Archive for 2019

The Salem Memorial District Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the Hospital Library. SMDH Attorney Mark Weaver administered the oath of office to board members Mike Swyers of District 2 and A.J. Seay from District 6. The board heard a presentation by Gina Daniels, the Director of Rehabilitation who gave an overview of the Physical and Occupational Therapy Departments. Monica Stogsdil gave the summary of operations for the month of March where the hospital had 117 inpatient admissions with 356 inpatient census days. During the month, there were 809 emergency room visits to go with 212 ambulance runs, 30 surgery cases, 1,750 outpatient registrations, 356 home health visits, 8,943 lab tests, 1,268 radiological procedures and 753 rehab treatments. The hospital showed a gain from operations of $126,043 and revenues over expenses after taxes of $151,338. Chief of Nursing Debbie Hines gave an Emergency Department Transportation Performance Report where the hospital is ranked on five areas. The next Hospital Auxiliary meeting will be held Tuesday, May 7th at noon at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. The Auxiliary will have a “Scrubs and Beyond” event on April 17th, a BBQ during Hospital week and Shoe Road Productions will be in Salem on September 10th. Hospital COO Chris Strickland reported the Hospital Foundation Form 1023 has been sent to the IRS seeking tax exempt status and scholarship recipients have been selected. A $300,000 NAP grant has been submitted and a recycling grant has been implemented. The Foundation recently received $2,923 from the Coover Foundation to go towards patient accounts to pay for mammograms. The Golf Tournament is scheduled for June 7th and the wing-off fundraiser will be held August 3rd at the Commons. The next Health Fair will be held May 15th and 16th at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory from 6:00 until 9:00 in the morning. Lucas gave the Patient Satisfaction Survey results for the Emergency Department and Family Medicine. There were 123 total surveys returned for the ED department and 241 returned for the Family Medicine, both departments received very high scores in each category. The board elected officers for the next year as Sue Terry remained Chairman, Dennis Fiebelman was named as the Vice-Chairman and Judy Thompson as the Secretary. The board approved the donation of two refrigerators to a local charity before going into closed session.

The Salem Police Department has released the following reports for April 8th and 9th. Monday afternoon, the 8th, at approximately 3:00, an officer located a 20-year-old male of St. Louis near the 500 block of East Center who had an active arrest warrant from Dent County. The suspect was taken into custody on the warrant and incarcerated pending a court appearance. Then on Tuesday afternoon, the 9th, at approximately 5:07, an officer was contacted at the Salem Police Department in reference to damage to private property. The investigation of the report revealed a person or person unknown broke the door glass valued at $300.00 on a truck parked near the 100 block of North Rhodes. The report is under investigation. That same night at about 10:36, a vehicle was stopped for a traffic violation. The investigation of the stop led to the arrest of a 34-year-old male of Salem for driving while being intoxicated. The suspect was incarcerated pending the application for a warrant. Please contact the Salem Police Department at 573-729-4242 if you have any information regarding any ongoing investigation.

A 48-year old woman from Edgar Springs suffered minor injuries in an accident that occurred Monday evening, April 15th at 9:50. According to the report released from the highway patrol, Dawn Case was traveling northbound on Highway 63 about four miles south of Edgar Springs, driving a 2008 Chrysler Town and Country, when she struck a deer in the roadway. Case was transported by a private vehicle to Phelps Health for treatment of what was described as minor injuries. The Chrysler sustained moderate damage and was removed from the scene by Lucas Towing.

The Salem Board of Aldermen regular meeting was held Monday evening at the City Hall Council Chambers. The board immediately went into closed session to discuss real estate. After the conclusion of closed session the regular meeting was then continued. At the meeting, the board heard from Deloris Gray Wood as a representative from the Salem Middle School Committee to give the committees recommendation regarding the building. Wood explained that this committee, made up of local citizens, has been researching possible uses for the building for nearly 18 months. With the Board of Aldermen approval, they hired a consultant and engineering firm that provided a nearly $4 million cost estimates to restore the building. A recent Request for Proposals was advertised to allow for local input and proposals. None were received to restore the building, but five were received to demolish the structures on the property. The committee recommendation was to accept the lowest bid from Donald Maggi for demolition and the board approved their recommendation. The board approved Resolution No. 9-2019 authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement with Second Sight Systems for water meter replacement at a cost of $100,176.76 as part of the Automated Metering Project. The board then approved Bill No. 3411 which is an ordinance amending the annual budget to amend the appropriations of estimated revenue and expenditures in the Capital Improvement Sales Tax Fund. The board also approved an additional cost of $7,500 to Central Coating to replace an expansion joint and clean out and plug while they are painting the water tower on Wines Street. The board approved Bill No. 3412 which is an Ordinance to amend and address nuisance abatements and administration fees. The ordinance defines junk or abandoned vehicles on property as well as junk and debris in yards. An administration fee of not less than $100 and a minimum charge of $75 for the abatement of nuisance will be charged. The board tabled the request from Black’s A-1 Septic LLC to dump port-a-pottie waste in the Waste Water Treatment facility. Further information is needed from the engineer. The board approved Resolution No. 10-2019 canvassing the election results of the April 2nd municipal election. City Clerk Mary Happel then administered the oath of office to new West Ward Alderman Kevin James and East Ward Alderwoman Rachel Hinderliter. Happel then gave appreciation plaques to Dr. Haydn Powell and Chad Heithold for their service to the city. City Administrator Ray Walden gave his report and thanked the Old Middle School Committee members; Deloris Gray Wood, Sherman Odom, Jay Anderson, Bob Parsons, Todd Kinerk and Kristi Crocker. The Salem Community Center @ the Armory had a total of 4,864 participants during the month of March. The Economic Development Planning Session previously scheduled for April 25th has been moved to May 2nd at 5:30 pm. The Community Wide Yard Sale will be held on May 4th with spring clean up scheduled for the following two weeks. For questions regarding the clean up residents can call Waste Management at 417-741-7714. City Attorney Camm Seay updated the board on Nuisance Enforcement and recommended Mark Nash serve as a Nuisance Hearing Officer. Nash would conduct weekly scheduled nuisance hearings to allow citizens to protest any nuisance violation matters. The board directed Seay to create an ordinance to create this position and process. The meeting was then adjourned.

