Salisbury budget shifts add staff pay and $150,000 exterior work at Poplar Hill Mansion

Alan Swiger, director of Arts, Business and Culture, told the council the Poplar Hill Mansion budget for the coming year contains only a small change: a market adjustment to the salary of the on-site curator and caretaker.

"She acts as our security. She acts as our maid," Swiger said, describing the curator's multiple duties. He said the adjustment brings her pay in line with the city's grade-and-step structure after she had been paid below the minimum for her grade.

Swiger also described a capital improvement project entry of $150,000 for a third phase of exterior work on the mansion. He said the funds are intended to restore upper exterior siding and to rehabilitate the historic shutters, which are currently stored in the basement, and to install attic HVAC and positive airflow needed for expanded programming space.

Swiger said the Maryland Historical Trust and local preservation stakeholders are involved in the project. No formal vote or appropriation was recorded in the transcript; council questions focused on the scope and sequencing of the work.

City council members asked how lands-and-grounds maintenance had come in under budget in recent years; Swiger said field operations and certified downtown maintenance staff sometimes supplement contracted lawn and grounds work, reducing billed costs.

The council did not take a formal action on the Poplar Hill items during this presentation; staff presented the proposed pay adjustment and CIP request for council consideration as part of the department budget packet.