City Council, November 12th - Doughboy Centennial

With Veterans Day, Council meets on Tuesday the 12th.

Nov. 12th, 1924

100 years ago the Doughboy statue and World War I memorial was dedicated at the old Courthouse. It has since been moved to the small monument park beside the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs.

• "A Century Ago Salemites Raised Funds for Doughboy WWI Memorial" (May)
  

On Council agenda is an interesting note about a new record high in cyanotoxin levels in the source of our drinking water.

Beginning June 10th, routine testing of the North Santiam River at the Middle Intake, the raw water intake to the Geren Island Water Treatment Facility, indicated levels of microcystin were elevated. Levels continued to rise throughout the summer, peaking at over 18 µg/L on July 16th, 2024, at the Middle Intake. This was almost 3 times higher than the highest level experienced during the 2018 cyanotoxin event.

On the one hand, we haven't been keeping records for very long, but on the other hand this is clearly a growing problem because of climate warming, and it seems unlikely that any earlier period would have led to a higher reading.

July 2024 temperatures (Accuweather)

Though the Staff Report doesn't mention it, July 16th was towards the end of a heat wave in the first half of July, with five consecutive days of 100+ heat. They could discuss the link to climate change explicitly, but seemingly prefer not to.

The Staff Report concludes with success for the treatments over the summer:

At no time was microcystin detected in the treated drinking water supplied to Salem water customers.

The Council Review of approvals on a car repair shop on Silverton Road in our new MU-III zoning contests merely the hours of operation, and does not seem inclined to question the way we use "mixed use" zoning to cover what it in fact merely an extension of regular commercial kinds of zoning. The City is not using the label very honestly, and no actual mixed use development seems likely on parcels zoned MU-III. The City should change the name to reflect better the primary purpose and use of the zoning type. Mixed use would still be allowed, but since this is only very theoretical, it should not be the primary name for the zone.

At the former General Hospital site there is another adjustment to the schedule.

The proposed third amendment [to the purchase and sale agreement] would allow Buyer to take ownership of the property prior to recording the final partition plat, and will convey the Conservation Area back to the City once the partition plat is recorded.

With bond funds that will be cycled back into the pot of bond funding, the City is performing a pass-through function while the final buyer/developer gets its financing completed.

The amendment itself is not attached to the agenda item, so that's possibly an interesting omission.

Finally, Mayor Hoy proposes a formal "public censure" for Councilors Hoy and Gwyn "for their failure to recuse themselves under Section 62 of the Salem Charter during a land use public hearing."

See at Salem Reporter previously:

• "City councilors vote in favor of land use decision benefitting campaign donor"
• "Buyer in Tokarski land deal would benefit from favorable city vote"
• In the Friday paper, the SJ has the latest, with a good overview some more current comment: "Salem Mayor Chris Hoy calls for public censure of councilors over vote involving big donor"