Salem council approves site for veteran memorial

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

SALEM ? Salem has moved one step closer in establishing a veteran?s memorial.

Members of the memorial planning committee appeared at the council meeting, saying they could not proceed until they had a location. The committee has met once, about a month ago.

The city council tentatively approved a location north of the bell in the community?s central park during its regular meeting Tuesday night.

Several possible locations were mentioned by the committee including the northwest side of the square, east of the Salem Crew Library and north of the bell.

?My opinion is that if you are going to do it, you have to do it in a high visibility area,? Councilman Jeremy Hunold said.

Councilwoman Mary Hoyer suggested considering the corner adjacent to the Lewelling House. ?I know you want it visible, but the Lewelling House is a memorial, and I don?t think you should dismiss that location.?

Committee members said the size of the memorial would be a determining factor regarding location. They said that 219 veterans are buried in the two cemeteries in Salem. ?These are just the ones buried here, I don?t know how many more there are,? noted Linda Kramer.

Jim Onorato, who also serves on the committee, said the memorial is going to have to be all-inclusive. ?If you get 300 names from Salem, you are going to have to add them.?

Councilman Bruce Eltrich said he anticipates the memorial will exceed expectations. ?No matter what space you get, ultimately it will not be big enough.?

?I think the bell is the best place, we have to do some work there anyway,? commented Councilman Chuck Kramer who made the motion, which passed unanimously, to approve that space as the location for the memorial.

Council members also discussed having a city audit. The city had another city clerk resign recently and there has not been much stability in the city office since former City Clerk Laci Shull resigned in November.

?We have to know where stuff is,? C. Kramer said. ?We can?t do a budget without knowing what we have. We need an independent person to come in and straighten it out. I am not spending a dollar until I know what we have.?

City Attorney Pat Brau said the state would do it audit ? at a cost, or the city could hire an independent audit firm. Mayor Dan Patterson said he will do some investigating and report back to the council.

Patterson also told the council that Haley Stueker, Stockport city clerk, will be handling some of the city clerk duties in Salem in the interim. ?She will get us up to speed until we have a clerk,? the mayor said.

Stueker, city officials said, is not interested in the position but is willing to help out in the interim and train the new city clerk. Salem has placed an ad for a new clerk.

Several council members will be looking at a potential replacement truck for the city. The city?s current truck is deteriorating rapidly. The council is considering a truck from Deery Brothers and will test it next week.

The next council meeting will be Tuesday, March 1, at 5:30 p.m., in the council chambers of the Community Building.