By James Day Parking and pedestrian changes are coming to Silverton. Councilors confirmed at their Oct. 21 meeting that the current parking meters will be removed from the downtown area. They still are discussing whether downtown visitors will be charged for parking. The city spent the past four months in a pilot program that featured free parking for four hours […]
By Melissa Wagoner In the Willamette Valley, the need for support services like food and shelter has been growing. “Our recent annual report reflected that the 2023-24 fiscal year was the busiest year in our 40-plus year history…” Jean Hubbard – board vice president of the Stayton Community Food Bank (SCFB) said. “The number of households served in 2023-24 is […]
By James Day State officials have ratcheted up their campaign against the emerald ash borer, which poses a grave threat to Oregon’s ash trees. Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) is asking visitors to help slow the spread of the destructive pest by choosing certified heat-treated firewood or firewood harvested within ten miles of their destination to avoid bringing the […]
Trash and recycling rates in Silverton are going up 23% starting Sept. 1. The Silverton City Council voted 5-1 on July 1 to approve the rate request from Republic Services, which serves as the city’s trash hauler under a franchise agreement. Republic Services says the rate increase is necessary to match the 10 percent rate of return that is guaranteed […]
By James Day The Silverton City Council passed its regular budget for 2024-25 and one for its urban renewal agency at its June 17 meeting at the Silverton Community Center. But both spending plans, which total approximately $79 million, involved little councilor discussion and no amendments were offered. The budgets passed unanimously, and the largest chunk of time at the […]
By James Day Approximately 30 people participated recently in a half-day session on climate change and adaptation at The Oregon Garden. The event, called “Tools for Adaptation,” was organized by Sustainable Silverton and used the education center and the fire safety house at the Garden. The conference was divided into three sections, air and water, earth, and fire, with regional […]
By James Day The City of Silverton has completed work on a new water intake project that will dramatically increase its water producing capacity as well as extend the life of the system another 50-plus years or more. On April 5, city staff, a federal official and the project manager held a walk-through at the intake project site alongside Silver […]
The Silverton City Council is heading toward a decision that will mean more housing than previously planned for a property on Eureka Avenue just east of The Oregon Garden. Developers already had received approval to build up to 42 units on the 5.15-acre property, which was zoned R-1 or single-family residential. During a public hearing at the council’s Dec. 4 […]
By Melissa Wagoner Beginning in late June the Silverton Police Department began receiving some very bizarre reports. Apparently a “hairy, man-like creature” has been spotted throughout the city, cavorting with locals, high-fiving teens and even testing his soccer skills on one of Silverton High School’s fields. “Although residents are labeling the creature ‘Sasquatch,’ the Silverton Police are asking citizens not […]
By Melissa Wagoner The Fischer Flouring Mill was once one of the most eye-catching pieces of architecture in Silverton. Located along Silver Creek – where Silver Falls Library and Old Mill Park are situated today – the mill utilized state of the art turbine-powered electricity to process various grains for farmers in the Silverton area for over 30 years before […]
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 Melissa Wagoner When Alyssa Burge discovered an empty aquarium labeled “ODFW Salmon Release,” at the Community Roots School in Silverton, where she had just taken on the role of Garden Specialist in 2019, she knew she had to learn more. “So, I tracked it down on the internet,” she said, recalling her first introduction to the Oregon Department of […]
By James Day Sustainable Silverton will be hosting Earth Day Projects on Saturday, April 22 and volunteers are welcome. The day will start with a 9 a.m. effort to remove invasive species at Old Mill Park near Salamander Island at the end of Cowing Street. In the afternoon two oak sapling protection projects are set, at 2 p.m. at the […]
By Melissa Wagoner It may not look like much, but this year the railway bridge over Silver Creek in Silverton – otherwise known as MP 10.6 or simply the Silver Creek Bridge – will turn 100 years old. Built in 1923 by the American Bridge Company, a company that – founded in 1900 in Pennsylvania – not only pioneered the […]
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 A Silverton Rotary proposal to build an “all-abilities” playground in Old Mill Park near the Silverton Community Pool has won the approval of the City Council. Councilors at their April 4 meeting approved the site after hearing a report from Rotary that featured renderings and charts on the concepts that they hope the park will include. The […]
The city of Silverton was accepting bids through March 3 for the “overlook” project, which will repair a washed-out section of pathway along Silver Creek near the library. In 2015 during high flows of Silver Creek the old wall from an abandoned mill was damaged and the city closed the area. In the summer of 2015 the city demolished the […]
By Kristine Thomas Melody Harpole of Harpole’s Produce in Silverton describes this summer as the “tomato summer.” “The hot, dry weather makes it a good summer to grow tomatoes,” she said. “When we have rainy, cloudy summers, it’s harder for the tomatoes to ripen.” Harpole, 39, has learned from her years farming that the weather goes in cycles, some years […]
By Brenna Wiegand Late July, and Mel Wildberger’s apartment was stifling. “…I thought, ‘I’ve got to have a place to cool down other than McDonald’s,’ so I went down to the creek and built a tiny catch basin to create a place where I could at least get my feet and part of my legs into the water.” Silver Creek’s […]
