By James Day Cory Misley is just starting his second month as Silverton’s city manager. His schedule sounds punishing. He has met with all the councilors and Mayor Jason Freilinger. Plus Chamber representatives, social-service and nonprofit directors, and with his next whirlwind tour government officials such as those of Marion County, Governor Tina Kotek’s office, and the state Legislature. “I’m […]
By James Day Cory Misley has been hired as Silverton’s city manager and will start work Oct. 16. Misley replaces Ron Chandler, who retired to Utah in May. Misley’s hiring and contract were approved Oct. 2, on a unanimous vote of the Silverton City Council. As the top administrator for the city Misley will supervise all departments and report to the […]
By James Day The Silverton City Council is in the home stretch in its effort to hire a new city manager. The council is seeking to replace Ron Chandler, who retired and moved to Utah in May. Councilors, who started with a batch of 27 applicants, have reduced that list to three, with the finalists introduced to the public on […]
By James Day Silverton residents have an opportunity to meet the three finalists for city manager with a Monday, Sept. 18 meet-and-greet session 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Silverton Senior Center, 115 Westfield St. Silverton is seeking to replace chief administrative officer Ron Chandler, who left the city in May to retire to Utah. Members of the public will […]
By James Day The City of Silverton has contributed more than $26,000 to assist the new owners of the Palace Theatre with their renovation work. The council, acting in its capacity as the city’s Urban Renewal Agency, voted at its Aug. 21 meeting to contribute $26,443 in urban renewal funds to bolster the Palace’s work on both internal remodeling and […]
By James Day The new Silverton Civic Center likely will not be fully occupied until January 2024 after some unexpected complications hit the project. The $19.5 million facility, which will hold most city staff as well as the police department, originally was scheduled for completion in July 2023. Aug. 7 the Silverton City Council was told that substantial completion of […]
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. 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 […]
By James Day The City of Silverton is getting into the affordable housing business. Officials have identified a seven-acre parcel of city-owned land west of the Silverton Senior Center for the project. The issue was discussed at the June 5 City Council session, although final decisions are months or perhaps years away. The city might start by developing just a […]
By James Day The City of Silverton began work on its 2023-24 budget amid a staff shakeup that has the City Council initiating a search for a new city manager. Ron Chandler, who took over the top administrative post in Silverton in May of 2021, is leaving effective May 12 and relocating to Utah. In an April 12 letter to […]
By James Day If you build it, other decisions will have to be made. That’s the challenge the City of Silverton faces as construction heads toward the home stretch on the new Civic Center on the former Eugene Field School property. The $19.5 million Civic Center project, which was opened to public tours March 16, is scheduled to be ready […]
By James Day Are Silverton Police Department officers being paid enough? Developer and long-time resident Rob Wood, who serves on the public policy committee at the Oregon Police Academy in Salem, doesn’t think so. Wood read off the names of ten Silverton officers who have left the force in the past five years to take positions with other agencies. He […]
By James Day Just like that, the Silverton City Council was whole again. New councilors Marie Traeger, April Newton and Eric Hammond were voted in on Nov. 8 to replace outgoing members Jim Sears, Dana Smith and Crystal Neideigh, with Jason Freilinger winning election as mayor, replacing Kyle Palmer. However, Freilinger’s ascension to the mayor’s post left his council seat […]
By James Day Property owner Wes Holman used the public comment period of the Dec. 5 Silverton City Council meeting to raise concerns about trash and debris at a home near the Holman house on South Third Avenue. The complaint record apparently goes back to 2015, and although Holman said there have been some temporary improvements he remains ”not satisfied” […]
By James Day Mother Nature has thrown a wrench into the city of Silverton’s ongoing project to replace its intake structure and water pumps on Silver Creek. Recent heavy rains leading to increased creek flows have damaged the portable dam that was erected to protect the work site. City officials briefed the City Council on the issue at their Nov. […]
By James Day The Silverton City Council has signed off on a plan that will put four pallet shelters and a warming facility at the city’s Public Works compound. Councilors voted unanimously at an Oct. 17 work session to approve a ten-year lease agreement with Sheltering Silverton. Using $250,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that passed through […]
By James Day Silverton has held four public outreach meetings on downtown parking issues. The problem is simple: new development in the downtown area has led to parking challenges, for both business customers and their employees. A possible fix lies just north of downtown where the city is building a new $19 million civic center on property that was once […]
By James Day A 1.7-acre parcel in the hills off of Edison Heights Road will become part of Silverton. The Silverton City Council voted at its Sept. 12 meeting to accept an annexation request from the property owners, Al and Sheila Skomial, who sought the annexation because of a failing well, which does not deliver the required water flow and […]
By James Day Silverton Police Chief Jim Angelmier, the reporter and City Manager Ron Chandler were lined up against the wall of a classroom wing at Silverton High School. In front of them a heavily armed active shooting suspect held a gun on a student hostage, played by a mannequin. A bell rang, eerily realistic screaming and shouting boomed through […]
By James Day The emerald ash borer (EAB), a forest pest that has been targeting ash trees in the United States since 2002, has been found in Oregon. An infestation discovered June 30 in Forest Grove means that concerns of state and local officials about the ash borer’s impact on urban forests, wetlands and streams has gone from the hypothetical […]
By James Day Street trees and landscaping will be added to the skate park on Main Street to help buffer the popular recreation site from the rest of the neighborhood. At its Aug. 5 meeting the City Council agreed to plant seven trees and other landscaping in the planter strip on the skate park side of Main Street. The city […]
By James Day Silverton voters will once again be asked to decide on a local option tax levy to support the Silverton Community Swimming Pool. Voters first approved a ten-year obligation bond for major pool renovations and improvements in 2002. Since then voters have passed a pair of five-year local option property tax levies that raise $275,000 annually for operations […]
By James Day The City of Silverton has put in place a new water use policy, which automatically kicked in May 1 with the lowest level of alert. The new policy was approved by the City Council at its March 7 meeting and is replacing one approved in 2016. The new policy features five levels of alert: low, mild, moderate, […]
By James Day A new meat processing company will be taking over the BrucePac facility on North First Street in Silverton. Tillamook Country Smoker will be starting operations in the facility, perhaps as soon as this summer. The move constitutes an expansion for Tillamook Country Smoker, president Geordie Mosbarger told Our Town. The privately held jerky and meat snacks processor […]
Silverton has set a groundbreaking for its new civic center complex for 11:30 a.m. April 11 at the site of the former Eugene Field School. Elected officials and city staff will be on hand to make remarks, said City Manager Ron Chandler, but the schedule was still being finalized at Our Town’s presstime. The $19 million project includes a two-story […]
By Stephen Floyd After months of waiting for a new boiler and battling supply chain shortages, the Silverton Community Pool has reopened to the delight of residents and staff. The pool closed Aug. 26 after the old boiler failed, and was not expected to reopen until late October or early November. But the new boiler ordered by the Silverton City […]
