Salemtown Block Grant Update

The last time I updated you on the Salemtown Citizen Advisory Committee's work on our block grant was January. The February meeting was cancelled in observance of Valentine's Day, and our family vacation prevented me from attending the March meeting.

The April meeting was with officials of Metro Public Works and the meeting's purpose was to determine which projects on our list could be taken care of by MPW and thus be removed from the list. That meeting was basically just an extension of the March meeting. The committee removed several items from the priority list after MPW said that they would attend to them. They include:

1. Paving Salemtown's 2 unpaved alleys
2. Fixing the traffic speed & sight problem at 3rd Av. & Coffee St.
3. Correcting the drainage problem at Coffee St. & 4th Av.
4. Cleaning up 8th Av. & Buchanan, including exploring putting in surveillance cams

The CAC should be commended for making progress in persuading MPW to address these long-standing neighborhood problems. So, while the committee's role is primarily to decide how to spend federal money, it has already had a positive influence on getting Metro to respond with assistance that will enhance Salemtown's quality of life without spending a dime from the block grant.

While I only provided a list of top 10 priorities in January, here I am providing the full list of priorities that remain after our meetings with MPW:

1. Distinctive street signs
2. Neighborhood entry signs
3. Medians
4. Street lighting
5. Traffic bulbs
6. Crosswalks
7. Seed money for senior programs
8. Microparks (including a new request to help purchase a private park at 3rd and Buchanan for Salem Church)
9. Lamp posts & banners
10. Trash receptacles
11. Garbage corrals
12. Purchase blighted lots
13. Seed money for day care programs
14. Speed bumps
15. Round-a-bout
16. Underground wiring
17. Morgan Park tennis courts
18. Public Art

The committee will be voting to re-prioritize this list at the June 9th meeting. What do you think should be our top priorities?