Archive for 2018

The City of Salem has announced the appointment of Ms. Sally Burbridge as Salem’s next Economic Development Director. Ms. Burbridge was appointed to the position at its regular meeting Monday evening, August 20th in Closed Session by Mayor Brad Nash with the approval of the Board of Aldermen. She will be relocating to Salem from New Mexico and is scheduled to start her new duties in November 2018 with her office located in the City Administrative Offices, 400 North Iron Street.

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning for their regular meeting. In the road report, District 1 Commission Dennis Purcell indicated grading was going to be done on Dent County Roads 5080, 5530 and 6660. He also said materials would be added to county road 6303 while brush was going to be cut on county roads 4080, 4210 and 6380. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson reported grading was going to be done on Dent County Road 2050. He also said workers would be working on the low water crossing on Dent County Road 5260. Due to the work that will need to be done, the road will be closed for a few days. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said the Beef Days out at The Commons was a big success. He said a special thank you needs to go to the sponsors that make that program possible for the youngsters. Skiles said he would be attending the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District Executive Board meeting today to award the solid waste reduction grants for the upcoming year. Skiles went on to say a special meeting would be held Thursday afternoon at 4:00 with Larry Hart, the bond rating company and the commissioners via conference call at the commissioners’ office at the courthouse. That meeting is open to the public. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said October 10th would be the last day to register to vote for the November General Election. Dwight Ramsburg, the jail project director from Septagon, brought in three contracts for the commissioners to sign from Meyer Electric Co. Inc for the electrical work, Prost Builders, inc. for the general construction and Ozark Fire Sprinkler Co., Inc for the fire Suppression System. The commission voted 3-0 to sign and mail back the contracts. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Community Wide Yard Salem will be held on Saturday, October 6th. People who have extra items they no longer need are encouraged to participate in the yard sale. You can hold you yard sale at your home, at the City Administrative Office parking lot on 4th Street just east of Iron Street, or with the permission of any property owner to use their location. If you wish to reserve space on the parking lot, you will need to call the City Administrative Offices at 729-4811. Each space may be reserved for $8.00 and more than one space can be reserved. Those spaces are reserved on a first come, first served basis. A map of the spaces that have been reserved will be posted on the back door window of the city administrative offices. You can also advertise your yard dale in the Salem News. The cost is $10 for 22 words or less. There is an additional charge for more than 22 words. The deadline to get your ad in the newspaper is this Friday morning, September 28th at 10:00. Maps of all locations that advertise their yard sale with the newspaper will be published in the Salem News in the October 2nd edition. Those maps will also be distributed to the local area convenience stores by Wednesday, October 3rd.

The Dent County Health Center Board of Trustees met last Monday, September 18th for their regular monthly meeting. Administrator Kendra Mobray told the board that Flu shots are now available at the Health Center at a cost of $37. The Health Center will bill private insurance as well as child Medicaid. She said that businesses or job sites interested in scheduling a flue clinic should call 573-729-3106. She also said outpatient lab services were provided to 49 clients in August. Administrator Mobray said there were three reports of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, one case of E. Coli Shiga Toxin, plus one dog bite and one cat bite were investigated during the month of August. She reported that the WIC contract for Fiscal year 2019 has been received and that she attended the SEMA Conference in August. For additional questions on immunizations or other health issues, please call the Dent County Health Center at 729-3106. The next regular meeting of the Dent County Board of Trustees was set for Monday, October 15, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. The meeting was then adjourned.

A accident occurred Friday afternoon at 12:30 on Red Oak Road about two miles west of Waynesville. According to the highway patrol report, a 2004 Ford Taurus driven by 48-year old Benjamin Johnson of Salem, was traveling southbound when the vehicle began to skid, then overturned and struck a tree. Johnson suffered moderate injuries and was transported to Phelps County Regional Medical Center by Pulaski County EMS. Suffering minor injuries in the accident was a passenger, 38-year old Miki Johnson of Salem. She was transported to the Phelps County Regional Medical Center by Pulaski County EMS. Both Benjamin and Miki Johnson were wearing safety restraints at the time of the accident. The Ford Taurus sustained moderate damage and was towed from the scene by Jacks Towing.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education met Thursday evening for their regular meeting at the district administrative boardroom. At the meeting, the board heard about a 5th grade science project before Superintendent John McColloch discussed some improvements to be made the high school football stands. He said the railings were bad there and will be replaced along with some needed concrete work in the next two weeks while the team is on the road. He also said some exterior doors at William Lynch and the Upper Elementary School are being replaced as the bottom has rotted out. There was also a discussion about putting up some type of fencing around the upper elementary playground. The playground is accessible from the woods on the west side of the school. The issue has always been that the children will not be able to get out of the playground area fast enough if there was an emergency event that would require them to get back into the school. This will be looked into. After the building principals gave their reports, the board approved the bus routes for this year and they are the same as last year. The board also adopted the Special Education Compliance Plan which is the same as the Special Education Compliance Plan for the 2017-18 year since the statewide board of education was going through their upheaval with Governor Greidens. The board approved setting the 2019 Graduation Exercises for May 17th at 7:00, and they approved the 2018A MSBA Policy updates that directly affected the Salem R-80 District. The board heard about the needed budget adjustments for the Phase 10 Construction Work being done at the Football Field restrooms and high school gymnasium. The budgeted cost is $660,000 and the current balance in Fund 4 is $1,598,170.53. The new balance after this adjustment will be $938,170.53. The board also approved granting an easement of 3,971.5 square feet to the City of Salem to construct a TAP grant sidewalk to run from Tiger Pride Drive by the high school parking lot to Route J to meet up with a trail that will be built from the Salem R-80 District Administrative Building to the Salem City Park at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. The board then went into closed session.