Local News – Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020
The Salem Board of Aldermen met Monday evening in the Council Cambers of City Hall. At the meeting, Public Works Director Mark Nash talked about getting replacement pumps for pump stations and getting a spare. The only place to get the pumps was Vandevanter Engineering and the price for each single phase 7.5 HP pump was $10,636.00. The city would have to pay for freight and do the installation. The board approved the purchase. Nash also talked about needing new chlorine analyzers for the wells. The bids for three came to $11,034.50 and these analyzers will cut back on overtime as they can be read by smart phones instead of physically having to check them. The board approved the purchase of all three. Alderman Kevin James, Chairman of the Finance Committee, gave his report on that meeting held August 27th. The Finance Committee had recommended employing a city engineer with a salary cap of $50,000 for six months service. James recommended that cap be dropped to between $55,000 and $85,000 depending upon experience of applicant and not to provide a vehicle until the second year of employment. The board approved his recommendation. City Administrator Ray Walden said he and City Clerk Mary Happel attended the MML first virtual conference. He said the Fall Community Wide Yard Salem will go on except the city will NOT be rending parking spaces at the City Administration Building. Walden explained the July bills will be mailed this week with information on the new bills about the payment options that person selected. Additional information will be included in the bills that go out. Walden said he is working with vendors to offer additional payment options such as prepaid electric, credit card payments and more. He also said the city is putting out informational videos on the Facebook page and people can watch give their feedback to an e-mail address on the screen. He said he would like to form a media committee to figure out the best way to get out information that will reach most of the area. Walden provided the alderman with a KPI report that summarizes information about sales tax income, ongoing projects, utility income and more. Walden also discussed the brand standards that the board had discussed at an earlier meeting. The board approved the use of the new logos on letterhead and on vehicles as long as the cost was not prohibitive. The board approved the suggestion by City Attorney Weber to follow the Missouri State Statute when it comes to electioneering within 25 feet of the door. He said if there are violators, the police should be contacted. The board approved the improvements to the police department roof as suggested by Archer-Elgin Engineering that framing be added to the roof with tie downs to attach the roof framing to the building. They also recommended installing metal on free hanging clay tile to prevent it from ever falling. After a long discussion about airport leases and what “airworthy” means, Alderwoman Rachel Hinderliter said she would call an airport board meeting and discuss these items with the board with the help of City Attorney Weber. The board then reapproved the bids for the renovation project for the police department dispatch area from Village Gallery, Rommel’s Lock and Alarm, and Quality Drywall Service, LLC. The board approved Resolution #19-2020 to enter into an investment grade audit agreement between the City of Salem and Energy Solutions Professionals, LLC to see if they can find some energy saving facility improvements. City Clerk Mary Happel then gave the board a list of old records she planned to have destroyed. This included old utility bills and purchase order duplicate copies all the way back to July 1 of 2000. The list also included a number of obsolete forms that will be destroyed. The board approved the Trailer Park License for Park Street Mobile Park owned by Glen Sapaugh, and they approved appointing City Clerk Mary Happel to attend the LAGERS annual meeting for the city’s retirement plan. The meeting was then adjourned.
The Dent County Health Center Monday reported there is now one death from the coronavirus here in Dent County. They are reporting that there are currently 26 active cases of COVID-19 in Dent County out of 129 confirmed cases. Of the cases that have been identified in Dent County, 103 of those people have been released from isolation. There are still three people in the hospital from COVID while six other hospitalized patients have now been released. A total of 2,647 COVID-19 tests have come back negative. With the results reported Monday, the percentage of people in Dent County who have been tested that have a positive result with the COVID 19 virus comes to 4.65%.