By James Day
Residents of the Second Street area of Silverton can look forward to a summer in which city construction work will align their neighborhood with others in the city.
James Day
The area on Second between the Home Place Restaurant and Lincoln Street, also known as Mill Town, will be getting sidewalks, new drainage pipes, and those storm water ditches will finally be going away. The city also will rework the intersection of Mill and Whittier streets in an effort to improve safety. The corridor is heavily used to get to and from Mark Twain Elementary School. The challenge is the poor visibility when Mill curves as it heads toward Whittier.
The Silverton City Council, at its June 26 meeting, approved as part of its consent agenda the acceptance of a bid by M.L. Houck Construction of Salem to perform the work. The city expects to spend approximately $2 million on the project, with “construction scheduled to be substantially complete by Oct. 15,” according to a city staff report.
In other action:
City manager: Councilors discussed the process and criteria for replacing former city manager Ron Chandler. Key priorities established by councilors in a survey Scott Dadson of the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments compiled included city manager experience, experience in working with a council and the community, administrative and management ability and government budget and finance experience.
Salary also was discussed. Chandler was making approximately $139,000 annually. He was due for a cost of living adjustment in the 2023-24 fiscal year that would have brought his base salary to about $147,000.
Dadson found the range in comparable Oregon communities to be between $147,000 and $168,000. Mayor Jason Freilinger said those figures “seem reasonable, and I want us to stay competitive.” Freilinger noted Chandler had declined a merit raise after his first year.
Dadson said he hoped to be able to put together a profile for the post that would allow the city to set an applications deadline in the Aug. 15-20 range.
Councilors discussed but made no decision on how public the process will be. Dadson noted that the more public the process is the smaller the candidate pool will be because applicants tend to want to keep job searches below the radar.
Budgets: The council passed its 2023-24 general budget and urban renewal agency budget, in which the council acted in its role as the urban renewal agency. The general budget, passed unanimously with no amendments and virtually no discussion. It calls for spending approximately $75 million. The urban renewal plan, which also passed unanimously, calls for spending approximately $2.9 million, with $300,000 designated for a project for the block of Main Street between Water and First.
Councilors briefly discussed the project, noting more what they don’t want than what they do. They do not want to close the street or remove the trees and are concerned about pedestrian safety and improving parking. Discussion is in the early stages with no timeline on completion.
City Hall hours: Acting city manager Kathleen Zaragoza announced that effective July 17 City Hall will open to the public one hour later, at 9 a.m. The change will allow staff time to digitize and prepare city records for the move to the new Civic Center in late September. City Hall will close at 5 p.m.
