Your World Today

The Dent County Commission met Monday morning at the courthouse where Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams gave the report on the CART funds collection for June. She said the county received $81,102.85 this month which is $5,370.44 more than June of 2023, and year-to-date, the CART funds are up $18,389.74, a rise of over 4%. The year-to-date amount collected stand at $461,348.74. Dick Kitchen was in attendance to ask about where the county is on Senate Bill 190 and Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said they are still working on it. The commission plans to survey the community to get their opinion, and they are waiting on the estimate of the cost to the county for new software that would be needed by the collector. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated a truck wouldn’t start Monday morning and two tires were flat on another vehicle so shop maintenance was going to be done until those issues can be corrected. He also said brush would be cut on county roads 5015 and 5070. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk said a new driveway pipe would be installed and rock would be added to Dent County Road 2070. He said pipes would be cleaned out on county road 2313, and brush would be cut on county roads 3233 and 3235. Polk said a man would be going to Springfield to get oil for chip and seal repair. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said the first day to vote absentee with an excused absence for the August Primary is today at the courthouse, and the last day to register for the Primary will be July 10th. Curley also said there were ten county liquor licenses that are still outstanding and they must be submitted by this Friday, June 28th. At the last meeting, Dent County Collector Shannon Vankirk said the total collections for May were $93,476.61. The next meeting of the commission will be Thursday at 9:00 at the courthouse and it is open to the public.

The City of Salem Finance Committee met Thursday evening to review and discuss the proposed fiscal year budget for 2025. The report indicated the budget is balanced with grant funded projects making up $6.5 million dollars which is most of the increase in last year’s and the proposed budget. The city is also adopting a reserve fund balance policy for all city funds. The city will strive to maintain the utility fund balances of at least 25% of the prior fiscal year expenditures, and the budget also includes at least a 5% transfer to the reserve fund balances of the prior year’s expenses to maintain the reserve fund balance. This will be done in the 4th quarter based on the financial condition of the city. Two of the capital improvement projects for the Park and Recreation Department and Airport will use previous years balances if needed. Funds may also be used from the capital Improvement fund for the Downtown TAP Project to cover additional costs if needed. It was noted all employees received a cost of living increase of 3% and up to a 2% merit raise. It was also noted the budget had an increase in general liability insurance of 28%. It was noted two additional positions were added to the pay schedule: a parks technician and a plant operator for the Wastewater Treatment plant. The city did budget to add 5 ½ full time employees back, but they are structured differently than than the six employee who were let go in fiscal years 2021 and 2022. Those full time positions funded in the budget are two wastewater treatment specialists, a new Economic Development Director and an Administrative Assistant. Part time positions proposed were a cemetery seasonal worker, an animal shelter technician and a maintenance manager. Although the city reached it’s goal of reducing the dependency on transfers from the electric department to pay for numerous services, they have instituted a 5% “royalty fee” that will be transferred from the electric fund to general revenue in the amount of 5% of the previous years Electric Department operating expenses. This transfer will occur every year. The total budget revenues for all funds for the city are expected to be $23,163,056 while total expenditures are expected to be $21,048,249 leaving an excess of revenues over expenses of just under $2,115,000. The funds balances at the end of the next fiscal year are expected to be $10,953,156. This budget will be presented to alderman for the approval before July 1st.

The City of Salem Board of Aldermen will meet this evening at 6:00 in the City Hall Auditorium at 202 N. Washington. After the meeting is called to order, the Board will go into closed session to discuss employee issues. The Board will return to open session where they will approve the consent agenda and hear public comments including a request for a road closure by David Lytle. The Board will then approve trailer court licenses and discuss the Leak Protection Program Policy. There will be the first and second readings of Bills No. 3610 and 3611 dealing with property subdivisions, and Bill No. 3616 adopting the 2024-25 fiscal year budget as discussed at the Finance Committee meeting last Thursday. The first reading of Bill No. 3612, an ordinance repealing a duplicate of the Section of the City Codes dealing with outdated sewer rates will be heard, as well as Bills No. 3613, 3614 and 3615 that all pertain to the removal of the service availability fee for electric services provided by the City of Salem. Various city officials will give their reports before the meeting is adjourned. The Salem Board of Aldermen meeting tonight is open to the public.

An accident happened Friday afternoon at 3:29 in Phelps County on Interstate 44 at the 189 mile marker. According to the highway patrol report, a 2001 Ford F-150 driven eastbound by 91-year-old Lucille Martin of Steelville, traveled off the left side of the roadway and overturned. Martin suffered moderate injuries and was taken by the Phelps Health Ambulance to Phelps Health. The Ford F-150 was totaled and taken from the scene by Miles Towing. It was not known if Martin was wearing a seat restraint.

The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Salem will be holding this years’ Independence Day Parade at 6:00 on July 4th and the theme this year is “Let Freedom Ring.” Entry forms are now available at the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce Office located in the Crossroads Shopping Center and they must be turned in by June 28th. The parade route will be the normal route that will start from the SBU Campus at South Grand and Franklin, then go east on Franklin to MacArthur, then north on MacArthur to 4th Street before finishing at the Courthouse Square. For more information or a complete set of the parade rules, please call the chamber office at 729-6900 or stop by 1136 South Main Street.

