2012 Residential Street Sweeping Schedule

Beginning on Monday, April 23, 2012 the City of Salem will begin city-wide street sweeping in its neighborhoods.

Residential street sweeping will take place April 23 – May 4, 2012 and once again on June 4-15, 2012.
Street sweepers will be in your neighborhood from 8:00AM to 5:00PM.

During that time period a No Parking Tow Zone area will be in effect. Temporary orange tow zones will be posted throughout your neighborhood and all cars must be removed from both sides of the street so that sweeping can take place.

Please remember to move your car off the street so it will not be towed.

Please note, you will be able to park your vehicles on:
Loring Avenue; Lafayette Street; Bridge Street; Boston Street; North Street; and Essex Street (the portion from Boston Street to Washington Street) on your designated sweep day.

Once you have seen that the sweeper has cleaned your street, you can move your vehicle back onto the roadway.
Click here for a black & white (8 1/2" x 11") street sweeping calendar and street listings

Click here for a color-coded (11" x 17") street sweeping map and street listings

Copies of the street sweeping calendar can also be obtained at Salem City Hall, the Salem Public Library, and the DPS Office at 5 Jefferson Avenue. 

If you would like a calendar mailed to you or you have any questions regarding the 2012 street sweeping schedule, please call the DPS office at 978-744-3302.

(Please note:  Certain weather conditions prohibit the use of the street sweepers: during moderate to heavy rainfall and extreme cold temperatures, sweepers will not be able to operate. Please check www.salem.com for weather related cancelled sweeps.)

Window Screens

 

With the freakishly warm weather we have been treated to this March and warmer weather to come, you may be thinking about opening your windows and getting some fresh air...that is, if you have screens, and if your screens are in good repair.
If you don't have screens, there is a pile of them in storage in the small utility area behind the laundry room. If  yours are missing, perhaps yours up there.
If your screens have holes in them, (like mine did) or are otherwise in disrepair, consider going to
Winer Brother Ace Hardware store at 86 Lafayette Street here in Salem. They repair screens.
I recently took one of my large window screens down there to be fixed, and they had it done within the week. A 45 x 45 screen repair will cost you about $40. Let's hear it for fresh air!

Fresh Varnish

The front and back doors, as well as the wood trim around the entry panel have been stripped, sanded and revarnished. Both doors were refinished both inside and out. You may have noticed the smell of varnish in the building the last day or so. This has eliminated many of the scratches and cuts in the door as well as some minor graffiti carved into the door.  The new varnish has improved the overall appearance of the entry and really brings out the wood grain in the doors. Just in time for the first day of spring!

Door Code

You may have recently noticed that the old access code for the front door no longer works.
Markwood Management decided to change the general-access code for security reasons, especially since the old code had been the same for many years. The code will continue to be changed on a regular basis so that only authorized people will have general access rights to the building. You can obtain the new code by contacting Markwood Management.
You can still access the building with your own personal code, which is the last four digits of your phone number, or with a key. If you don't have a key, Markwood recommends that you contact them and arrange to get one, as a panel malfunction,  such as the one we had last year, or a power-outage, can make it difficult to get into the building any other way.

Laundry Etiquette

The joys of unfinished laundry piled on tables, washing machines and dryers.

It's been a while since we've posted about laundry etiquette. If you are new to the building, here are the basics: We have 3 washers and 3 dryers for 39 units. The washers are $1.25 a load, and the dryers are $1.75 a load, quarters only. The good news is that the laundry is open 24/7. The bad news is that most people seem to like to do their laundry around the same time.

If you are doing laundry, no one expects you to hang out in the laundry room eagerly waiting to take your wet clothes out of the washer, or your dry clothes out of the dryer, however...be considerate of others and don't take an extended trip away from the building, or get engrossed in angry birds and forget that you are doing laundry.

Leaving a load in a machine for several hours is not going to make you any friends.
You also run the risk of having someone remove your laundry from the machine and leave it in a pile.

Also, please clean the lint filter in the dryer before and after you do a load. A clean filter will help your load dry faster than one that is clogged with lint. Remember a little care and consideration can go a long way. Thanks!

CITY INSTALLING CONVENIENT SMART PARKING METERS

The City of Salem continues to move forward with making parking more convenient. As part of the City of Salem’s initiative to make enhancements to the downtown parking system, the City has just installed 50 smart meters. Smart meters add the convenience of paying by credit card while allowing people to still pay with coins.

Mayor Kimberley Driscoll stated, “After an intensive study and engagement process, last year the City Council approved changes to the downtown parking system. During that approval process, we heard from residents, customers, and shop owners who said they’d like to have more convenient payment options. As we move forward with implementing the system changes, we’re pleased to be able to test out these smart meters.”

“It is great to see the City responding to people’s request for easy to use, updated meters in the downtown. The new meters allow people to use their credit cards to pay, which is much more convenient than searching for change. Since only a few are being installed at various locations, people can test out the meters and give the City valuable feedback as to whether this should be implemented throughout the downtown,” states Jennifer Bell, Salem Main Streets Manager.

Richard Viscay, who chairs the City Parking Implementation Team, noted, “There are different types of parking technology available. We wanted to test the smart meters out before committing to them on a long-term basis.”

Viscay continued, “The goal of last year’s Council action is to create better balance in the parking system. The outcome we’re striving toward is to have one parking space open per block. That’s the sweet spot for on-street parking. As we work toward that outcome, we also want to respond to people’s desire to have convenient payment options.”

Viscay added, “We’ll be moving forward with implementing the rest of the changes later this spring. People told us they wanted more pricing options, and that’s what we’re providing.”

Changes that will be implemented later this spring include a new rate structure. Hourly rates in the parking lots and garages will be lower than the hourly rates for meters on the adjacent streets. In addition, lower demand areas, such as the South River area, will be priced less than higher demand areas, such as the northern end of downtown. For example, hourly rates in the garages will drop from $1.50 to $0.25 in the Waterfront Garage and from $1.50 to $0.75 in the Downtown Garage.

In addition to the new rate structure, the City will offer a $25 monthly pass in several new on-street monthly zones. Viscay noted, “These low cost monthly passes are a great deal. We hope people who currently feed meters will see they can save hundreds of dollars a year by getting one of these passes. They’ll be able to save enough to buy an airplane ticket to someplace warm and sunny—and not have to worry about getting a ticket.”

The smart meters will be evaluated for 90 days. During that period, City personnel will evaluate the functionality and reliability. Personnel will also interview users about their experiences. The public is encouraged to submit comments to the Parking Department by sending an e-mail to parking@salem.com or calling 978 745-8120.

Fresh Laundry

 

The laundry room got a fresh coat of yellow paint this last week on the walls, and dark-gray industrial epoxy-enamel on the floor.  The floor is so shiny it actually looks wet. Considering all the dust, lint, cracks and scratches that were on the floor, this is a big improvement!