Archive for 2020

The Salem Memorial District Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the Hospital Library. Hospital Attorney Mark Weaver administered the oath of office to Judy Thompson in District 1 and Willie Strader in District 4. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas introduced Doug Hoban as the hospitals new Chief Financial Officer. Hoban then gave the summary of operations for the month of May where the hospital had 117 inpatient admissions with 296 inpatient census days. There were 1,419 outpatient registrations, 922 cardiopulmonary procedures, 6,918 lab tests, 1,061 radiology procedures, 426 rehabilitation treatments, 3 surgeries, 234 home health visits and 544 emergency room visits. There were a total of 184 ambulance runs with 126 patients transported with 58 dry runs. The hospital showed a loss from operations of $294,561 and revenues over expenses after taxes of $3,381,654 after receiving $3,672,747 in COVID-19 stimulus funds. Total long-term liabilities increased to $5,530,340 which accounts for PPP and construction bond funds. The hospital has received $3.2 million in accelerated payments from CMS. Lucas gave the Auxiliary report where at their last meeting the 2020 fundraisers discussed with the Shoe Roads Productions being rescheduled for July 9th in the hospital library. The Auxiliary does not meet in June, July or August so their next meeting will be September 1st at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. Chief Operating Officer Jason Edwards reported on the Hospital Foundation’s Golf Tournament that was held on June 5th with 17 teams. He said they are working on getting the bands for Wings and trings on September 12. The foundation has submitted the initial Project Performance Activity report for the USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant. Edwards also said the replacement of the floor in Acute Care has been delayed due to the pandemic. Administrator Lucas said the hospital has made revisions to its visitor admission policy that includes one patient per day for Acute Care, one visitor allowed for ER patients and all visitors must be 16 years of age or older. A free COVID-19 testing will be held today at Aranda’s Mexican Restaurant parking lot from 7 AM to 7 PM. This testing is in cooperation with the VA and the Dent County Health Center. The proposed budget that the Finance Committee presented at the last meeting was approved. This budget showed total operating revenue of $27,745,060 and total operating expenses of $27,733,620. Capital lease agreements totaled $589,468 and included the MRI expansion project. Lucas gave an update on the current expansion and renovation project for the MRI building, Surgery Department, Administration and Acute Care. They are all behind schedule due to the pandemic. The board approved a non-budgeted purchase of extricating equipment totaling $16,250 from Sudden Rescue. Approval was given to add new CFO Doug Hoban to the checking account authorization. The board then went into closed session.

An accident happened in Crawford County Tuesday afternoon at 2:50 on Highway 19 about five miles south of Cherryville. According to the highway patrol report, 56-year old Harvey Pewitt of Salem was driving a 2013 Mazda 3 southbound when he failed to negotiate a curve, traveled off the right side of the roadway and overturned. Pewitt suffered moderate injuries and transported by EMS to the Salem Memorial District Hospital. The Mazda sustained extensive damage and was removed from the scene by Whitaker’s Towing.

The Dent County Sheriff’s Department has released some reports. On June 5th, a deputy conducted a traffic stop in the 400 block of Dent County Road 5015. During the course of the traffic stop, a 36-year-old Salem man was arrested for having an active warrant through the Dent County Sheriff’s Office. The man was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office where he later posted bond and was released. And finally on June 6th, a deputy traveled to a residence in the 10500 block of South Highway 19 to serve an arrest warrant. A 29-year-old Salem woman was arrested for having an active warrant through the Dent County Sheriff’s Office. The woman was transported to the Dent County jail and incarcerated. On Tuesday, June 9th, a Deputy conducted a traffic stop in the 9500 block of East Highway 32. During the course of the traffic stop, a 23 year-old Salem man was arrested for operating a vehicle on a highway without a valid license, a 1st offense. The man was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office, fingerprinted, issued summons and released. If anyone has information regarding an ongoing investigation, please contact the Dent County Sheriff’s Department at 729-3241.

