Your World Today

The City of Salem held a special meeting on Wednesday at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory to discuss Resolution #11-2024 for a donation by the City of Salem to the Salem Housing Authority of the City of Salem for development of affordable housing for the benefit of the community. City Administrator Sally Burbridge updated the board on the sewer improvements that are scheduled to begin soon near the proposed property. She has been in contact with Mike Godi, the Chairman of the Bonebrake Board, about requesting an easement to allow for the sewer lines to be aligned on the Bonebrake property. Jeff Meadows of Archer Elgin explained that a new sewer line will be built to improve sewer concerns in this neighborhood. The $200,000 cost for this improvement will be paid by the Certificate of Participation (COP) that was implemented in 2017 as part of the Phase 1 upgrades to the Sewer Treatment Plant. Burbridge explained that if the Salem Housing Authority is able to secure funding to build the 24 units, the plans will still need to be submitted and reviewed by the city staff and engineers for final approval. Motion was made by Alderman John Whelan and seconded by Alderwoman Kala Sisco to donate the “old middle school” property to the Salem Housing Authority. Alderman Bolerjack and Alderwoman Dent voted no and Mayor Parker had to break the tie and he voted yes to approve and pass this resolution. The meeting was then adjourned.

The Dent County Commission met Thursday morning at the courthouse. At the meeting, John McIntyre talked to the commission about chip and seal Dent County Road 6180 where he said there is a soft spot or a depression in the road. He asked them if at one time MoDOT did not request taking over the road in exchange for a different road. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said that was true as they wanted to take over maintenance of county road 6180 and have the county take over maintenance on the Route EE spur, but there is a bridge on EE the county does not want to be responsible for so no trade was made. McIntyre said that he had heard through an “unnamed source” that MoDOT was going to request that again and asked the commission to at least consider looking into the possibility of a trade. The commission took no action on the request. Sherry Lea from Dent County Rural Addressing was in to tell the commission about a grant for the new NG 9-1-1 system that Dent County Rural Addressing received to pay to update the current county 9-1-1 system. She said she received four bids for the grant and after grading them out, she recommended going with SDR who currently is the vendor used by Dent County Rural Addressing to create new addresses in the county. She said the grant is for $58,555 and there will be no out-of-pocket expense to the county. She also said this is a different grant than the one Sheriff Bob Wells is getting for equipment and training, but is needed so that the address or location of the person calling will be recognized when a 911 call is received. Commissioner Larson said he wanted to do some research on this grant to make sure that there are no conflicts with the grant the county is writing through the sheriff’s department. Lea said there is no hurry for the commission to sign, but the work by SDR will have to be done by December of this year. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said grading was going to be done on Dent County Roads 6410 and 6575 while brush would be cut on county road 6460. He said he still had two dump trucks hauling conservation rock for the other district. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk said grading was going to be done on Dent County Roads 2530, 3333, 3334, 3350 and 4388. He said his crews are also hauling rock to Dent County Road 2530 which is a conservation road. Commissioner Larson said he was contacted by Tammy Snodgrass from the MRPC that the “at large for profit” board position held by John Smith is up for renewal. Larson said he will try to get in touch with Smith to see if he is still interested in holding that seat. Corky Stack from AEA Stack Design Group was in to review the punchlist developed by he and the county commission following their walk-through last week before he e-mails it to the contractor. He said some things on the list have already been taken care of but others including some paint work and landscaping still needs to be done. He also submitted a pay voucher which the commission approved paying. 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.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will offer 400 permits for the taking of a maximum of 40 black bears during the 2024 Missouri black-bear hunting season this fall, October 21st through 30th. MDC will also offer five permits to hunt bull elk in Missouri this fall with at least one permit designated for qualifying landowners that own property in Carter, Reynolds, or Shannon counties and the remaining permits for qualifying Missouri residents. MDC has designated the elk archery portion to run October 19th through the 27th and the elk firearms portion to run December 14th through the 22nd. The five permits will be for bull elk with at least one antler being six inches or greater in length and will be valid for both archery and firearms portions. Only Missouri residents who will be at least 11 years of age by the first day of the hunt for which they are applying are eligible to apply for bear and elk permits during the application period of May 1st through 31st. All permits will be assigned through a random drawing. The Missouri Conservation Commission gave final approval to the bear and elk season recommendations from MDC during its April 5th open meeting in Rolla.

