Local News – Wednesday, March 6th, 2019

The Salem Board of Aldermen held their regular meeting Monday night at the City Hall Council Chambers. The board heard from Daniel Black of Black’s A-1 Septic, LLC about dumping the waste from some port-a-potties at the Salem Waste Water Treatment plant. City of Salem Sewer and Water Superintendent Jack Emory reported that the cities plant is an activated treatment plant as it is oxygenated while port-a-potties are not. A direct discharge will result in foaming and clogs in the aerators. Black would not be releasing much waste into the system and City Administrator Ray Walden asked him to submit to the city his waste information for the city’s engineers to review and see if there can be a solution for him at the treatment plant. The board approved the bid from Fleetwood Pyrotechnics, LLC in Salem to shoot off the fireworks at the 4th of July Celebration for $12,524.00. They board received eight bids for the AMI metering systems. They approved moving forward with the Automatic Meter Reading system from NexGrid for $1,109,957.50 without installation. With installation, the cost will come to $1,342,977.35. This vote was by a 3-1 margin with Alderman Kenny Nash voting against. The board heard from Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Gary Brown about the Planning and Zoning Meeting held prior to the regular meeting. The commission recommended the subdividing of the property currently known as 5400 West Scenic Rivers Blvd into eight parcels of which five were rezoned from Commercial to Residential R-3. The board approved the recommendation and would later pass Bill #3408 to allow the subdivision to occur with the new addresses to be recorded. City Administrator Ray Walden explained the city’s part of the Workforce Training Initiative Grant where they are a co-sponsor with the Salem R-80 Schools as well as other partners that can provide up to $1 million dollars. This was recommended by the MRPC. This would be for a new building to house the construction trades program and computer cyber security lab that will also be used for the Adult Education and Literacy Program. Salem R-80 will be the fiscal agent and there would be no cost to the city. Walden recommended to the board to approve the request by Salem R-80 and the aldermen did. Walden reported on a pre-submission conference at the old middle school held on February 25th where a number of people toured the old building and property. The proposal deadline will be March 29th and those proposals will be sent to the old middle school committee for their review and determination as what the best option is. Walden asked for the public’s patience for the work being done on the old city hall auditorium as it will take some time to complete that project. He also wanted to thank volunteers around town for making projects happen and that includes the upcoming Road Rally on March 15th and 16th. Many events would not be possible without the volunteers making them happen. The board approved Bill #3409 that establishes a procedure to disclose potential conflicts of interest for certain municipal officials. They also unanimously approved Resolution # 6-2019 for the mayor to execute the scope of work agreement between the City of Salem and NexGrid to deploy a wireless smart grid infrastructure for the purpose of advanced metering and smart grid management activities, and also approved Resolution #7-2019 to co-sponsor with the Salem R-80 School District to apply for a Workforce Training Initiative Grant. The meeting was then adjourned.

The Dent County Health Center Board of Trustees met Monday,February 25th, at the Dent County Health Center. Administrator Kendra Mobray reported outpatient lab services were provided to 47 clients in January. Mobray reported she attended the Coalition for Roadway Safety and an HRSA Rural Opioid Grant Coalition meetings at the MRPC in February. She also attended the "Your Community Cares Rural Health Coalition" meeting at Your Community Health Center in Rolla. Mobray also reported that influenza activity in Missouri is widespread. There have been 78 confirmed cases of influenza reported for Dent County. She said people need to be aware of those around them and follow these steps in an attempt to avoid the flu: Avoid close contact, stay home when you are sick, cover your mouth and nose, clean your hands often, practice other good health habits and avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth before you wash your hands. Mobray reported on Friday, February 22nd, the vaccine refrigerator malfunctioned. According to the repair service, the refrigerator cannot be fixed. A motion was made and seconded to purchase a new refrigerator as soon as possible. The Health Center would like to thank the SMDH pharmacy for safely storing vaccines until the new unit arrives. After paying expenses for January, the board set their next regular board meeting date for Monday, March 18th at 5:00. The meeting was then adjourned.