Archive for 2022

The Dent County Fire Protection District board of directors met Tuesday evening at 6:00. After the roll call and approval of the consent agenda, the minutes from the November meeting were reviewed. The financial report showed and ending balance as of November 30th of $2,155.62. Bills, payments, and statements were then reviewed and approved before the monthly reimbursement report was presented bringing the total calls year to date to 250. In old business, it was reported that the windows in the dispatch area are being completed and the electric will probably be installed in the new multi-purpose room after the first of the year. In new business, Fire Chief Brad Nash presented the board with the personal protective equipment policy for the NFPA 1851 standard for care and maintenance of firefighting as well as turnout gear and equipment for approval. A motion was made and approved to adopt the PPE policy as presented with FEMA guidelines. Chief Nash also reported that the department has put in for a matching grant for new turnout gear and SCBA bottles. The date was then set for the next meeting for Tuesday, January 10th at 6:00 at the fire station. The meeting will be open to the public.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education will hold their regular meeting this evening at 6:00 in the Salem R-80 Boardroom. After the approval of the agenda, the Board will hear reports from Superintendent Dr. Lynne Reed and assistant Superintendent Dr. Nathan Wills. The board will also hear reports from the principals from the William Lynch Elementary School, the upper elementary school, the middle school and the senior high as well as reports on athletics and activities, Special Education, Technology, and from the Instructional Coaches. In new business, the board will select a MSBA Belcher Scholarship Nominee, approve the MSBA Board Policy Revisions, rescind policy DBB, approve the “Conflict-of-Interest” Policy, set Tuition Rates for 2022-2023, approve the Infinite Campus Contract, approve the purchase of Evaluate, approve revisions to the ESSER III Budget/Plan, consider a Bond Resolution, approve a Bus Purchase, and hear resignations. The regular board will adjourn and move into Executive Session. The regular meeting this evening will be open to the public.

A one vehicle accident happened Tuesday afternoon at around 2:10 in Texas County on Highway 137 about three miles south of Licking. The report from the highway patrol states that a 2005 Freightliner being driven by 32-year-old Michael Lynch of Winona, was traveling south when he traveled off the right side of the roadway and overturned. Lynch, who was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident, suffered serious injuries and was taken by ambulance to the Texas County Memorial Hospital. The Freightliner was totaled and removed from the scene by Jays Towing.

The Salem Area Community Betterment Association is proud to host this year’s Trees and Trains Exhibit at the Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center on Monday through Friday from 9:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon. This Saturday and Sunday, Santa and Mrs. Claus will be at the Creative Arts Center next to the ONCRC from 2:00 until 5:00 with the Trees and Trains Exhibit also open at that time. Everyone is welcome to attend and photo ops will be available. Donations are always welcome!

The Salem Creative Arts Center will be offering a Kid’s Snowman Paint Party with Danielle Norris on Monday, December 19th from 5:30 in the evening until 7:30. What better way to stay warm, than to come and paint snowmen inside. Kiddos and parents are welcome to come and paint. Cost is $15 per kiddo, discounts for multiple kid families may be available. Just contact the Creative Arts Center. Go online at salemcommunitybetterment.com and look under programs for the Salem Creative Arts Center. You can also call or text 573-247-0651.

