Archive for 2022

According to a press release from the City of Salem, the City of Salem Board of Aldermen met in closed session pursuant Missouri Revised State Statutes on Monday, July 12th, and voted unanimously by a roll call vote not to renew city administrator Ray Walden’s employment agreement that is set to expire on August 31st, 2022. The mayor and board would like to thank Mr. Walden for his service to the city for the last nine years and wish him well in his future endeavors.

A fatal accident occurred Wednesday afternoon around 2:00 in Washington County on Gobbler’s Knob Road north of Skyview Drive. According to the highway patrol report, a 1998 Ford Ranger driven by 65-year-old Allen Arndt of Steelville, was traveling north bound when he travelled off the right side of the roadway. Arndt then overcorrected, re-entered the roadway, and lost control, then traveled off the right side of the roadway again. At that time, the front right of the Ford struck an embankment and the Ranger overturned onto its driver’s side. The bed of the truck struck a tree. Arndt was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:43 by the Washington County Coroner. The report goes on to state that he was not wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident. The Ford was totaled and removed from the scene by Elliott’s Towing.

The Pie and Pastry auction held Wednesday night as part of the 4-H and FFA Expo at the Commons in the Youth Building was well attended and raised over $16,000 in proceeds. The Dent County 4-H Clubs and Salem FFA Chapter thank everyone who attended and especially those who purchased items at the auction. They want to remind you that a number on incredible exhibits have been brought in by the children and are on display in the Youth Building during the Expo. Admission is free for the livestock show and the exhibits. A variety of food from local vendors is also available.

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. Stan Podorski from KSMO Media wanted to remind the public the 4-H and FFA Livestock Auction Saturday morning would carried live on KSMO Radio (AM 1340 and 95.7 FM) and streamed live by KSMO Media on ksmoradio.com, KSMO Stream Facebook Page and the KSMO YouTube page. Links to the any of the streams can be found on www.ksmoradio.com. In the road report, District 1 Road Supervisor Jason Akins filled in for Commissioner Wes Mobray who was at the 4-H/FFA Expo checking in animals. He reported ditch work would be done on Dent County Road 5600 and brush would be cut on Dent County Roads 5015 and 6580. He went on to say new blades were being put on tractor #8, service on pickup #73 would be finished and that crews installed a new culvert pipe through the old pipe opening under the bridge on Dent County Road 2400, then concreted it in. The crews would be removing the concrete forms from the site. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said materials would be added and repairs would be made to the low water crossing on Dent County Road 2330 while only materials would be added to county road 2240. Larson added brush would be cut on county roads 3233, 3235 and 3290. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said Governor Parson on June 29th signed Senate Bill 820 into law that says Missouri landowners will be compensated 150% of the fair market value of their property taken by eminent domain for the construction of power lines. This bill came into play due to the hard work of the members of the Missouri Association of Counties and the County Commissioners Association of Missouri and its lobbyists to protect property rights of the people they represent. This new statute was tied to the Green Belt Express electric project which is a massive transmission line meant to carry wind energy from southwest Kansas across three states toward the east. He also said he attended the Salem Chamber Luncheon where Marilyn Schweitzer gave a presentation on the Heroes Marathon which will be held on November 21st this year. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said absentee voting continues in her office and the last day to mail out an absentee ballot will be July 20th. Curley wants to remind everyone that campaigning cannot be done within 25-feet of a polling location. She also reported there is one person to address the Board of Equalization Monday at 1:00 in the afternoon at the courthouse. 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.

An accident occurred Wednesday evening around 11:40 in Miller County on Mo 17 about a quarter mile south of Bonnie Drive. According to the highway patrol report a 2006 Chevrolet Colorado driven by 25-year-old Kaden Jordan of Rolla was travelling northbound crossed the center line, travelled off the left side of the roadway, continued a short distance before striking an embankment, causing the vehicle to go airborne. The Chevrolet then struck another embankment and then a culvert before coming to rest off the roadway. Kaden suffered minor injuries and was taken to Lake Regional Hospital by Ambulance. Kaden was not wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident. The Chevrolet was totaled and removed from the scene by Hi Tech Towing.