The 9th Annual Veteran Affairs Day will be held this Friday from 10:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon at the American Legion Post 99 located at 2522 Highway 32 West in Salem. Come out and learn about changes and requirements for benefits, enroll in the VA health care, and a light lunch will be provided around noon. Veteran Affairs Day is an annual outreach to Veterans of central rural Missouri to provide easier access to VA services. It includes American Legion District 16 and VFW District 2 which includes Camden, Cole, Crawford, Dent, Howell, Laclede, Maries, Miller, Phelps, Osage, Pulaski, Reynolds, Shannon, Texas and Wright counties. Representatives from the Department of Veteran Affairs will include enrollment, claims processing specialists, suicide prevention and a community employment coordinator from the Truman VA Medical Center, as well as benefit advisors from the Veteran Benefit Administration St Louis Regional Office. The Columbia Veteran Center will have a counselor and advisors on hand in their mobile unit. It doesn’t matter when you served, if you have any questions please attend. Don’t miss out on your hard earned benefits. Call the sponsors of the event: the American Legion Post 99/VFW Post 6280, at (573) 729-3710 for questions or to schedule a private time with a counselor.

The Salem Board of Aldermen held their regular meeting at the Salem Community Center@the Armory Tuesday evening. After hearing several local citizens’ comments, the board approved closing Fourth Street from Hickory to Pershing on Saturday, May 11th, from 4-8 PM for the Current River Car Show. The board approved three bids for property associated with the “Welcome Home” project including a bid from Steven Thurmond for $35,100 for the property located at 403 W. Hunt, a bid from Tri-Cat Restoration for $29,800 for the property located at 1500 S. Louise, and a bid from Tri-Cat Restoration for $30,600 for the property at 403 E. Hunt. Jeff Meadows with Archer-Elgin presented an update on several city projects including the downtown TAP Project that is being rebid with bids due the first week of May. They are conducting a Wastewater Collection System Evaluation using flow meters to monitor the water flow. The Wastewater Treatment Phase 2A will be bid this summer and this project is being paid with a $5 million ARPA grant. Phase 2B is being paid by grants and loans, and a $750,000 Community Development Block grant will be written as well. The elevated storage tank for Well #9, located on Highway 72, is being paid for with ARPA funds and will be bid out in early summer. Well #2 and #4 are nearing completion. The Lead Service Line
Inventory mapping and detailed surveys are being conducted. A financial update was provided by Stacey Houston showing the total tax revenues collected through April are $3,230,024 and includes $624,117 from the additional 1% sales tax collected. Through March, the electric sales revenue totaled $5,563,991, and the purchase of power was $3,526,111. The water sales revenue totaled $612,185 and the sewer sales revenue totaled $800,836. The Fund Balance Summary showed beginning balances on July 1st of $7,890,576 and current balance through March of $9,828,682. Public Works Director Steven Payne reported on several projects including the LED street lights replacement, an electric line down at the Industrial Park that started a fire and has left several street lights out, the remodeling of the Animal Shelter located at the Industrial Park has begun, and street sweeping and lawn maintenance at the cemetery is an ongoing project for the city’s 30-acre cemetery. Alderwoman Sisco reported that the next Finance Committee workshop will be held on Thursday, May 9th at 5:30 PM at the Salem Community Center@the Armory. After the reports of city officials, the board went into closed session to discuss contracts.

Tonight, the Salem Planning and Zoning Board of Commissioners will meet at 6:00 at the Salem Community Center@The Armory for a public hearing and public meeting to discuss two requests for a conditional use permit for short term vacation rentals at 906 South Water and #2 North McArthur. The public hearing and meeting are open to the public. Also the Salem Community Involvement Committee will be meeting at 5:00 at the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce to discuss fundraising for the July 4th Fireworks. This meeting is also open to the public.

A Gardener’s Dream Paint N’ Sip will be held on Friday with Danielle Norris from 6:00 to 8:30 at the Creative Arts Center. Paint a cute canvas scene with some of a gardener’s favorite things. Danielle will lead you step by step through the whole process! The cost is $25 and all supplies will be provided. At least six people are needed to hold the class and it’s limited to no more than 20 people. Class registrations are on a first come, first serve basis with online registrations. Interested persons can sign up under “Programs” at the Creative Arts Center at the salemcommunitybetterment.com website.

This Saturday at the Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center on Highway 19 at the exhibit called “Crossroads: Change in Rural America,” there will be a group discussion and reflection of “What have we learned from the Crossroads themes?” starting at 10:00. There will also be a performance from the Salem Community Choir after the discussion The exhibit is open through Thursday, May 2nd and there is no charge to visit the exhibit. The “Crossroads” exhibit is part of the “Museum on Main Street,” a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and state humanities councils nationwide. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress.

