From left, Salem’s Technology Systems Director Patrick Morton, GIS Coordinator Charles Grant and Telecommunications Supervisor Rebecca Craft show the 2019 Governors Technology Award and the 2019 Public Technology Institute (PTI) Technology Solutions Award.
Meg Hibbert
Contributing writer
At its Sept. 14 meeting, Council members appropriated money for Main Street improvements and business grant programs.
Work has already started on the sidewalk on the north side of East Main Street at Broad, where sidewalks are being replaced with brick ones.
The project uses $600,000 in federal funding and local matches. The money will go for streetscape and improvements to the intersection of Broad and East Main to the east side of White Oak Alley.
Plans are for wider sidewalks, landscaping and new lighting.
Farther out on East Main between Thompson Memorial Drive and Brand Avenue, work is almost complete, Salem City Manager Jay Taliaferro told Council. There are sidewalks, bike lanes and turning lanes.
Decorative street lamps, landscaping and bumped-out sidewalks to provide outdoor dining areas and benches are also part of the renovations.
Council also heard from Vice Mayor Jim Wallace that the city will spend another $500,000 of CARES Act money provided because of COVID for the city’s small business assistance grant program. This is the second round of funding.
Councilmembers agreed to pay $2,000 to full-time first responders during the pandemic, and $1,000 to other full-time employees. Council is still discussing how much money part-time employees will get.
At the start of the meeting, Council got to see and express appreciation to those who developed technology that received the Governor’s Technology Award and another from Public Technology Institute Solutions.
