Posts by Stan Podorski

The Dent County Commission held their regular meeting Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. At the meeting, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray was not in attendance due to a prior commitment. Grant Wilson from Jason Smith’s Rolla Office was in attendance and told the commission that Jason had been reappointed as the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. He also told the commission about five bills that are currently on the floor of the house including S310 which is the Disaster Contract Improvement Act bill which has already passed the Senate and is waiting House approval; HR9541 which is called the Power Act of 2024; HR7671 which is the Disaster Management Cost Modernization Act; HR 2892 that will address the effectiveness of the EAS Alert System; and HR 2672 which is the FEMA Loan Interest Payment Relief Act. In the road report, District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk gave the road report for both districts. For District 1, he stated rock would be added and grading was being done on Dent County Roads 6220 and 6370, while only grading would be done on county roads 6010 and 6590. For District 2, Commissioner Polk stated that rock would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 3160, while only grading would be done on county roads 2083 and on 4410. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he attended the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management meeting and banquet Tuesday night in St. James and acted as the emcee. He said no awards were presented to any Dent County businesses. He also attended the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting Thursday as well as standing committee meetings and the regular MRPC meeting. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley continues to work on the 2025 county budget, and said filing has begun for the April 8th Municipal Election and that will end on December 31st. This is for school boards, City of Salem and Bunker alderman positions, three SMH board positions, a Dent County Health Center board position, and others. You need to file at the offices of the taxing entity. Make sure that you meet the qualifications to serve for the position you seek and are aware of the length of the term you would serve. Curley reported on her trip to Jefferson City Tuesday where they witnessed the filing of the Election Harassment Bill to protect poll workers, election officials and their families and others. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Police Department has released a report for incidents from Wednesday, November 20th through Monday, November 25th. On Wednesday, November 20th at about 8:30 in the evening, officers responded to the intersection of Warfel and Hawkins for a report of a traffic accident. It was reported that a single vehicle had crashed into someone’s garage. During the investigation, it was found the operator of the vehicle was impaired. As a result of the investigation a 38-year-old Salem man was arrested and later released on summons for excessive blood alcohol content. On Monday, November 25th near 3:00 in the afternoon, officers arrested 54-year-old Glen Head of Salem, on his outstanding warrants out of the City of Salem. Head was transported to the Dent County Jail to await bail. That same evening at approximately 11:00, officers conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of Highways 19 and 68 for various traffic violations. It was found the driver was impaired. After a short investigation, a 34-year-old Salem man was arrested and later released on summons for excessive blood alcohol content. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have any information regarding any ongoing investigation.

The Dent County Fire Protection District Board of Directors at their meeting Tuesday evening, December 10th, reviewed the annual fire district incident report.  The annual reimbursement report showed a total of 233 calls for the fiscal year from December 1, 2023, to November 30th, 2024. Those calls included 87 fires making up 37.33% of all calls and they were comprised of 17 grass or brush fires, 22 building fires, 19 forest or woodland fires, one mobile home fire, six outdoor rubbish or trash fires, two natural vegetation fires, eight passenger vehicle fires, two transport vehicle fires, three fires classified as other, and seven other types of fires. The fire department responded to 27 accident calls, 25 medicals assist or emergency calls, 23 alarms sounding calls, 15 hazardous material calls, seven agency assist calls, two rescue calls, five utility problem calls, eight public service calls and one smoke investigation. The fire department also had nine calls canceled while en route to a destination. 

The Salem Police Department has released a report for incidents for the first week in November. At approximately 1:30 in the afternoon on Saturday, November 2nd, officers were dispatched to a traffic accident near the intersection of Macarthur and Franklin Street.  During the traffic accident investigation, it was found the operator of one of the vehicles was visibly impaired. After further investigation a 53-year-old Salem female was arrested and then later released on summons for excessive blood alcohol content. That same evening near 5:30, officers responded to the Crossroads Inn after receiving information a male subject was there with an active felony warrant out of the Johnson County. As a result, officers arrested 38-year-old Charles Copper of Knob Noster without incident for the felony warrant with a bond of $15,000. That same Saturday night at around 6:00, officers conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of Highway 19 and Hunt Street for a person who was suspected of driving drunk as their vehicle was swerving all over the roadway. Contact was made with the driver, and it was found the driver was impaired. After a short investigation, a 35-year-old Sullivan man was arrested and later released on summons for excessive blood alcohol content. On Tuesday, November 5th around noon, an officer was dispatched to the Phelps County Jail to extradite 22-year-old Jordan Sanders from Salem who had an active capias warrant out of the City of Salem.  Sanders was extradited and incarcerated at the Dent County Jail. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have any information regarding any ongoing investigation.