Dent County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley reports two cases from Tuesday, June 16th in front of Judge Kelly Parker in Crawford County. In the first case, Jeffrey Bollinger of Salem pled guilty to a Class D felony for driving while being intoxicated, a 4th offense, and also resisting arrest. He was sentenced to 11 years in the Department of Corrections under RSMO Section 217.362. Also Tuesday, Travis Parker of Salem pled guilty to felony charges of the distribution of meth, the unlawful use of a weapon and keeping a public nuisance. Judge Parker sentenced Parker to 10 years in the Department of Corrections under RSMO section 559.115.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital, the Dent County Health Center and Truman VA Clinic will be sponsoring FREE COVID-19 drive-up testing to anyone this Thursday from 7:00 in the morning until 7:00 that evening in the Arandas Mexican Restaurant Parking lot located at 1000 South Main Street in Salem. The testing is provided free-of-charge and all individuals will be notified of their test results. You do not have to be having symptoms to be tested and no antibody tests will be performed. You can print a pre-registration form from www.smdh.net or you may register the day of event. For more information, call the hospital at 729-6626.

The Salem Board of Aldermen held a regular meeting Monday at the City Hall Council Chambers. The board reviewed and approved the consent agenda before addressing Ordinance #3450. City Attorney Weber said he was asked to look into the ordinance and said he found a few things that would be better heard in closed session. The board approved the request for proposal from Kristen DeLuca of K Deluca Auditing Services to perform auditing services for the city. City Clerk Mary Happel read Resolution #14-2020 that canvassed the certification of results of the June 2nd Municipal Election that showed Brad Nash the winner in the mayoral race, Kim Steelman the winner for the East Side Aldermen position and Greg Parker the winner for the West Side Alderman position. Happel then administered the oath of office to the three elected officials. The city gave retiring Alderman Kenny Nash a plaque for his service to the city. The alderman then voted and named Alderman Kevin James as the President of the Board. Next, Mayor Brad Nash appointed Erica Nunnink as the City Treasurer as the position had been vacant since Karen Happel retired. City Administrator Ray Walden said all the city utility bills were mailed Friday and please contact the utility department if you have not received your bill or if you have questions. Their number is 729-4117. The next bill will reflect usage for the month of May and will reflect the option you selected. Walden said so far about 2/3rds of the people have chosen Option #1 and paid their bill in full taking the 5% credit. Walden gave the results from the electronics recycling held in Salem about three weeks ago. He said there 91 vehicles that came through the collection and left 2.5 tons of electronics, 1.8 tons of white goods like washers, stoves, etc, and 1.74 tons of tires. Walden stated a Capital Improvement Committee meeting will be held at 7:00 this Thursday evening at the City Hall Council Chambers. He said another meeting may be needed, but if not, a Finance Committee meeting will be held at a date to be determined. Walden reported the Sales Tax money received from the state in June for the 1% General Revenue Fund brought in $136,331.88 while the figure last year was $99,952.15. For the Fiscal Year-to date, the sales tax for the General Revenue Fund is at $1,124,522.89 while the city budgeted 1.1 million dollars for this fiscal year. Walden wanted to thank everyone who shopped local to help produce these dollars and said the next budget will be conservative knowing COVID-19 did affect sales that will probably be reflected in the next few month’s sales tax receipts. The board approved to sell a 2010 Ford Explorer out of the Police Department fleet on Purple Wave as surplus property. The meeting was then adjourned.

A drowning occurred in Crawford County Saturday afternoon shortly before 4:00 on the Meramec River about a mile upstream from the
Huzzah confluence. According to the report from the highway patrol, the victim was identified as 39-year old Andrew Leffert from St. Louis. Leffert was with a group of floaters who had stopped at a gravel bar to swim. Leffert went under the water and never resurfaced. The victim was pronounced dead at 7:48 Saturday evening by assistant Crawford County Coroner Darren Dake and was transported to the Crawford County Coroners office.

The Dent County Sheriffs Department has released several reports. On Tuesday, June 2nd, a deputy conducted a traffic stop at Highway 72 and Route C intersection. During the stop, a 28-year-old Rolla woman was arrested for driving while having her license revoked or suspended, a 1st offense. The woman was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office where she was fingerprinted, issued a summons and released. The next day, June 3rd, a deputy with the Dent County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation for a report of sex offender failing to register. During the course of the investigation a 42-year-old Salem man was arrested for failure to register as a sex offender for an underlying offense felony involving a child less than 14 years of age. The man was incarcerated at the Dent County Jail. On Thursday, June 4th, a deputy conducted a traffic stop in the 3000 block of Highway 19 South. During the stop, a 62-year-old Salem man was arrested for operating a vehicle on a highway without a valid license, a 1st offense. The man was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s office where he was fingerprinted, issued a summons and released. That same day, a deputy began an investigation for a 28-year-old Salem man for failing to register as a sex offender. Later that day, the Salem man met with the deputy at the Sheriff’s office and was arrested for failure to register as a sex offender. The man was incarcerated at the Dent County Jail. If anyone has information regarding an ongoing investigation, please contact the Dent County Sheriff’s Department at 729-3241.

