Archive for 2023

The Salem Utility Committee met Wednesday evening at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. The Utility Committee heard a presentation from ServLine that protects both the city and consumers when it comes to large water leaks or sewer leaks on the customer side of the meter that create large water or sewer bills for customers. Those large bills usually end up in a contract with the city which takes some time to be paid off and in some cases, never get paid off. With the Servline program, the customer would only pay their normal average bill for their water service, while the ServLine program would pay the city for the extra water and sewer charges from the leak up to $1,000. This program can be voluntary or mandatory. The utility committee will recommend to the board of Aldermen to go with having a voluntary program with a $1,000 limit of protection that would cost the utility customer an additional $2.00 per month for water and an additional $2.00 for sewer, pending legal review. These costs will be added to the users bill and there is a maximum of one claim per year. Since the program is voluntary, utility customers can opt out of the program if they wish. The other program ServLine offers is insurance on your external water and sewer lines as well as indoor plumbing that will be marketed locally by ServLine. Individuals can choose external water service and sewer service protection as well as in-door plumbing protection. Customers can choose one service, two services, or all three and each service comes with its own price and there is no discount to get all three. The utility committee elected not to take the municipal fee of $.50 per account from ServLine for those who sign up which reduces the monthly service cost for the utility customer. This service is similar to an insurance policy and is totally separate of your city utility service. Persons would pay the service charge directly to Servline. After City of Salem Finance Director Stacey Houston reviewed the financial report which looked in line with the expected budgeted numbers, Jennifer Cochran from the Utility Department said the city was able to e-mail sample bills successfully and will try to send e-mail bills to ten volunteers this month. If that works, the city will open up sending e-mail utility bills the following billing cycle to customers. As for Excleron, she said the city has two to 12 people daily paying their bills online. The 24-hour phone bill pay system though is not yet working. City Administrator Sally Burbridge gave the MPUA and MMMPEP meeting updates before the utility committee voted to change the wording of the ordinance defining committees.

They agreed to remove the reference to the “street department construction, maintenance and repair” from the Utility Committee description. This will also be recommended to the Board of Aldermen. The board discussed changing the deposit rates from the current flat rates to 1/12th of the historic utility costs at each specific address. The committee eventually came around to agreeing to recommend this to the alderman after they heard about Online Utility Exchange services that perform soft credit checks and can also do online collections of past due accounts. The meeting was then adjourned.

Filings are continuing for the City of Salem Board of Aldermen and mayoral positions through December 26th. As of Thursday, here is the list of candidates who have signed up to run for the east and west ward alderman positions and for mayor. For mayor, incumbent Greg Parker has refiled and he is being challenged by Lisa Elliot, Grover Whitley and Eddie Fleetwood. For the East Ward Alderman seat, incumbent Kala Sisco has filed as has James Vance; and for the West Ward Alderman position, Catherine Dent and Richard LaBrash have filed. To file for the mayor’s position, you must be at least 25-years of age, have lived in Salem for at least one year at the time of the election, and must be current on all taxes owed and up to date on all utility payments. Those who want to file for an alderman seat, there is a $25 filing fee, you must be at least 21-years of age, must have lived in Salem in the ward for which you are running for at least one year at the time of the election, and must be current on all taxes owed and up to date on all utility payments. Sign ups are held at the City Administration Building at 400 North Iron Street. If you have any questions, contact City Clerk Tammy Koller at 729-5211.

The Dent County Fire Protection District Board of Directors met at the fire station Tuesday evening. The board reviewed the financial report showing an ending balance of $88,550.54 as of November 30th. Bills, payments, and statements were reviewed with all accounts being reconciled before a review of the budget took place. The monthly reimbursement was presented which showed a total of 36 calls for month of November and 279 total calls year to date. Some of the calls included in that monthly total included seven building fires, five brush or brush and grass mixture fires, five calls to assist police or other governmental agencies, three grass fires, three vehicle accidents with injuries, and three vehicle accidents with no injuries. In old business it was reported that Engine 85 is still out of service and is still being repaired. The board needed more information on what to do with the truck since it has been out of service now for over a year. A grant for the department was recently approved and an officer is now working on finalizing the grant. During new business it was noted the department has had no one sign up to run for a board position for the 2024 April election. Chief Floyd then made his report to the board and said officers were working to reorganize the trucks for better use with the goal being to have the trucks in a position for any emergency. Floyd also stated that the department is looking to re-number the trucks to have four numbers instead of the current three to meet the approval of FEMA. The Chief also announced they are working on maintenance for the trucks to get them serviced and in shape. The board asked Floyd to get them a list of the cost of filters, oil, fluids, and other maintenance items. Chief Floyd presented a list of tools put together by the firefighters that the department needed due to old tools being worn or broken and asked for board approval to replace them. The cost would be around $3,200.00 which was approved by the board. The training officer is also working on a training program to get personnel trained on safety and better fire fighting techniques. The date was then set for the next meeting which will held Tuesday evening, January 9th at 6:00 at the fire station. The board then went into closed session.

Santa’s Workshop with Greg & Karen Lough will be held at the Creative Arts Center this Saturday from 10:00 in the morning until 1:00 in the afternoon, and again on Sunday from 1:00 until 4:00. The workshop is open to all ages so bring the whole family! Come enjoy the holiday celebrations by bringing your kids and family to the Creative Arts Center for some fun, free activities! You can get pictures taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus and enjoy a fun craft and snack! New this year, SACBA has added Secret Santa’s Shopping. See the SACBA website for all the details on how to participate in that program.

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday at the courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated rock would be added by two trucks and grading done on Dent County Road 6590 while only grading would be done on county roads 4245 and 6220. Mobray said brush would be cut on country road 2480.District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk indicated rock would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 3370 and 4480, while only grading would be done on county road 4380. Polk said brush was going to be cut on county road 3050. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson reported he attended the SACBA board meeting Monday night where they approved their budget for 2024, and he attended the TAC and MRPC Board meetings held Thursday night in St. James. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she continues to work on the budget. At the last meeting, Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk gave the November monthly report and her turnover was $2,403,662.24. Commissioner Larson indicated he would not be at the Monday meeting which will be at the Dent County Courthouse at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.