The Salem R-80 School District held its regular board meeting last Thursday. Shortly after the meeting began, Kyla Salyer addressed the board with her concerns regarding the new mandatory ROAR class at the Salem Middle School. This class which stands for Respect, Ownership, Attitude and Resolve, is replacing what used to be an elective selection by the student. Kyla asked the board to reconsider the implementation of the ROAR class, stating that it would be detrimental to students who will no longer be able to enroll in a combination of Art, Band, or Choir, instead having to select one of the three. Furthermore she feared that this could reduce attendance leading to possible removal of one or more of these elective classes in the future. After her presentation, the board thanked her for her time. The board moved on to the Superintendent’s report headed by Dr. Lynne Reed and Dr. Nate Wills which highlighted the 2024 – 2025 budget. In a letter to the board from Dr. Reed, she stated this budget was prepared with the most accurate data available and supports the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan created in 2023. She noted the budget is a working document and will change throughout the school year as needed. Some of the key Budget Assumptions included the operating levy estimated to be $2.75 and the debt service levy $0.45 per $100 of assessed valuation, an increase in the State Adequacy Target used in the budget of $6,760, and the Prop C revenue expectation to be about $1,513 per weighted average daily attendance, known as WADA. Also estimated were the Classroom Trust Funds at $618 per ADA to which 96.24% of said funds is coded to Fund 4 and is estimated to hold a value of $638,263. Regarding staff salaries, the teacher base salary will remain at $32,000 however the district can utilize funds from the Baseline Teacher Salary Grant, with a one time payment to qualifying staff to raise their overall compensation to $40,000. It was discussed that utilizing these funds to raise wages, while available through the grant, was ideal. Furthermore, support staff wages were set to increase to $12.01 an hour. It is anticipated that the district will not run a deficit during the 2024-2025 school year. Regarding the insurance claim, bids are still under consideration for the roof repairs and will be voted on at a later date. Building principals gave various end of year and summer program updates to the board. The positive impact of the Love Thy Neighbor program, good summer school attendance, grant utilization for student hygiene products, student recognition and their awards were all brought to the board’s attention. In new business, the board approved a transfer of 7% WADA from Fund 1 to Fund 4 for the purpose of paying the ineligible costs of the FEMA building, approved participating in the state baseline salary grant, approved amending the 2023-2024 budget to reflect actual expenditures and revenues, and approved the certified staff salary schedule and non-certified staff salary schedule. The board also approved the 2024-2025 budget as presented, approved the revision to board policy JG-R2, approved the revision to the high school attendance policy procedures, and approved the Healthy Dent County sponsorship. As this was Dr. Lynne Reed’s last meeting in her current role, it was approved for Dr. Wills to use the log-in access to approve payroll files at the Bank of Salem. The board approved updating the signature cards for the debt service account, petty cash account, and YOP account at the Bank of Salem to include Traci Wulff and Nathan Wills. Payment of customary bills that may need to be paid between the board meeting and June 30th, 2024 was also approved. In closed session, some student attendance appeals were heard, discussed, and those appeals were approved. The board approved the hiring of Phillip Karr as the Athletic Director and for Credit Recovery, Shelia Sullivan-Myers as a Special Education instructor, Lonnie Lee as a Health instructor, Bella Jadwin as a PE teacher, Kim Moser to teach Spanish and English, Cody Nichols as an Art instructor, Heather Maglothin as a middle school Special Education instructor, Lori Terrill as a middle school English Language Arts instructor, and John Smith for Title Reading. The board approved a 5-day extra duty contract for Mindy Dillon, approved Lonnie Lee on the salary schedule, and approve Ashton Mink as the Freshman Volleyball Coach and Assistant Middle School Volleyball Coach, Wes Hampton as JV Boys Basketball Coach, and Lonnie Lee as the Middle School Football Coach. The meeting was then adjourned.

You are invited to attend the next Salem and Dent County meeting of “Sleep in Heavenly Peace” this afternoon at 5:30 in the evening at the Salem Community Center@The Armory! “Sleep in Heavenly Peace” is an international non-profit 501(C).(3) organization that builds, assembles and delivers new beds to children in need, who do not have a bed. The Rolla Chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace is already helping to provide new beds to children in need in our Salem community, and we are hoping to start a Dent County Chapter. They are looking for volunteers if you are interested! For more information about Sleep in Heavenly Peace, contact Patti at 703-964-6495. You can also e-mail Patti at pmckeown1200@gmail.com.

An accident occurred Wednesday morning at 5:50 in Texas County on Highway 63 five miles north of Cabool that left a St. James man with serious injuries. According to the highway patrol report, a 2018 Ram 3500, operated by 41-year-old Joshua Cantrell of St. James, ran off the right side of the roadway where the Ram struck a guardrail and overturned down a steep embankment, coming to rest on its side. Cantrell, who according to the report was not wearing a seat restraint, was ejected from the Ram. He was transported by the Texas County Ambulance to Texas County Memorial Hospital for the treatment of his serious injuries. The Ram was totaled and removed from the scene by Midway Towing at officer’s request.

A one vehicle accident happened Friday morning just before noon in Maries County on Highway 68 about five miles north of St. James. According to the highway patrol report, a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado being driven north by 61-year- old Debra Neidert of St. James, swerved to avoid a deer in the roadway. The vehicle then traveled off the left side of the road, struck a culvert and went airborne. Neidert, who was not wearing a seat restraint, suffered minor injuries and was taken by the St. James ambulance to the Missouri Baptist Hospital in Sullivan. The Silverado had moderate damages and was taken from the scene by Miles and Sons Towing.