Neighborhood Improvement Advisory Council

Neighborhood Improvement Advisory Council - Meeting Minutes Wednesday, September 8, 2021, 7:00 P.M. Called to Order: 7:01 p.m. Members Present: Dennis Maroney, Barbara Mann, Margaret Crosby, Dennis Colbert, Nina Cohen, Denise Regan, Ellie Bloom, Richard Lindeman, Anne Sterling, Flora Tonthat, Christy Evans Staff Present: Dominick Pangallo (Office of Mayor Driscoll) Approval of June 16, 2021 minutes: Approved Guest Speakers: Kate Fox of Destination Salem, Police Chief Lucas Miller, and DPS special events coordinator Ellen Talkowsky attended to provide the City’s annual pre-October update to NIAC about plans for Haunted Happenings. Kate opened by discussing the major events and programs planned for the month, as well as Destination Salem’s approach to marketing Salem this year and how it has changed from previous years. Ellen discussed the plan for street vendors and street performers, as well as the Department of Public Services’ plan for trash clean-up, portable restrooms, and other event logistics. Finally, Chief Miller reviewed parking and road closure plans and other public safety components for the month. The three then answered questions from the NIAC members. FY22 Community Preservation Plan – Request for Comment/Input: Dominick shared that the Community Preservation Committee is at work on their annual Community Preservation Plan, which guides their award decisions for the coming fiscal year’s CPA grants. Neighborhood associations, and others, are invited to submit comments to the committee by emailing them to Jane Guy (jguy@salem.com) before October 22nd. City Updates:  The public is invited to attend the 20 th anniversary commemoration of the September 11th attacks. The event takes place at 9:30am on Saturday September 11th outside of Salem Fire Department headquarters on Lafayette Street.  The downtown COVID testing location has moved from City Hall Annex over to St. Peter Church on St. Peter Street. The hours have also been extended and now run 9am-3pm Monday-Thursday and 9am-2pm on Fridays.  Early in-person voting for the City preliminary election takes place Thursday September 9 th 8am to 6pm at City Hall Annex. The preliminary election itself is September 14 th, polls open 7am to 8pm. Note that all of Ward 2 now votes at the CLC, Ward 1 Precinct 2 has been moved back to the Community Room at 135 Lafayette Street, and all of Ward 7 has been moved back to the Enterprise Center.  The City’s ARPA survey is online through September 17 th at www.salem.com/rescue. There will be two public forums, on Zoom, to hear feedback about ARPA priorities for Salem, both take place at 7pm: September 28th and October 21st.  SalemRecycles’ Free Book Day is on September 18th from 9am to 2pm. Find out more about how you can participate at www.greensalem.com. Next Meeting: Wednesday, October 13, 2021, 7:00 p.m. Adjourned: 8:06 p.m.