Silver Lake considers ordinances to change name and absorb Salem

The Silver Lake Village Board on Wednesday considered two more items on the road to its planned merger with the town of Salem.

The Village Board had first readings of an ordinance that will change the name of the village to Salem Lakes and an ordinance attaching all of the current town of Salem to the village.

Both are steps called for in the cooperative plan adopted by the Silver Lake Village Board and the Salem Town Board and approved by the state Department of Administration.

There was little elaboration on the ordinances and no discussion among board members.

“Basically it’s the final leg of everything, bringing every thing together,” village President Bruce Nopenz said about the ordinances.

The board will vote to approve or deny the ordinances after a second reading, which likely will be at the second regular monthly board meeting on Dec. 21.

The Silver Lake Village Board is taking these actions because the merger will technically be achieved through the village absorbing the town via the conditions laid out in the cooperative plan.

The merger is expected to be complete Feb. 14.

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6 Comments

  1. robert walski says:

    The best thing silver lake ever did was eliminate the police department and the worse thing they can do is change there name …silver lake is what it will always be too me and every one else

  2. It should just be "Salem". says:

    Silver Lake absorbing Salem is just a backdoor legal way of Salem becoming a village. Silver Lake needed this ten times more than Salem did. If Silver Lake hadn’t agreed to do this Salem would have gone ahead and muscled through becoming a village on its own. And most likely in the future Silver Lake would have just rescinded their village charter as they almost did just a short while ago.

    Changing the name to Salem Lakes is a concession to Silver Lake and nothing more. And a bad concession at that. The name should stay Salem, as Salem Township is what Silver Lake was in before they became a village of their own.

    Silver Lake will always be Silver Lake just as Wilmot, Trevor, Camp Lake and other places are what they are.

    While it’s probably not a lot of money, going through the process of changing the name that most people will ignore anyways is ultimately a waste of time and money.

  3. Accept the change. says:

    Silver Lake’s name is not changed. ONLY the government. The Village of Salem Lakes is the whole area of Salem Township. Where is Daniel Withers? He has missed the last several meetings now. Do what is right Mr. Nopenz. Open his seat now!

  4. Accept the change. says:

    It shouldn’t be Salem. The government of Salem Township saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars by doing this merger. This is fact. A new name is welcomed, as is the birth of a new village. Salem Lakes is a win for all!

  5. Let us Vote for it says:

    After this is all said and done I would like to see all of the residents of the new Village be able to vote for the name. (Only 12 people picked this one)

    The hamlets are what they are and what they will always be and the whole overall encompassing Village/Township border should stay what it always was, Salem.

    Please call for a vote on the name for next November.

  6. Sl Goverment says:

    There were some naysayers in Silver Lake. The street lights are going out. There will be more crime with the KCS Department. Fire and Rescue will fail because of longer response times. DPW will not do their job. The truth is it all got better.

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