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AGENDA: Salem City Council meets Monday to consider raising deputy chief pay, proposed Meyer Farm subdivision

Salem City Council Chambers. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)

The Salem City Council meets Monday evening to consider raising pay for the Salem Police Department’s deputy chief by 8%. They’ll also consider a final order affirming a scaled back development plan to build over 100 single family lots on the historic Meyer Farm property in south Salem.

AGENDA

Councilors will consider using $150,000 from the county’s contingency funds to cover a grant for the Mid-Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance. The council in December approved a federal American Rescue Plan grant for the nonprofit but later learned the proposed use is not eligible for that money.

The council will consider increasing the deputy police chief’s compensation by 8%, from a monthly pay range of around $11,880-$13,260 to a new range of $12,720-$14,320. They will also consider extending the city’s hiring bonus program, which expired Feb. 28, until Sept. 28. A bonus of $7,500 per hire is offered for lateral police officer transfers – officers who leave one agency to work for another – and other positions that are difficult to fill.

Councilors will consider adopting a final order to affirm the city planning administrator’s approval of a proposed subdivision on the Meyer Farm property, located at 4540 Pringle Rd. S.E. The council on March 28 voted 4-3 for a scaled back development plan after the developer modified the proposal to reduce the number of significant trees removed during the development from 17 to six and the lot total from 139 to 126. Monday is the deadline to adopt the final order.

There will also be a public hearing over an amendment to the city’s 2021 Housing and Community Development Annual Action Plan. According to the agenda item, city officials learned they would receive around $2.35 million in federal ARPA funds after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approves the amendment.

The funds would cover projects including $1.5 million for new construction at Sequoia Crossings, $250,000 for building the HOPE Plaza building to provide affordable housing to domestic violence survivors, and $100,000 for domestic violence hotline and case management. They also include $47,000 for case management for homeless women, $35,965 for homeless youth and $60,000 for homeless families.

There will be another public hearing over adopting the 2022-23 Community Development Annual Action Plan.

The first goal of “end homelessness” totals $1.77 million, including $165,000 to the Marion/Polk Food Share for homeless prevention for seniors, $700,000 to the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency’s Head Start program for the Wallace Early Learning Center, $450,000 to Seed of Faith Ministries for rehabilitating its warming shelter, and $140,000 to St. Francis Shelter and $300,000 to the ARCHES Project for tenant-based rental assistance.

The second goal of expanding affordable housing would provide $50,000 to the Center for Hope and Safety to build 20 new rental units at HOPE Plaza, $300,000 to Integrated Services for Living to rehabilitate 11 rental units at Fisher/Sizemore Apts., $600,000 to Community Development Partners to build 184 rental units at “Gateway Salem,” $650,000 to Applegate Landing, LLC to build 48 rental units for veterans at Applegate Terrace Apts., and $650,000 to DevNW to build 24 affordable for-sale housing at Macleay Road Single Family Homes.

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/Pages/Public-Comment-at-Salem-City-CouncilMeeting.aspx

-Ardeshir Tabrizian