Local News – Monday, May 18th, 2020

The Salem Board of Aldermen will be meeting this evening at 7:10 at the Salem City Hall Auditorium for their regular board meeting. At the meeting, the board will hear from Juliana Bermudez about her utility bill. Following the consent agenda, the board will hear from City Administrator Ray Walden with numerous city projects. In the introduction and reading of the bills, the board will hear Resolution 10-2020 that would allow the mayor to sign an agreement between the City of Salem and N.B. West Contracting of Sullivan to nova chip streets in the city, Resolution #11-2020 that authorizes the mayor to execute an application to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Air Pollution Control Program, Volkswagon Trust Government Truck Program that allows for the reimbursement of 50% of the purchase price of the equipment; and Bill #3449 creating an ordinance to extend the Declaration of Emergency for the City of Salem established March 23rd until a later date to be determined by the board. This is due to the coronavirus that does include temporary protocols and practices for the City of Salem. The board will then discuss the Salem Housing Authority Board Appointment that was postponed lat meeting due to an in discrepancy. The board will then go into closed session to discuss contracts before adjourning. The regular meeting will be open to the public and will follow social distancing guidelines. If you prefer, you may watch and hear the meeting online at www.ksmoradio.com and then clicking on the streaming button.

The Salem Police Department has released their report for the month of April. They issued 3 equipment repair orders, 11 summonses to appear in court, 13 warning tickets, and 17 traffic tickets, plus they also served 4 fugitive warrants. The Salem Police investigated 12 traffic accidents, wrote 1 property damage report, 12 stealing reports, and had 1 death investigation. The department investigated 5 driving while being revoked or suspended, 3 possessions of a controlled substance reports, 4 domestic violence reports, along with 1 sexual offense as well as 1 leaving the scene of an accident. The department was also dispatched for 43 animal calls, 15 ambulance assist calls, and performed 47 traffic stops for the month. The Department also conducted 57 follow-up investigations, investigated 4 leaving without paying and conducted 14 well being checks. The Salem Police Department received 842 calls for service during the month of April and had 47 walk-ins to the station. The department drove 8,750 miles during the month of April. There were 12 males and 4 females arrested in April. The Police Department also served 4 hours during the month as court bailiff for the month.

Chip and seal operations have begun throughout the state, and the Missouri Department of Transportation wants you to know what this work entails and why this technique is used to preserve highways throughout the state. MoDOT has prepared a series of videos titled “All About Chip Seals” to help drivers better understand this maintenance technique. The videos can be found on MoDOT Central District’s YouTube channel here. MoDOT state maintenance director says the bottom line is that chip sealing is a cost-effective way to get more use out of our highways. A chip seal operation entails spraying a heated film of asphalt liquid on the road, followed by placing fine rocks or chips on top. The chips are then compacted to make them adhere to the roadway. Finally, the excess loose chips are swept from the surface, leaving an improved roadway that will hold up longer than it would have without the treatment. Chip seals are about one-third the cost of a conventional asphalt overlay, averaging $15,000 per mile as compared to an estimated $55,000 per mile for an asphalt overlay. Chip seals keep damaging water from penetrating paved surfaces and extend the life of the pavement for an additional five to seven years. Chip sealing also seals cracks and improves roadway traction. A surface may be chip sealed several times, providing the road remains structurally sound. The chip seal process is typically used on roads carrying lower traffic volumes which make up more than half of MoDOT’s roadway network. Roark went on to say that motorists need to observe the speed limit of 35 mph on roads where chip sealing is in progress and that most damage to vehicles comes when drivers are going too fast or ignore road conditions in a chip seal work zone. Motorists should also be aware that flaggers and pilot vehicles are frequently present at chip seal operations, and vehicles may be required to come to a complete stop. Traffic delays are possible, so travelers should consider alternate routes, if available. Road condition information is available 24/7 on MoDOT’s Traveler Information Map located at modot.org or through MoDOT’s smartphone app which can be downloaded free for iPhone and Android phones.

The Salem Public Library misses their library patrons and they look forward to reopening the library in the near future. Until they can fully reopen, the library has decided to offer no-contact curbside service only. This is a safe way to allow patrons to borrow materials, while still keeping the building closed to the public. This service will begin TODAY and be held Monday through Friday from 10:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon, and on Saturday from 10:00 AM until 1:00 PM. All items must be returned in the book drop before a patron is allowed to check out new materials. Patron’s library account needs to be in good standing before new items can go out. If you have any questions about your account, or want to request your items by phone, call 729-4331 or go online at salempubliclibary.net. Patrons are required to remain six feet apart while waiting to pick up their items and stay in your vehicle until the staff member is back inside. Also, the library will not be accepting any book or magazine donations at this time.

The Dent County Animal Welfare Society is open but is only accessible by appointment only. Call ahead and schedule a time to visit the shelter. Their number is 729-3556 and they are normally open from 1:00 until 5:00 weekdays.

Do you use Quickbooks for your business and have received Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) or Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds? Instead of opening a new account to manage those funds, learn how to save yourself time and headaches by managing the disaster relief funds using the class accounting function in QuickBooks. This webinar will walk business owners through how to set up the class accounting function, use class tracking, assign classes to transactions and create reports. It will cover both the desktop and online version. The webinar is this morning at 11:00 and to join you must sign up by 10:00 at https://missouri.ecenterdirect.com/events/22037