SALEM, Indiana — Months after complaints first began about brown water in Salem, Ind., the city council is one step closer to improving water quality.
The Salem City Common Council voted unanimously in favor Tuesday to move ahead with the creation of a water task force.
The task force will review the water plant and infrastructure and give recommendations to the city on how to improve water quality. Members will look at personnel duties, status of current facilities, water production cost and consumer rates, consider recommendations to address any concerns, inefficiencies or upgrades.
WHAS11 News first reported about the brown water concerns in Salem in early October of 2023. WHAS11's FOCUS team also found that the city had a roughly two-year history of not doing all the required water tests.
"From some of the brown water issues that we had last year, that issue was discovered what was wrong, it was remedied and fixed," Councilor at Large Roger Pennington said. "I think it's been much better."
Pennington was the one to introduce the Water Task Force.
“This task force that was passed tonight is a way to bring the community in, build some community trust with community members, come up with some creative solutions to maybe think outside the box a little bit and come back with those recommendations to the council to see if we can’t work with the mayor and the rest of the council move that position forward," he said.
The task force will include five members: two members from the council and three members of the Salem community. One resident will be chosen by the mayor and the other two will be chosen through an application process.
It will be a one-time committee with a three-month time limit. Once the task force has completed their recommendations, they will be presented to the council for consideration.
The task force is not allowed to enforce any policy, just provide recommendations on water treatment improvements.
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