The Dent County Sheriff’s Department has released reports for April 3rd through the 5th. On Wednesday, April 3rd, deputies conducted a traffic stop on Dent County Road 4110 near Highway 19 north. During the course of the traffic stop, a 25-year-old Salem man was arrested for an active warrant through Dent County Sheriff’s Office. The man was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office where the he later posted bond and was released. Then on Thursday, April 4th, deputies attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Dent County Road 3260, but the vehicle failed to yield and continued to travel on county road 3260 until turning right onto Dent County Road 3275. The vehicle stopped in the 400 block of Dent County Road 3275 where the driver, a 37-year old Salem male, fled from the vehicle while the passenger, a 29-year old Salem female, stayed inside the vehicle. The female told deputies that the male that fled had active warrants through probation and parole. Deputies conducted an immediate search of the area but did not locate the male. On Friday, April 5th, the male was located and arrested for the active warrant and resisting arrest for a felony. The male was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office and incarcerated. Also on Friday, April 5th, deputies received a report of a neighbor shooting towards their granddaughter and her dogs near the 2000 block of Dent County Road 6320. Deputies traveled to the scene and during the course of the investigation a 40-year-old Salem male was arrested for the unlawful use of a weapon, subsection 5, discharge of a firearm while intoxicated. The male was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office Jail and incarcerated. Please contact the Dent County Sheriff’s Office at 729-3241 if you have any information about an ongoing investigation.

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning for their regular meeting at the Dent County Courthouse. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles was not in attendance due to a prior commitment. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson was selected to act as the presiding commissioner for the meeting. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell and Commissioner Larson both reported about 1.3 inches of rain fell from Saturday through Sunday morning in many areas of the county. High winds were also prevalent around the county and trees were reported down on Dent County Roads 5450 and 6370. Purcell said the tree across county road 5450 closed the road for a time while the tree on county road 6370 was in the roadway. Both trees will be removed. Purcell said patch grading would be done on Dent County Road 4220 while materials will be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 5590 and 6600. Purcell went on to say that grading would also be done on county road 6620 while materials would be added to county road 4220. Commissioner Larson from District 2 said workers would be adding materials and grading Dent County Road 5260 if it was dry enough, while another man would be stockpiling white rock at the maintenance shed for use after hours. Larson reported that two driveway culvert pipes bought by the property owners were scheduled to be installed if the ground is dry enough. These were to be installed on county roads 2240 and 2350. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley stated she attended the county health consortium meeting held in Springfield Thursday. They updated attendees about the health plan and described a new program that is now available to employees that deal with disease management. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will hold their regular meeting at 6:00 tonight at the hospital library. Administrator Kasey Lucas will report the summary of operations for the month of March, hear the report from CNO Debbie Hines, get the report on the hospital Foundation from COO Chris Strickland and hear the auxiliary report from Lucas. The board will also hear the marketing and community perception report from Chris Strickland on their involvement with different events. Patient Satisfaction survey results will also be reviewed. The board will discuss the fiscal year 2020 Finance Committee meeting report before reviewing purchases. The board may then vote to go into closed session before adjourning. The regular meeting of the Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors is open to the public.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education will hold meetings starting at 6:00 this evening at the Salem District Administrative Offices Boardroom. After approval of the agenda for the re-organizational meeting the Board will certify the Election Results, newly elected members will be sworn in, and the Board President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer will be elected. The Board will also elect the MSBA Delegate and Alternate. The meeting will be adjourned and the Board will move into the regular monthly meeting. The Board will approve the Food Service report, approve the substitute list, and approve Program Evaluations for Food Service and Health Services. Superintendent John McColloch will give a budget update and report on Construction Trades. After the Principals’ Building Reports the Board will address new business including consider an out-of-state travel request. The Board will hear resignations and then adjourn and move into an executive session. The April regular monthly meeting of the Salem R-80 Board of Education is open to the public.

Congressman Jason Smith reminds everyone that the 2019 Congressional Art Competition is now accepting entries from high school students across southeast and south central Missouri. Each of the five district offices in Missouri’s 8th Congressional District will select two winning pieces from their region to move on to the “Best of Show” competition, where an overall winner will be selected. The overall winner’s artwork will be displayed in the United States Capitol for a year, where lawmakers and thousands of visitors will walk past it each day. Each regional winner will have the opportunity to have their artwork showcased in local offices for all visitors to see. Last year’s winner was Avery Coffman from Salem R-80, who created her artwork of the St. Jude Chapel in Montauk by burning a drawing of the church into a piece of wood. For winning “Best of Show,” Avery received two round-trip plane tickets to Washington, D.C. to attend the Congressional Art Competition reception with other winners from across the country. To be considered for the Congressional Art Competition, artwork should be submitted to the respective district office no later than this Wednesday, April 17th. Regional winners will be announced shortly thereafter, and the “Best of Show” competition will be held on May 13th, 2019. Local high schools have been notified of the competition and how to submit students’ artwork to local offices. If any students wishing to participate would like more information or wish to see the complete participation rules manual, call the district office at (573) 364-2455.