Local News – Thursday, May 26th, 2022

The Salem Board of Aldermen held their regular meeting Tuesday evening at the City Hall Council Chambers. After the consent agenda was approved, the board approved Resolution #17-2022 that authorized the mayor to execute an agreement between the City of Salem and the Department of Health and Senior Services for the purpose of sewer shed disease trend monitoring; and approved Resolution 18-2022 authorizing the filing of an application with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Financial Assistance Center’s state ARPA Grant programs for a sub award for the completion of the lead service line inventory or a drinking water, wastewater or stormwater project. Jeff Medows from Archer-Elgin said the application is due by July 14th and there are three programs the city would be interested in: Enhanced treatment at the wastewater facility, the new well and water tower near the hospital, and the new EPA requirement to inventory all lead water lines. The board amended the budgeted amount to purchase a new truck for the Park and Recreation Department of up to $35,000. The board put out a bid for Professional Engineering Services to address their inflow and infiltration problem and they received only one response and that was from Archer-Elgin. They said they will use the DNR Clean Water grant to do smoke tests and isolate areas that have the most infiltration. The grant is an 80-20 grant with $50,000 coming from the grant and the city will have to pay $12,500 for a total of $62,500 cost for the work. The board approved the appointment of Bernie Sirois to the Capital Improvement Committee and Amanda Duncan to the Finance Committee. The board heard a report from ESP on improvements to city property. The HVAC for the old city hall auditorium is almost completed as the unit has been tested for heating and cooling, the police station is currently having work done which should be finished in a couple of days, and the Salem Community Center@The Armory HVAC work should begin June 6th. They discussed roofing improvements at the Park and Rec Building at 3rd and Grand where work is nearing completion, and the leak identification and mitigation at the Armory. They still can’t install the lighting at Al Brown until the water table drops about three feet. City Administrator Ray Walden said he and Jeff Medows from Archer-Elgin will meet soon with DNR on the permitting of the wastewater treatment facility Phase 2. Walden said Waste Management stated they picked up 128 tons of additional trash during the Spring clean-up weeks. The city offices will be closed on Monday, May 30th for Memorial Day. Salem Economic Development Director Sally Burbridge said the Certified Site at the Industrial Park has been cleared off and needs to be graded and seeded. She said the first run of four homes has been selected for the “Welcome Home Program” and the people who pre-qualified have been approved. They will have to come in Thursday to sign papers. The second run of houses is almost ready, and the third run needs a veteran’s family and low-income family to apply to be rounded out. Burbridge also reported on her speaking with the Salem R-80 Board about getting a loan through the Community Foundation of the Ozarks for the Construction Trades Building and the board will be holding a workshop on June 2nd. Salem Park and Recreation Director Melissa Dubois said the pool will open on May 28th. Swim lessons, water aerobics classes and pool party information is available at the Salem Community Center@The Armory until Monday when people can just stop by the pool for more information. She said there are a limited number of spaces left in the Salem Summer Camp in July, as well as in the OATS camp that will be held at the Salem Civic Theatre in late July. People can call her at 729-6290 for more information. The board then went into closed session.

A meeting of the Capital Improvement Committee has been called by chairman Shawn Bolerjack for this evening at 6:00 at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory located at 1200 West Rolla Road. On the agenda will be the proposed 2022-2023 Capital Improvement Projects before adjourning. The meeting Thursday evening is open to the public.

The Salem Police Department released these reports. On the evening of Saturday, April 16th at approximately 7:00, officers were dispatched to the intersection of Water and Franklin Streets for a report of a disturbance. An investigation uncovered that a male subject was highly intoxicated and causing problems with people in the area. While attempting to speak with the subject he was very uncooperative and belligerent. As a result, a 51-year-old man was arrested and placed on a 12-hour safe keep due to his intoxication. Then on the evening of Tuesday, April 19th around 8:30, an officer conducted a traffic stop at Franklin Street and Highway 19 for a brake light not working. Contact was made with the driver and the officer noticed the subject appeared to be intoxicated. After an investigation was conducted a 31-year-old Salem male subject was arrested and later released on a summons to appear in court for driving while being intoxicated. On Thursday, April 21st near 6:00 in the evening, officers were dispatched to the intersection of Water and Franklin Streets for a report of a disturbance. The investigation revealed that the same man from five days earlier was highly intoxicated and causing problems again with people in the area. As a result of the investigation, the 51-year-old Salem man was arrested and placed on a 24-hour hold pending the application of warrants. On Friday evening, April 22nd around 6:00, officers were dispatched to the intersection of Hickory and Third Streets for a report of a domestic disturbance. During the investigation, it was found one of the subjects involved had an active warrant out of the City of Salem. As a result, 30-year-old Alfred Neil Burns of Salem, was arrested and incarcerated at the Dent County Jail. Later that same evening at approximately 10:00, an officer conducted a traffic stop for speeding near the intersection of Highways 19 and 32. During the traffic stop the officer found the driver to be intoxicated and after further investigation, a 19-year-old Salem male was arrested. He was later released to a sober driver and issued a summons to appear in court for driving while being intoxicated. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have any information regarding any ongoing investigations.