Local News – Thursday, October 13th, 2022

Dent County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley reports that on August 2nd, 2022, Harley Higgs of Salem pled guilty to the Class B felony of Voluntary Manslaughter for his role in the shooting death of David Woodall on August 20th, 2021. Judge Megan Seay presided over the case in Crawford County on a change of venue from Dent County. All defendants that commit an offense in a county with less than 75, 000 citizens are entitled to a change of venue as a right afforded by the Missouri Rules of the Supreme Court. At that time, a sentencing assessment report was ordered, and the case was scheduled for a sentencing hearing to be held on October 4th, 2022, following the creation and receipt of a sentencing assessment report to be provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections. On October 4th, 2022, the sentencing hearing was conducted. Assistant Dent County Prosecutor James Weber appeared for the state and argued for a 10-year sentence in the Department of Corrections to be served, based on the loss of life to David Woodall. The defendant, through his attorney Chad Picker, argued for leniency in the form of probation. Over the objection of the prosecutor, Judge Megan Seay placed the defendant on probation for five-years with a suspended execution of a sentence of ten-years with the standard terms and conditions of probation.

The Salem Utility Committee met Wednesday evening at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. Finance Director Stacey Houston presented the 1st quarter fiscal year numbers for the electric, water and sewer departments. In the electric fund, the city billed $1,889,383 in September and they collected $1,692,704. The cost of purchasing electric power from July 1st through September 30th went up 13.014% and much of that was due to the new “peak” demand established in July of 12.9 kilowatts. The city paid $1,225,479 for the quarter compared to $1,091,280 for the 1st quarter of the 2021 fiscal year. The water department billed $311,341 and collected $232,400 and the sewer department billed $289,950 and collected $209,455 in September. Houston said some sewer credits will be issued for those who have hose meters who water their lawn and fill their above ground pools. Public Works Director Mark Nash gave his report showing naming numerous water leaks including three main breaks on Roosevelt, plus breaks on Park Street and Pershing Avenue. He said the city had water losses in May of 22% equating to about 6.5 million gallons, in June of 28% coming to about 8.7 million gallons of water, and 22% again in July with an estimated water loss of about 7 million gallons. He said the electric department changed out some poles on the north side of the city, and worked on the WIFI side of the AMI meter reading system on the south side. He said there was also some work on the in-ground transformers for the Al Brown Fields. The committee discussed the Exceleron Pre-Pay and on-line billing system for the utility department that includes diagnostics and usage information. This is being tested by city employees and committee members at this time and Mayor Greg Parker feels this will be a great asset to the residents of the city. The set-up cost is $15,000 and will be $2,000 per month after that. There is also a $6.00 per month charge for those who want to use the prepay option. There was much discussion from the crowd and committee about the fees and the costs of the system versus how many citizens will actually use it. No decision has been made on when the system will go online and how any fees would either be paid by the city or charged to the customer. There was also a discussion on the credit and debit card fees the city currently is being charged and not passing on to the customer, and those costs have amounted to over $31,000 in the last year. With the Exceleron system, those same charges would be over $33,000. Committee Chairman Kyle Williams asked the committee to think about these fees and if they should be charged to customers or paid by the city and bring their recommendation to the November 9th meeting. There was also some discussion that if the city goes with the new Exceleron System and people use the online services that shutoffs and disconnects could be done online. This would challenge the city rules and policies of not disconnecting services on a weekend or holidays and the committee should review and possibly change the rules or restructure them. It was also brought up at the meeting if Waste Management is actually recycling the products they are collecting, or in some cases not even picking up. Williams will try to get information from them on their recycling collection and why some areas are not being collected. The meeting was then adjourned.

The City of Salem Finance Committee will be meeting this evening at 6:00 at the Salem Council Chambers at 202 North Washington Street. Committee members will review the QI Financials, ARPA Fund, General Fund, building permits, and the 4th of July fireworks. The meeting of the Finance Committee tonight is open to the public.

Everyone is invited to the Community Health and Wellness Expo today at the Salem Community Center @the Armory. Doors will open at 4:30 in the afternoon to the public. This is event is to showcase health-care providers and professional and it if FREE to everyone. For more information contact Jackie at 729-8163 or email her Jackie@salemcommunitycenter.org.