This week, Missouri Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe will travel to Montauk State Park to serve flapjack breakfasts to campers, community members, and state park staff as part of his ongoing Flapjack Tours to promote Missouri State Parks and tourism. Kehoe will be at Montauk State Park, Campground Loop #2, this Thursday from 8:00 until 9:30. As a proud member of the Missouri Tourism Commission, Lieutenant Governor Kehoe works with the Commission and the Missouri Division of Tourism to actively promote Missouri’s tourism assets. For more information on Flapjack Tour stops, visit kehoetour.com.

It has been just over five months since the Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors made their administrative changes and hired the Rural Hospital Group to come in to assist the hospital in responding to the financial crisis sweeping the rural hospital industry which has partially been caused by the ongoing global pandemic and operational issues the hospital was facing. Don Babb, the interim Chief Executive Officer, is proud to report that due to the operational changes, the hospital has had a positive bottom line for the last two months and feels the hospitals dire financial struggles are a thing of the past. Babb reports the hospital as of May 31st had cash on hand that would cover 64days of operations coming off the April figure of 62 days suggesting the hospital been able to sustain and stabilize its operations. The RHG also made changes to the billing and collection processes since coming on board reducing what was 110 days in account receivable for the hospital to receive funds from insurance companies to a current figure of 65 days with an organizational goal of 55 days by late summer. There have refocused improvements on streamlining the collection efforts and improving interaction with patients. RHG has also concentrated on getting Salem residents to use the SMDH swing bed program for their rehab getting them back home quicker after their surgeries once they are out of acute care. The swing bed volumes are up almost 40% over last year. The lab has now also been recertified by CLIA and the hospital continues to improve staffing in all departments. With all that has happened over the lats five months, the board approved an optimistic 2023 Fiscal Year budget.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission approved the FY 2023-2027 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which lists transportation projects planned by state and regional planning agencies July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2027. The STIP makes available $10 billion of federal and state revenues for all modes of transportation over the next five years, making it the state’s largest program. This includes $100 million from the Governor’s Rural Route program, which will address low volume roads in FY 2023. Of the remaining $9.9 billion, the STIP details $7.65 billion in road and bridge construction contractor awards, averaging approximately $1.5 billion each year over each of the next five years. The program details a focus on preventive maintenance improvements to Missouri’s nearly 34,000 miles of roads and 10,400 bridges. The draft STIP was released in May for public review, and MoDOT received 317 comments. how their transportation funding is invested. The Final STIP is available online at www.modot.org/statewide-transportation-improvement-program-stip.

The Salem Board of Aldermen held a meeting Tuesday evening at the City of Salem Council Chambers. At the meeting, the board approved Bill #3511 that created an ordinance establishing demand rates for electric services instead of getting an automatic 24% increase. The demand rates stayed the same as before. The board also approved Resolution 21-2022 showing the city’s intent to raise the wastewater sewer rates with the intention of applying for a Missouri Department of Natural Resources Wastewater Infrastructure grant. The board approved the appointment of Rich Parks to the Airport Board to replace Harold Tubbs who resigned. City Administrator Ray Walden introduced Terry Moore from ESP who updated the board on the building envelope and the HVAC systems. The building envelope is complete while the HVAC systems at the City Administration Building and old City Hall Auditorium are complete. The system is also complete at the police station but has a faulty control board which is being replaced. The Salem Community Center@The Armory is about 80% done. The door and window replacement at the old city hall is complete except for the council chambers door. The roofing at the Parks and Recreation and Water Department building is near completion and tuckpointing work is being done. They have not started the tuckpointing at the Armory or city hall building. The metal light poles at the Al Brown Fields have been assembled and they are waiting for securing materials for the holes. Walden said he would be updating short-term and long-term city priorities with the aldermen taking the place of what People Centric was doing. Mayor Greg Parker told the alderman the Missouri Municipal League conference will be September 11th through the 14th at Osage Beach. He thanked the first responders for putting out the brush fire on Rolla Road from electrical problem Monday and for the city utility department for getting the power back up after the outage Monday. He also thanked Fleetwood Pyrotechnics for the excellent Fireworks display on Independence Day evening. Public Works Director Mark Nash said the outage Monday was from a burnt line that came down on the 4th Street Hill followed by a bad jumper at Mercy Medical. He said water line breaks continue at a high rate and the tree trimming crew is getting caught up. Alderman Kyle Williams said the disc gold course is going in at the Salem City Park and the City Utility Committee will meet at the Salem Community Center@The Armory tonight at 6:15 after a special Board of Alderman meeting at 6:00 with both meetings open to the public. The board then went into closed session.