Archive for 2020

The Salem Board of Aldermen met Monday night in the City Hall Council Chambers. At the meeting, City Administrator Ray Walden stated the front door of the City Administrative Offices has been moved and the renovation continues. It should be completed by November. Walden said the city apologizes for the inconvenience to the public. He said the City Communications Group met last Wednesday to discuss better ways to disseminate important city information and one of those ways will be the new City website which should be ready in four to six weeks. They will meet again the week of October 28th. There will be a Planning and Zoning meeting tonight to discuss two subdivisions, and a Board of Adjustment meeting on October 27th for a setback variance on a shed. Walden said the city will meet with Archer-Elgin Engineering and a representative from the state to discuss Phase 1B of the Wastewater Treatment Facility. They will also discuss a workshop to be held for the Phase two part of the project. The city will begin advertising for a city engineer locally and through other professional sources. He also said a discipline action form has been sent to the City Attorney James Weber for his review before being brought before the board for their approval. Walden reported on the utility meeting from Thursday about the online and pre-pay options that were demonstrated. No recommendations were made by the committee on the options. He also said the committee at that time made no decision on changing how the timing of the billing. Alderman James did mention that with the demonstrations from last week that maybe the city should look at a different accounting software than InCode that is known to work with these other systems and Mr. Walden will look into that. The board approved bill #3464 that deleted the age requirement of the city engineer and was changed to say they must be a graduate of an accredited university or college majoring in engineering and shall be a licensed professional engineer registered with the state of Missouri. The board approved the change and voted to go into closed session.

The Dent County Sheriff’s Department has released some reports. On Wednesday, September 30th, a deputy conducted a traffic stop in the 1500 block of North Highway 19. During the course of the traffic stop, a 26-year-old Salem man was arrested for having an active warrant through Dent County. He was transported to the Dent County Jail where he posted bond and was released. On Thursday, October 1st, the sheriff’s office received a report of a subject attempting to burn down a residence in the 3000 block of Dent County Road 4220. Deputies traveled to the residence and during the course of the investigation, a 63-year-old Salem woman was arrested for arson in the 2nd degree. The woman was taken to the Dent County Jail and incarcerated. On Saturday, October 10th, a deputy conducted a traffic stop on Washington and West 3rd Street. During the course of the traffic stop, a 57-year-old Salem man was arrested for driving while having his license revoked, a second offense, and for having an active warrant through the Jefferson City Police Department. He was transported to the Dent County Jail where he was incarcerated. On Thursday, October 15th, a deputy traveled to Highway 72 and Dent County Road 5225 to assist an agent with the Missouri Department of Conservation on a traffic stop. During the course of the incident, a 29-year-old Salem man was arrested for excessive blood alcohol content. The man was transported to the Dent County Jail where he was fingerprinted, issued a summons and released. If you have any information regarding an ongoing investigation, call the sheriff’s department at 729-3241.

In an attempt to get a jump on this year’s winter season, the Missouri Department of Transportation will hold its annual winter operations drill today and Thursday. The drill has been expanded to two days this year to accommodate social distancing requirements due to COVID-19. Motorists may notice increased numbers of MoDOT vehicles on state routes during the drill. In rural areas, crews will deploy after 8:00 in the morning and not until 9:00 in urban areas, and the drill will not begin until after 9:00. The exercise should be completed by 3:00. During the drill, MoDOT employees will react to a simulated forecast of significant snow for the entire state. The department’s emergency operations centers will activate and maintenance employees will be deployed to their trucks. Emergency communications systems will also be tested. The drill serves as a training reminder to make sure proper equipment, plowing techniques and safety measures are used. In addition, every piece of equipment—every truck, motor grader, snow blower and tractor—is inspected and calibrated to conserve materials. One of the most valuable parts of the drill is that it allows MoDOT’s newest employees the opportunity to drive a snowplow over their designated routes so they are aware of obstacles and obstructions, such as curbs and raised islands, that might be hidden in snow or ice. For information on road conditions across the state, safe traveling tips, and other information, visit www.modot.org.