The Utility Committee held their regular meeting Wednesday evening at 6:15 in the Auditorium. After approving the agenda, the Committee watched a presentation by John Pettit on Hometown Grid, a company that provides a simple, secure, and affordable solution for residents of the community to report electrical outages. Customers would be able to call or text this system to report an outage in their area, which will then be updated to a live map of the City of Salem, and with follow up questions from the system, utility crews will be able to prioritize customers that may need immediate or emergency assistance. The City’s current procedure to report an outage has residents calling the police department’s non-emergency line, and at times, experiencing extended hold times or busy signals, especially if many people are calling at the same time. Hometown Grid would immediately eliminate the strain on the phone lines. For a five-year plan, the total price for this service would be $38,000. The Utility Committee will hold off on making a decision regarding Hometown Grid until they can see what the financial implications will be within the City’s budget. Bob Blank and Dan Caswell with Utility Financial Services (UFS) presented the Cost of Service Study. They recommend reinstating the service availability fee by charging residents $13.47, and commercial properties $21.56, while lowering the cost per kilowatt hour, to achieve neutral revenue. The Committee agreed that since the utility billing underwent a change recently, the recommendation from UFS should be tabled for now. Finance Director, Stacy Houston presented the financial updates. During her report, Houston noted that the Water Reserve Fund is at a $68,000 deficit due to the purchase of a replacement motor and pump, however, the City is currently waiting on the insurance payment to cover this. The Sewer Reserve Fund is in a $30,000 deficit due to a COP payment made in November and the purchase of a $16,000 pump for the lift station. This deficit will be offset with prior year fund balances. Public Works Director Steve Paine gave an update on the utility crews, and a resident expressed their concern about the proposed utility rate changes during the questions and comments portion of the meeting.

The Board of Aldermen had their regular meeting on Tuesday evening at 6:00 in the Auditorium. After approving the agenda and consent agenda, the board heard a public comment from a citizen who asked about the status of the annual audit conducted at the end of the last fiscal year, and asked if it was the City’s responsibility to provide fresh potable drinking water to its residents; there was no response to the board. The Board approved the application to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) for $220,000 to replace the remaining incandescent street light bulbs with LEDs, and approved Mayor Parker to sign the Financial Assistance Agreement and the General Terms and Conditions documents for the ARPA Waste Water Improvement Project Grant Award. The bid for this project was awarded to Mid-State Pipeline Maintenance, LLC, for the amount of $4.2 million. The Board of Aldermen meeting scheduled for December 26th will be rescheduled to January, pursuant to city code section 110.170. The Board approved the request to reappoint Dustin Howard of The Bank of Salem, and Daniel Salyer of Phil-Mart, to another five year term for the Enhanced Enterprise Zone. City Administrator Sally Burbridge presented the first and second reading for bill number 3536, an ordinance changing the official meeting location for the Board of Aldermen to the City Hall Auditorium. During the city officials’ reports City Clerk Tammy Koller stated that business license renewals were mailed on November 27; businesses should contact her if they have not received theirs. Finance Director Stacy Houston stated she has reached out to the auditor who hopes to have finalized their report by mid-January to present in February. Mayor Greg Parker wished citizens a happy and safe holiday season. Public Works Director, Steve Paine gave an update on the utility crews,  and Parks and Recreation Director Melissa DuBois stated she has reached out to different companies for estimates on replacing the Al Brown fences as well as the dirt and tiles at the playground. Alderwoman Catherine Dent stated the Salem Community Choir will be presenting Festival of Carols the evening of December 20th at 7:00 and again on Sunday the 22nd at 2:00 at the Dry Fork Church off of F Highway. 

The Dent County Fire Protection District Board of Directors met Tuesday evening at the fire station at #2 South Main Street. The board reviewed and approved minutes from the previous meeting. The financial report was reviewed with an ending balance of $187,111.19. All bills, payments, and statements were reviewed and approved. The budget for 2024 and 2025 were reviewed and approved as presented. The monthly reimbursement report showed a total of 15 calls for the month of November bringing the total calls year to date to 233. Some of those calls included seven fires comprised of two grass fires and five building fires, two special incidents, three medical assists, one rescue with the extrication from a structure, one alarm and one public service call. In old business, it was reported a bond or tax issue was discussed and the paperwork has begun. In new business, Chief Dennis Floyd said the AFG grant is about half done at this point, and he stated the ladder truck is going in for repair on December 30th for pumps, hydraulics and air conditioning. Floyd said the annual pump test will be done while the truck is in for repairs. Chief Floyd said the department needs to order a 1 3/4-inch hose which the board approved, and the Salem High School is having a first responder appreciation on December 20th. He also indicated the department will be sending two firefighters for training in February to the MU Fire School. The chief also reported that at the Christmas Party held December 5th, the department retired badge 814 that belonged to the late David Jarvis, and it was presented to Mrs. Jarvis. The next meeting of the board will be January 14th at 6:00 at the fire station. The board then went into closed session before coming back into open session where it was announced that two new firefighters, Dell Hoffmeister and Christian Michno, would begin training for the department. It was also announced that Jeff Stokes, Jr. had been appointed to fill the term of Craig Smith who had resigned from the board. The appointment will be until the April 2025 Municipal Election. The meeting was then adjourned.

Tomorrow night, from 6:00 until 8:00 at the Creative Arts Center, students can learn to make a Chunky Knit Blanket with Danielle Kissir. Learn how to finger knit a chunky blanket. This is a beginners class and is fun for all ages. Crochet or knitting experience is not required but will be beneficial. The class is open to those 10 years of age and older. The cost of the class is $75 with yarn and supplies included. There must at least five people sign up to hold the class and it will be limited to ten. To sign up, go to the SACBA website, click on “Programs” link and then on the Creative Arts Center.

PJ’s & Pancakes & Fun for the whole family will be held on December 14th from 7:00 to 10:00 in the morning at the Salem Community Center @ The Armory! This event is hosted by the Salem Fireworks Committee to help raise funds for next year’s show. There will be pancakes, coffee, hot chocolate, Christmas movies, and pictures with Santa! Tickets for the event are $10 for adults. For those who are 12 years of age and under, they are FREE! Tickets are available at the Chamber office in Salem, Town & Country Bank, Bank of Salem, Riverways Federal Credit Union, and Progressive Ozark Bank.