The Salem Board of Aldermen met Tuesday evening at the City Hall Council Chambers for its regular meeting. The board approved the invoice from Sho-Me Power for a new reclosure, travel and labor for the electric substation repair on December 3rd of $22,242.12. They also approved the bid from Ad-Par Construction for $23,000 for work at #4 Parkview Place as part of the “Welcome Home” project and approved the bid from 5 J’s Landscaping and Handyman Services for $16,350 for 102 South Dilworth Lane as part of the “Welcome Home” Project. The board tabled the bids for Municipal Financial Services until the city attorney could review the documents. They went on to approve the bid for 125 tons of salt for the street department from Compass Minerals for $12,051.25, and also approved to buy fuel for the airport with a maximum purchase at this time of $10,000. The price of gas fluctuates daily, and Public Works Director Mark Nash said the city will pay whatever price per gallon it is when it gets loaded onto the truck. He was looking at getting no more than 2,000 gallons. The board approved Resolution #47-2022 that allows the mayor to enter into an agreement between the City of Salem and Gilmore and Bell, PC for post-tax compliance services. The city will have to pay $5,500 for the 2017 Pool Project Certificates of Participation from the Park and Recreation Department’s Special Services Fund which will need a budget adjustment, and the 2017 utility filing fee of $1,100 will be split equally between the electric, water and sewer departments. The board approved Resolutions #48-2022 and #49-2022 that dealt with the properties at #4 Parkview Place and 102 South Dilworth allowing the mayor to enter into an agreement with the construction companies to do the agreed upon work as bid to those individual properties as part of the “Welcome Home” project. The board tabled Resolution #50-2022 authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with a Municipal Financial Advisor since the board tabled the bids. In reports, Temporary City Administrator Sally Burbridge introduced Anne Freand from the MRPC who explained they selected Salem to prepare an Active Transportation Plan that would be for trails and sidewalks if funding becomes available. This is for pedestrian walking and biking and there were a number of proposed trails and sidewalk improvements in the plan that will need to be submitted by the end of the month. Freand asked the board to review the plan and submit any corrections or changes they find to her before the plan is submitted. Burbridge said a meeting was held with Archer-Elgin concerning the Phase 2 improvements to the sewer plant. She reported information about net metering in the city is available in a two-part flyer from MPUA in the office, and Ameren will be installing a new AMI system for their natural gas. She said at the Airport Board meeting last week, a representative from Lochner was there to talk about long-term plans for the airport. Mayor Greg Parker thanked Park and Rec Director Melissa Dubois for the ”Light up the Park” display at the Salem City Park, thanked Mark Nash and the electric department for their work when the electric went down on December 3rd, thanked Sinks Pharmacy for sponsoring the parade winners and thanked KSMO Media for video streaming the Christmas Parade. Mark Nash said the electric department is replacing the overhead city lights that have burnt out, but he said there are more lights out than they have in stock. More lights have been ordered, but they are getting harder to get and have increased in price by 40%. He also said utility easements for the 4th street TAP Grant improvements have been secured and people can look at what is being proposed under “City Projects” on the city website. Alderwoman Kala Sisco said she is looking for volunteers for her Community Services Committee to help with how to pay for the 2023 fireworks display for the 4th of July. Call the city administrative offices if you are interested. Alderman Kyle Williams said there would be a Utility Committee meeting at the Salem Community Center@The Armory at 6:15 tonight. The board then went into closed session.

The Dent County Commissioners met for their meeting Monday morning. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said his crew will finished up the Title II rock project on Dent County Road 5600 Monday. He said crews would be replacing two crossover pipes on county road 2430, then adding rock and materials to the areas. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said rock was going to be added and spread out on Dent County Roads 2510, 3140, 3150 and 3180 while brush would also be cut on county road 2510. He said a crew would be servicing county truck #126. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he was proud that Angela Black from the Dent County Westside 4-H Club for stream cleanup near the Bonebrake Center and Sara Massengale from the University Extension for her work with numerous recycling projects in the county received awards for their hard work. He said he attended the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting Thursday and said of the 31 projects presented for scoring, receiving the highest score for priority projects was the replacing of the bridge on Route TT at Sligo. Skiles said the Highway 32 bridge at Boss came in 9th in the scoring. Skiles said there would be a Dent County Hazard Mitigation meeting today at the Salem Community Center@The Armory starting at 1:00. He recommends all those entities that have an interest in the plan attend the meeting for their input. Skiles also said the new SEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Dent County are now available for public review at the courthouse at the commissioner’s office. Engineer Corky Stack was in attendance to discuss the bathroom situation at the courthouse as well as roofing. The commission said Stack could get estimates on replacing the shingle roof on the courthouse with commercial metal roofing. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she was working on the budget and financial statements. The next meeting of the commission will be Thursday at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

On Thursday, the Salem Memorial District Hospital held their Strategic Planning Retreat for 2022. In attendance were SMDH Board Members, leadership from the Rural Hospital Group (RHG), representatives and heads of SMDH departments and the media. RHG Chief Executive officer Trent Skaggs discussed the impact SMDH employment has on the local economy in that the hospital’s payroll turns over about 12 times locally creating a large economic driver for Salem and surrounding communities. Another strength is the affordability of services where a procedure that would cost $20,000 in a metro hospital like those in St. Louis, would cost about $6,000 here in Salem with the same technology, care and equipment. Skaggs and SMDH CEO Wayne Reid recounted early hurtles and accomplishments of the new administration, from the very real threat of SMDH closing to its current rebound and continued growth. In reviewing recent hospital trends, COVID-19’s impact stood out over much of the data points and would be a reoccurring point of discussion throughout the meeting. from staff shortages to federal funding charges. Skaggs then presented information regarding the SMDH service area, demographics, inpatient origin by surrounding counties and overall market share. Darrel Morris, the Chief Operation Officer of RHG, led a presentation that reviewed each department’s utilization over the last 16 fiscal quarters. With this data in hand, members of the meeting then broke out into smaller groups with the intention to refine and repackage the data for leadership to review and plan the future of SMDH that best serves Salem and the surrounding communities.