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning at the courthouse. Bill Ard from the Dent County Tourism Tax Committee was in and let the commission know his term is up and he has been looking for his replacement who must come from a tourism related business. If you would be interested in serving on the Tourism Tax Committee and you own or work in a tourism related business, call Bill at 314-277-1444. They meet once a month to hear proposals and also approve reimbursements from previous proposals. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams came in with the sales tax dollars received by the county in June. She said the General Revenue Fund and the Law Enforcement Sales Tax Fund each received in June $121,489.26 and that is $50,237.98 more than June of 2019. Year-to-date, those funds are up $30,734.17 which is a 6.46% increase. The Road and Bridge Fund received $57,975.28 and that is $25,131.76 more than the 2019 June figure. Year-to-date, that fund is up $18,565.97 which is a 8.56% increase over 2019. Williams also reported on the two jail funds and they each brought in $115,964.25 and that is $50,362.63 more than in June of 2019. Year-to-date, each of those funds is up $35,446.04 and that is about 8.15%. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said grading will be done on Dent County Roads 6303, 6320, 6400, 6420 and 6490 while brush would be cut on county roads 5015, 6300 and 6303. He said two men were working on hydraulic leaks on grader #24 and brush cutter #7. Purcell also said the collections of the Dent County Tourism Tax plummeted in April and came in only $3,227.41 compared to over $71 hundred last year in April. He will also be attending a South Central Community Action Agency meeting in Winona Tuesday night. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said grading will be done on Dent County Roads 3330, 4355 and 4405 while brush will be cut on county roads 6680, 6690 and 6700. He said he is having trouble with MACK dump truck #122 and two men will be taking it to Tri-State Mack Truck in Springfield for repairs where the truck will have to be left. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said at the TAC meeting last Thursday, MoDOT discussed budget cuts where employees are getting their hours reduced due to the decrease in CART funds. This also means some of the STIP projects will be pushed back. He attended the Public Housing Authority meeting and said that in May, there were 103 units rented through HUD with rental payments totaling $29,500. In the External Relations Committee meeting, they finalized the annual MRPC Awards Dinner and Banquet at Linn State Technical School in Osage County for October 22nd and tickets will cost $35. At the Meramec Regional Planning Committee meeting, a presentation of the Naturally Meramec was given where those who produce products and marketers come together to share information in the region about locally grown products in each county. This getting together for products and markets has worked very well and continues to grow. He also said the MRPC will be providing CARES Funding services to six of the counties served by the MRPC. Skiles also said that people need to get their Census 2020 in as soon as possible. Currently, only 42.7% of Dent County homes have responded. Skiles also said if anyone would like to use the courthouse lawn or grounds for an event, they need to ask the commission for permission and receive authorization to use the property to prevent having multiple groups trying to use the property at the same time. Skiles went on to report that 266 people visited the new Dent County Jail with 95 touring the facility on Saturday. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem R-80 Board of education will be holding a re-organizational and regular meeting tonight at 6:00 in the Salem R-80 boardroom. The proposed agenda for the re-organizational meeting after the call to order will be the approval of the agenda and the certification of the recent election results. This will be followed by the swearing in of the newly elected members by the secretary of the board. Superintendent John McColloch will be acting as temporary chairman to select the new board president and vice president. At that time the new board president will preside over the election of the secretary and treasurer. The board will also elect an MSBA delegate and an alternate. The meeting will then adjourn and move into the regular monthly meeting. After the approval of the agenda for the regular meeting the board will hear the consent agenda and approve all previous minutes, approve bills, and approve program evaluations including technology, discipline and safety and the facilities and grounds. The board will then hear the superintendent’s report covering the BOE committee assignments. In new business the board will consider the 2019-2020 budget revisions, consider surplus property bids, the adoption of the 2020-2021 budget, review healthy Dent county renewals, and consider the bus lease. The board will then hear resignations, if any, before adjourning and moving into executive session. The Salem R-80 Board of Education re-organization and regular meetings tonight are open to the public.