Salem Farmers' Market Opens Tomorrow!

The Salem Farmers' Market runs on Thursday's from 3-7pm starting June 14th and ending December 20th. You will be able to find all sorts of fresh produce, fresh seafood, breads, live entertainment and much more. For more information click here.

Parking in Riley Plaza June 30th

24 NORMAN STREET RESIDENTS NEED TO READ THIS.
Below is an e-mail sent to Nate Gravel, one of the trustees for 24 Norman Street by Ellen S. Talkowsky, Special Projects Coordinator for the Department of Public Services in Salem.

Dear Mr.  Gravel:  I am writing to inform you and the residents of the Norman Street condominiums that on June 30th, the North Shore Pride organization will be holding a parade that will be staged and begin at Riley Plaza.   In the course of planning for this event, the Salem Police Department has determined that the best staging area and step-off point for the parade would be the Riley Plaza parking area.  From a public safety perspective, this site allows the police department to keep participants safe within the location and also allows for traffic to continue to flow throughout the downtown until very shortly before the noon time start of the parade.

I am aware that residents of the Norman Street condominiums park their vehicles at this location and they will not need to relocate them.  However they will not be able to enter the lot or remove their vehicles from the lot during staging and step-off hours.  The Salem Police Traffic Division will close this parking area to vehicles effective at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 30, 2012.  Once the parade has cleared the Riley Plaza area, the lot can immediately be re-opened to vehicles.  I estimate the parade divisions will be out of the parking area by 1:00 p.m.

At this time, I would like to ask your assistance in passing along this information to the residents in your building.  Please let me know the most effective way to do this.

Thank you,

Ellen S. Talkowsky
Special Projects Coordinator
Department of Public Services
120 Washington Street, 4th Floor
Salem, MA 01970
978-745-9595, ext. 5676
978-745-0349 (fax)
www.salem.com
etalkowsky@salem.com

FREE SUMMER CONCERTS!

Mamadou provides some outdoor fun on Artists Row in downtown Salem, MA.

The City of Salem presents free Summer Concerts at the Peabody Street Park every Sunday 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm throughout the summer.
Each Sunday throughout the Summer of 2012, the City of Salem is hosting the Peabody Street PArk Concert Series. Heading up this project is Mamadou Diop, leader of the World Fusion band MAMADOU. The goal of this project is to bring the communities of Salem together through music.
Peabody Street PArk is at 15 Peabody Street, Salem, MA, near Lafayette and Derby Street on the South River Walkway.
This concert series is made possible with the support of the City of Salem, the Mayor of Salem Kim Driscoll, local neighborhood associations, local businesses and associates, along with local musuicians and performers. All are welcome to attend each and every one of these family-friendly, FREE events.
For more information on the performers and to look ahead at the schedule for the concert seriesin the upcoming months go to www.junglerhythm.com

Really?

Coffee cup found sitting in the hallway.

Another in a series of WTF? moments. 

Recently there have been several instances of trash carelessly left on the stairs. We're not talking little bits of paper...more like fast food wrappers, soda cans, coffee cups...coffee.

There is both a recycling bin and a trash bin in the first floor entryway. There is a large dumpster in the side lot, and a smaller trash barrel at the entrance to the side lot. Plus you may have access to a trash barrel in the unit you are living in, or visiting.

Not sure if you are passively-aggressively showing your disdain for the property,  a lack respect for yourself,  or if your manners just never progressed beyond that of a 2-year-old. Maybe you are a 2-year old. Maybe you are used to someone else picking up after you, or perhaps you're just too busy to be bothered to walk the flight of stairs to the trash barrel.
Not sure.

We know it's hard being expected to pick up after yourself, but please try.
Your neighbors will appreciate it.

City Launches New Parking Website

Riley Plaza will be one parking location where rates and rules will change.

The City of Salem has posted new pages on its website focused on changes to the parking system.

Quite simply, their stated goal is to have parking work better for you.

For the past three years the City has been involved in a comprehensive program to study, develop, and implement a dynamic, new parking system to serve the diverse needs of people parking in the downtown area.

Throughout the process, the city listened to input from residents, employers, employees, customers, and visitors about the parking system. They heard about a lot of issues. They also heard a lot of suggestions. Some suggestions conflicted with each other. After all, parking is very personal, and each person has his own feeling about how much he is willing to pay and how far he is willing to walk.

They did their best to listen to the different ideas and balance the needs of the different user groups—residents, employees, customers. Salem thinks the system being rolled out will improve parking for most people. They know it won’t be perfect, and there will be further tweaks needed once all of the changes are implemented. They will have an intensive 90-day evaluation period to see where the system is operating as desired, and where changes are needed.

The website explains the changes that will be implemented in the coming weeks and the parking options people will have. Changes to the system include a new rate structure, discount monthly passes, and new enforcement hours and fines.

Visit www.salem.com and click on the “Parking in Salem” logo, or go directly to the website by clicking here:

 Please submit your comments to parking@salem.com.

Green Roof?

Project Title: Whipple Housing Complex
Location: 27 Green St Ipswich, MA
Size: 3,000 sq ft
System Depth: 4 inches
Maintenance Begun: 2009
Photo: courtesy of Apex Green Roofs

If anyone attended the Salem Chamber of Commerce's 5th Annual Living Green & Renewable Energy Faire this last weekend you may have run into a concept that has been growing in popularity in urban areas in recent years, the Green Roof.  A green roof, converts a regular asphalt or stone roof into one that is covered with living plants. One Massachusetts company located in Somerville provides this service. The link is here: http://www.apexgreenroofs.com
This has many potential benefits. It can extend the life of the roof, by protecting the waterproofing membrane from ultraviolet rays. It can help manage/absorb Storm and rain water, reduce energy costs, reduce the heat on the roof itself, reduce air, water and noise pollution, increase property value, create wildlife habitat for birds, qualify us for government grants and tax incentives, and increase the efficiency of solar panels (if we were to install them).
The installation of a green roof can bring cost-saving and environmental benefits in many areas.
Ok, so here is a crazy idea...a green roof for our building. Just think about it. Wouldn't it be cool to make an improvement to the building that would actually be good for the environment?

Spills

The stairways at 24 Norman Street are busy, people coming and going all the time. Sooner or later someone is going to spill something; coffee, juice, soda, occasionally the contents of their stomachs.
It is important that if you spill something, you don't just walk away and let it sit, like it's someone else's problem. If you spill something, it would be nice if you took a minute to grab a paper towel and clean it up yourself (even though no one really expects that these days) what we do expect however, is that you will call Markwood Management and let them know about it, so that they can send someone to clean it up for you. Otherwise it just sort of sits there and turns into a science project. No one is going to fix blame on you if you call in a spill. In fact, you wouldn't even have to leave your name, just call and say "There is a large puddle of coffee on the second-floor landing of the front steps that needs cleaned up". That's it. That wasn't so hard was it?