Three Salem High School students will be performing at the MSHSAA Music Festival in Columbia on Friday. They are junior Xander During who will play the Bass Clarinet, sophomore Thomas Harris who will play the Euphonium and freshman Mason Tomnitz who will also play the Euphonium. The event will include 4,199 individual and group performances representing 358 schools. The state-level festival has an evaluative purpose during which students perform before some of the nation’s top music adjudicators who provide critiques and ratings of the students’ musical abilities. Festival participants qualified by earning an Exemplary rating at their respective district-level festival. Congratulations to these students!!

The City of Salem’s Park and Recreation Board met Monday to consider a property trade. The trade was requested by members of the Salem Board of Aldermen. They wanted the Salem Parks and Recreation Board to consider trading the “old fairgrounds property” for the five acres on 10th Street known as the “old middle school property.” With all Park and Recreation Board members present, they voted to not make the trade. The Park board members felt it was not in the best interest of the Park and Recreation Department to trade the property that was originally obtained to be the future soccer field site. They felt the current “old fairgrounds property” is still best property to be developed for a soccer complex.

The Dent County Health Center (DCHC) Board of Trustees met April 18th for their monthly meeting. Administrator Zach Moser presented the Service and Statistics report. In the Communicable Disease Report, he stated that there were ten COVID-19 cases reported, 39 lead cases, 13 screenings for sexually transmitted infections, 31 cases of Influenza and six animal bites. The environmental report by Assistant Administrator Roma Jones showed two total inspections conducted, one recall, no sewer complaints, and nine environmental questions were fielded. A town-hall meeting and informational session is being planned for May 30th to provide information and to answer questions about the new Consumer Food Safety Regulation. The Maternal-Child Health (MCH) statistics showed there were three car-seats distributed, one CPR Course held, no consultations for Childcare Health, no Show-Me Healthy Women appointments, 22 Title X appointments, one Presumptive Eligibilities (Temporary Medicaid) and 339 WIC appointments. The Community-Specific Services Summary showed 518 total appointments other than WIC, 132 Nurse Practitioner appointments, 97 treatment court visits, 220 lab appointments and 65 immunization appointments. Nurse Practitioner Service Details showed no Show-Me Health Women appointments, seven family plannings, no well-child visits, 15 online appointments, three other physicals, 17 SEMO physicals, seven other visits, and 82 acute illness appointments. Laboratory details showed 253 individual patients, 16 appointments for Rapid Test for COVID, Flu, RSV or Strep, one pregnancy test and three lead tests. Immunizations for February totaled 15 for COVID-19, 11 for Influenza, and 92 other vaccines, including the new RSV vaccine and new formulations of pneumonia vaccine. In the Administrator’s report, Moser noted letters will be going out to all food establishments soon about the May 30th town-hall meeting. The new regulations and fees will become effective July 1st. He also reported that the DCHC will conduct a Health Fair May 3rd from 7:00 in the morning until 1:00 in the afternoon. Moser presented his final report on the feasibility of the staff created revenue generating ideas. The Health Center financial reports for March, including the report from H & R Block, were reviewed. Discussion was held on the balance sheet, income statement, and budget statements. After these questions were answered, the financial reports and the report from H & R Block were approved. In new business the City of Salem water quality was discussed. Moser reported on the timeline of the water quality issue. DCHC involvement started last summer. Given the importance of water quality to public health, the complaints were taken seriously and investigated. DCHC conducted tests of samples and evaluated the results according to federal standards. Moser discussed the results with concerned citizens and with the Salem News, generating two news articles on the topic. Though occasional cloudiness and deposits continue to be an issue in some areas, these have been determined to be primarily iron and aluminum, which do not pose a significant threat to public health. DCHC will continue to monitor the situation. The Board went in to closed session at 6:21 and returned to open session at 7:50, having discussed personnel matters and authorized the administrator to enter into a retention agreement. After returning to open session a motion was passed to increase the consulting fee budget by $4,500.00. The next regular meeting of the Board was set for Thursday, May 16th at 5:00.

Unused or expired medications will be able to be disposed of safely during drug “Take Back Day” this Saturday, April 27th from 10:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon. You may bring unused or expired medications to either Country Mart or Wal-Mart parking lots for them to be disposed of properly and safely. “Take Back Day” is sponsored by a partnership with the Salem Police Department, the Dent County Sheriff Department, and Healthy Dent County Prevention Coalition.