Addresses in Silver Lake an issue for Salem Lakes to decide

An example of a Salem uniform address sign.

An example of a Salem uniform address sign.

There was a brief glimpse this week into what might be one of the most cared about issues involved in the merger of the town of Salem and the village of Silver Lake into the village of Salem Lakes — what do do with addresses in the territory that is the current village of Silver Lake.

The issue came up Monday during discussion at the first meeting of the Salem Lakes Transition Committee, made up of the Salem Town Board members and the Silver Lake village president. The committee, designated in the co-operative agreement that governs the merger, is supposed to provide guidance about Salem issues to the Silver Lake Village Board during the period between the official merger of the municipalities (Feb. 14) and when the candidates from the first Salem Lakes village election take office in mid April.

Town/village administrator Patrick Casey said during his discussions with county officials about zoning issues regarding the merger, the county asked how the new village would handle addresses.

Currently most of Salem uses the numbered grid street and avenue system like most of the rest of the county (except Twin Lakes). In that system, streets run east and west and avenues north and south. Street numbers start in the north and increase running south. Avenue numbers start in the east and increase heading west.

Silver Lake streets have verbal names and have their own, independent numbering system.

Casey mentioned three possibilities going forward:

  • Keep the addresses in Silver Lake and Salem as they are.
  • Change Silver Lake over the to numbered grid system.
  • Adopt a hybrid that would retain the street names in Silver Lake, but adopt numbers that coordinate with the grid system.

Board members were content to let the new board make the decision, but some still had an opinion.

“This is one of the biggest issues people ask us about,” said Salem Chairman Diann Tesar. “If we would leave it the same that would be OK with me.”

Regardless of which system is chosen, Casey said uniform blue address signs used in Salem will be installed in Silver Lake. The signs assist emergency services and law enforcement personnel in quickly locating specific addresses.

Which address system to use is under local control. The Post Office only controls the ZIP code, Casey said.

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6 Comments

  1. Andy J says:

    Leave them as is!!! Citizens have been told since inception that addresses would not change!

  2. Leadership says:

    The grid system in primarily for emergency personal. Faster responses mean better results for all involved in emergency situations.

    Diane saying “leave it the same that would be OK” lacks leadership in running the village.

    Diane needs to take a stand for the betterment of the community and not just go along with whichever way the wind blows. She’s done this before and will keep doing it until she get knocked off of her horse.

  3. SL Goverment says:

    The Hybrid system is the most responsible way to do it. Keep the names and get on the grid system to help our first responders. Public safety is number one on the list. We always new we would get the grid system and keep our name, Its a winner for all.

  4. Concerned says:

    In these days of GPS is a change really needed?
    Seems this concept made more sense years ago before the new technology.

  5. Concerned says:

    With GPS these days is a change really needed?
    Years ago this grid system probably made more sense.

  6. Bernard Punsley says:

    @Concerned…..GPS will help responding emergency units(police, fire, EMS, etc) get to the scene, however, they responders STILL need an ADDRESS IDENTIFYING a particular building. The blue/white reflective address signs currently used by Salem(and MOST of the western county) are LIFE SAVERS! They are inexpensive, and WILL save responders critical time, GPS or NOT!! The post office, UPS, FedEx, etc all use GPS…they still need a corresponding number on the mailbox or building to confirm location.

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