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Renewal levy for Salem parks eyed

SALEM — City council’s parks committee agreed Tuesday to recommend seeking certification by the auditor’s offices for Columbiana and Mahoning counties for a 1-mill levy renewal for the parks.

The commission also took action to allow the placement of the levy on the March primary ballots once the certification is received to show how much the renewal will generate each year. The next step will be for city council to approve it. The five-year levy was last approved by voters as a replacement in November 2014. At the time, the estimate was that the levy would generate $198,700 per year.

Former parks director Steve Faber, who’s now a councilman, made a motion for the action, seconded by fellow committee member Councilwoman Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey. Councilman Ron Zellers serves as chairman.

Also in attendance was city Auditor Betty Brothers, parks director Shane Franks and parks commission member Lucille Karnofel.

The parks department operates on this levy, which expires this year, and a 1.3-mill levy approved in 2017 for five years, with a minimal amount of income coming from services such as pavilion rentals, fees and pool income. The Salem Lake on Gamble Road is mostly self-sustaining and doesn’t receive money from the levies.

The commission oversees the operations of six parks consisting of nearly 350 acres, including Centennial, Waterworth Memorial, Mullins off South Lincoln Avenue, Kelley off Prospect Street, the Salem Lake off Gamble Road and an area near the Teegarden Covered Bridge off Eagleton Road, known as Eagleton Glen Park.

news@tribtoday.com

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