Local News – Wednesday, December 20th, 2023

The Salem Board of Aldermen held a special meeting, called by Mayor Greg Parker, on Tuesday evening in the Council Chambers. The board approved Parker’s appointment of John Whelan to fill the West Ward seat that was formerly held by Amanda Duncan. Duncan resigned effective December 12th. Whelan will serve the unexpired term until 2025. The board approved Bill No. 3580, which is an ordinance authorizing the mayor to sign Task Order No. 18 pertaining to an agreement between the city and C.M. Archer Engineering Group for engineering services related to the Lead Service Line Inventory Project. This project is part of the $150,000 ARPA funds received with a local match of $30,000 for total project funding of $180,000. The Service Line Inventory project is to meet EPA’s mandate for an initial inventory of lead service lines in the city. The city is expected to perform the initial inventory and submit a database to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources by October 16th, 2024. The board approved canceling the December 26th City Council meeting. The next meeting will be held on January 9th. City Administrator Sally Burbridge requested a joint budget workshop be held between the Aldermen and the Finance Committee members January to begin the budget preparation process for next year. The board then went into closed session.

The Salem Memorial Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the hospital library. In the Administrators Report, Interim CEO Jason Edwards reported that they are working on getting a payment plan for the accounts payable totaling $365,292. An additional four tags were added to the deficiency list after the lab was inspected by CLIA. The plan of correction has been submitted and the lab will be reinspected by CLIA at a later date. Edwards reported that 340B policies have been updated and an optimization implementation plan will begin January 1st. The hospitals initial annual fiscal loss presented was $317,000 in fiscal year 2023. The pre-audit loss to date shows the actual loss of $2.5 million. The Dialysis and Home Health Departments have been closed in an effort to cut expenses. The final audit report is expected to be completed in February. CFO Doug Hoban reported hospital admissions in November were 83 which included six Swingbed admissions with a total of 250 patient census days. In November, there were 1,520 Outpatient Registrations, 1,474 Cardiopulmonary Procedures, 6,940 Lab Tests, 1,194 Radiology Procedures, 556 Rehabilitation Treatments, 34 Surgical Procedures, and 167 Home Health Visits. There were 637 Emergency Room visits with 56 patients being admitted. A total of 228 ambulance runs were made with 150 patients being transported. The hospital had expenses over revenues in November of $417,086 with a loss from operations of $421,925. The 340B plan showed revenues over expenses for the month of $49,068. Edwards reported that he is working with the state to get reimbursement for capital expenditures to match what the hospital has spent from July 1st to May 31st. With no new business, the meeting was then adjourned.

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows deer hunters harvested 18,904 deer during the late antlerless portion of firearms deer season, December 2nd-10th. Top harvest counties were Callaway with 565 deer harvested, Pike with 513, and Lincoln with 385. Harvest numbers for counties in our area included Crawford with 237 antlerless deer harvested, Dent harvest was 209, Maries County was 134, Phelps County had 128 harvested, Texas County total was 354, and Shannon County saw 200 antlerless deer harvested. Last year’s antlerless portion harvest total was 16,241. For current ongoing preliminary harvest totals by season, county, and type of deer, visit the MDC website at mdc.mo.gov. The archery deer and turkey season runs through January 15th, 2024. The alternative methods portion runs December 23rd through January 2nd, 2024. Find more information on deer hunting from MDC’s 2023 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, available where permits are sold and online at mdc.mo.gov.

Now is the time to start planning what you’d like to plant in your 2024 garden and gathering up your seeds. Master Gardeners Charley Grimm, Pam Bierman, Katyann Sullivan, and Thom Haines are prepping the Community Garden for the 2024 gardening season. The Community Garden was started in 2009 and is located at the Salem United Methodist Church. If you are interested in having plot at the Community Garden in 2024, please contact Charley Grimm at 573-368-9902. Garden plots are open to anyone who wants to have one, and your first plot is free. Gardening tools and water are available for gardeners, and all you need to provide is your love of gardening and seeds. The Dent/Phelps Master Gardeners and Dent County Extension provide classes throughout the growing season on such topics as “When to Plant,” “Seed Saving,” “Canning,” and other topics you may have questions about. If there is a subject you would like to have addressed at one of the classes this upcoming summer, contact Charley Grimm or call Dent County Extension at 573-729-3196.

Do you love Missouri’s state parks and historic sites? Are you looking for a way to introduce the fun to someone else? Now is the perfect time to purchase a Missouri State Parks gift card for yourself and receive another you can use as a holiday gift. A Missouri State Parks gift card is a convenient way to make camping reservations or purchase state park merchandise. Through the month of December, purchase a gift card of $75 or more and receive a free $25 e-gift card free! This offer can only be found online at https://mostateparks.com and click on the gift card button. Purchased gift cards or e-gift cards will be mailed or emailed to the address on your customer account. Promotional e-gift cards are emailed to the email address listed on your customer account.