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Mayor Dickey lays out infrastructure, parks and growth highlights in State of the City
Summary
Mayor Dickey told the Salem City Council that the city completed a major wastewater upgrade, expanded parks programming with more than $2.2 million in outside funding, and recorded substantial increases in zoning permits and permit revenue as the city pursues broadband and continued grant opportunities.
Mayor Dickey delivered the Salem State of the City address to the city council, summarizing accomplishments across utilities, parks, public safety and economic development in 2025. He said the city completed Wastewater Treatment Plant Phase 3 after roughly 2.5 years at an approximate cost of $18,500,000 and highlighted new equipment and operational upgrades that improve reliability.
"The wastewater treatment plant phase 3 project was officially finished and closed out," Dickey said, noting new dome covers, a centrifuge placed online that allows self-sufficient dewatering, and rehabilitation of both anaerobic digesters. "We are cutting edge in our utility department," he added, citing the PONDUS sludge-conditioning process as a notable innovation and saying Salem is the second U.S. location to use it.
Dickey listed other utilities and water-plant work completed or under way: tank inspections and repairs, replacement of a broken pump with a submersible unit, manhole installations to reduce hydrogen sulfide odor, and design work for planned water-line replacements and extensions (including about 4,500 feet of replacement on Benton Road and a 12-inch extension from Pershing to Edgewood).
The mayor gave a lengthy account of parks and recreation activity, including community events, grant-funded projects and equipment purchases. He said outside funding for parks totaled about $2,214,600 in 2025, with specific grants such as a NatureWorks award (about $49,000) and other donations and stipends supporting pool renovations, field upgrades and purchase of AEDs for Centennial and Waterworth Memorial Parks.
On finance and development, the auditor reported a December 2025 carryover of roughly $1.5 million, and Dickey said zoning and permitting activity rose substantially: total permit counts and permit fee revenue climbed year over year, with permit fee revenue reported at approximately $141,195.78 for 2025. The mayor and staff attributed revenue gains to higher-value projects and updated fee structures.
Public-safety and operations summaries noted that the fire department responded to about 2,301 incidents in 2025, EMS continued to account for roughly 70% of calls, and average response times increased slightly. The police department reported broad community-policing outreach and a range of incident statistics; Dickey emphasized there were no homicides or shootings reported in the year.
Dickey also described IT upgrades, planned server-replacement costs (estimated $25,000–$30,000), successful grant-seeking for streets and signal upgrades, and ongoing work to bring fiber-optic broadband to Salem. He cited a state grant of about $400,000 to support a referral center that has assisted people into housing and services and noted that the center had enrolled dozens in services to date.
The mayor concluded by outlining near-term priorities—including continued grant applications, infrastructure planning for 2026, and labor negotiations—and thanked staff and partners for their work.
The council offered brief comments and the meeting proceeded to committee reports; no ordinances or formal votes were taken on the items discussed in the mayor's report.
