Neighborhood Improvement Advisory Council
City of Salem
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Meeting Minutes
Thursday, October 9th, 2008
7:00 pm
Members in Attendance: Jim Moskovis (Chair), Polly Wilbert (V. Chair), Stan Franzeen, Ana Gordon, Leslie Limon, Patricia Zaido, Michael Coleman
Members not in Attendance: Meg Twohey, Lucy Corchado
City Staff: Janet Dionne, Tom St. Pierre, Jason Silva, Tom Watkins
Introduction
The group introduced themselves and identified each neighborhood group they belong to. Meeting minutes for the September meeting were reviewed and approved as amended.
Public Comment
No one from the public was present at the meeting during this time.
HAZMAT Day
Jason mentioned that the members of the Neighborhood Improvement Advisory Council were interested in seeing HAZMAT Day reinstated. He said even though it costs the City a lot of money to operate HAZMAT Day, the City does recognize the need for it. When the City last hosted a HAZMAT Day, it cost each car $10.00, plus additional money for certain items. This year, it was stated that it could cost around $45.00 per car (plus the additional fee for certain items) depending on the quotes the City receives from the participating vendors. It was asked if Northside Carting could provide hazardous waste dumpsters at the Transfer Station on Swampscott Road. Jason said that is something that would need to be negotiated into the new contract and said he will take a look into it. Tom St. Pierre
mentioned that Northside would need a special contractor license for such a dumpster.
It was mentioned that Home Depot will take back latex paint but will not accept oil based paints. Polly said that she would like to see the statistics from the last HAZMAT Day. Janet said she will email HAZMAT information out to the group members. Jason stated that the City’s Recycling Committee is planning to host a shredding day on Saturday, November 22nd, at North Shore Recycled Fibers on Jefferson Avenue.
Building/Health Code Enforcement
Jim stated that 55 Butler Street has long been a problem and that the Building Department has been great in addressing the illegal 3rd floor apartment located there. Tom stated that there are illegal apartments all over the City. Due to staffing shortages, the Department focuses primarily on the most dangerous ones first, particularly illegal basement apartments. Jason acknowledged that the Building Department is down one inspector and the Health Department is now down 2 inspectors.
Jim asked if the City can do anything about properties that have tall grass. Tom stated that the City can cite property owners for this by way of the 21D ticket program, however, it becomes a matter of manpower and prioritizing just like everything else. Tom went on to say that foreclosures are up and the courts are backed up with foreclosure cases. Police are given a list of foreclosed properties and periodically drive by to check on them.
Polly asked how the neighborhood associations could help out the Inspectional Services Department.
Tom said that if they could let their group members know to check on elderly residents in the
neighborhood, especially during the winter months, that would be helpful.
Polly asked if the City could publish the Top 10 problem property list in the Salem News again. Tom and
Jason agreed that this would be a good idea and will look into it.
Future Meeting Topics
The group will brainstorm some future meeting topics and email them to Tom.
Meeting Minutes recorded by Tom Watkins
Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm
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