powers said the feed increased property damage at the park, such as broken sprinkler heads.
“While the distributions are well-intentioned, they create significant impacts to the park,” said a staff report released Thursday. “These include extensive trash and litter throughout the park, graffiti and drug use — as evidenced by the 300+ hypodermic needles found in the park.”
Dan Sheets, one of the longtime volunteers who fed the homeless, said he disagreed the program fueled such problems. The feed has been held across the street at The ARCHES Project since the program has been paused. He said he is still hoping to see the site under the bridge made available.
“We pledge to keep it clean, all of (the volunteers) have pledged to do that just as we did for 15 years with very little problems — up until the encampment issue, which the city sparked when they put in those barricades and tables (last year). That’s what sparked the encampment issue,” Sheets said.
Sheets added he hoped to see the volunteers represented on the task force. As proposed, the task force would include four volunteers.
• Council will learn more about a plan to cut down trees in favor of new, angled parking along Division Street Northeast, between Liberty Street and High Street. The city argued the move added 31 parking spots to accommodate the growing downtown area, while opponents said it undercut the city’s stated efforts to plant more trees.
• Council will learn about a new downtown apartment proposed by KOZ Development. Proposed at the former site of McMahon’s Furniture, on the corner of Commercial Street Southeast and State Street, the apartment would offer 148 units between 250 and 550 square feet in size. The apartment would also offer ground-floor retail.
• Council will also appoint one of three applicants to city’s planning commission. It will decide between Casey Kopcho, an auditor in the Secretary of State’s office; Alton Hoover, Chief Technology Officer of Future Income Payments LLC; and Kelly Thomas, an energy policy analyst with the state.
Meeting details: Monday, Jan. 28 at 6:30 a.m., Salem Council Chambers, 555 Liberty Street S.E., Salem.
Salem City Council: Cara Kaser, Tom Andersen, Brad Nanke, Jackie Leung, Matt Ausec, Chris Hoy, Sally Cook, Jim Lewis and Mayor Chuck Bennett.
Have a tip? Contact reporter Troy Brynelson at 503-575-9930, [email protected] or @TroyWB.
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