A Salem resident was killed in a two vehicle accident early Monday morning at 6:13 in Maries County on Highway 133 about eleven miles north of Dixon. The report from the highway patrol states that a 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe being driven by 23-year old Amanda Franklin of Salem was northbound when she crossed over the centerline and struck head-on a 2016 Chevrolet pickup being driven by 50- year old Gary Vineyard of Brinktown. Franklin was pronounced dead at the scene by Maries County Coroner Leo Kloeppel at 7:30. Franklin was taken to the Long-Kloeppel Funeral Home in Dixon. Vineyard was transported to Capital Regional Medical Center in Jefferson City for treatment of minor injuries. According to the report, Vineyard was wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident while Franklin was not. The Tahoe was totaled and the Chevrolet sustained extensive damage. Both were removed from the scene by Plaza Towing.

The Dent County Commissioners held their regular meeting Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. Commissioner Gary Larson was not in attendance due to a previous commitment. Ron Copeland was in attendance and was curious as to how much was left of the CARES Act funds and Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he believed there was about 1.2 million dollars left for small businesses and public entities. Karen Lewis was in with a concern about Dent County Road 2240 at the low water crossing at Dry Fork as it is becoming too narrow on the hill. She discussed the issue with District 2 Supervisor Sam Gorman who will check it out and schedule it for repair work. In the road report, District 1 Supervisor Dennis Purcell said grading would be done on Dent County Roads 5390 and 5400 and possibly 5110. He reported that Friday, a tree came down across county road 6320 blocking it entirely. A crew removed the tree and will be cutting it up for firewood this winter for the road and bridge shed. Purcell went on to say that two men would be checking roads for other downed trees from the weekend winds. He also said that a 1,000 hour service would be done on grader 38 and brush would cut on county road 2400. Purcell will be attending a South Central Missouri Community Action Agency meeting tonight in Winona. Sam Gorman gave the report for District 2 and stated grading would be done on Dent County Roads 3120, 3180, 6120 and 6123 while materials would be added and grading done on county roads 2313 and 5300. Gorman said brush would be cut on county road 5240 and on Wednesday, crews will be working on the low water crossing on Dent County Road 3180. He did not believe the road would need to be closed to do the repair work. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles is reminding small businesses there is CARES Act money available up to $50,000 per business for expenses related to COVID-19 that includes rent, insurance, and other expenses related to operating your business during the pandemic. This does NOT include loss of revenue. Public entities can also apply. To get more information, contact Kelly Sink or Eva Voss at 573-265-2993. The application deadline will be December 10th. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley added Wednesday will be the last day to request a mailout or absentee ballot. Curley recommends that people check out their voter information to make sure it is correct and that includes a name or address change. The Dent County Clerk’s office in the courthouse will be open from 8:00 in the morning until 12:00 noon Saturday, October 31st. Absentee voting in person is going on now at the courthouse and sample ballots are available at the clerk’s office. Curley wants to remind everyone there is no electioneering within 25 feet of the polls. Curley also wanted to report that she began work on 2021 county budget. Todd Kinerk from the Salem Chamber of Commerce was in to discuss a wooden frame the chamber wanted to put up in front of the courthouse so people would have a location for photographs within the frame for Christmas. The commissioners voted against installing the frame as they felt most people with today’s phone technology can already put a frame around their picture when they take it. There was also some concern about some liability issues. At the last meeting, Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk brought in her monthly collections for September that came to $36,306.39. She also announced the 2020 tax bills can be viewed on the Dent County Collector’s portal on November 4th. The bills will also be mailed out that day. If there are any problems with the tax bill when received, please contact the collector’s office at 729-3911. The Commission also decided to put out bids for the purchase of a used pickup truck for the Road and Bridge Department. The bids are due on November 9th by 10:00. They will be opened at that time. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday 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 on tonight at 6:00 in the hospital library. The board will hear the summary of operations and statistics reports for the month of September before hearing the Chief of Nursing Report from Debbie Hines. Chief Operating Officer Jason Edwards will give an update on the hospital foundation. He will also present the marketing and community perception work being done to keep the hospital active in the community. Lucas will provide the patient satisfaction survey results for the 1st fiscal quarter to the board for the Emergency Department and SMDH Family Health. Lucas will provide a COVID-19 update and also provide the board with more information on the hospital expansion and renovation before discussing the annual bylaw review. The board will also address new business before possibly going into closed session. The meeting will be open to the public via Zoom. Meeting information is available by contacting Karen Brown at 729-5917 ext 4005 or e-mailing her at kbrown@smdh.net.