News – Friday, December 13th 2024

The Salem Police Department has released a report for incidents for the first week in November. At approximately 1:30 in the afternoon on Saturday, November 2nd, officers were dispatched to a traffic accident near the intersection of Macarthur and Franklin Street.  During the traffic accident investigation, it was found the operator of one of the vehicles was visibly impaired. After further investigation a 53-year-old Salem female was arrested and then later released on summons for excessive blood alcohol content. That same evening near 5:30, officers responded to the Crossroads Inn after receiving information a male subject was there with an active felony warrant out of the Johnson County. As a result, officers arrested 38-year-old Charles Copper of Knob Noster without incident for the felony warrant with a bond of $15,000. That same Saturday night at around 6:00, officers conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of Highway 19 and Hunt Street for a person who was suspected of driving drunk as their vehicle was swerving all over the roadway. Contact was made with the driver, and it was found the driver was impaired. After a short investigation, a 35-year-old Sullivan man was arrested and later released on summons for excessive blood alcohol content. On Tuesday, November 5th around noon, an officer was dispatched to the Phelps County Jail to extradite 22-year-old Jordan Sanders from Salem who had an active capias warrant out of the City of Salem.  Sanders was extradited and incarcerated at the Dent County Jail. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have any information regarding any ongoing investigation.

The Utility Committee held their regular meeting Wednesday evening at 6:15 in the Auditorium. After approving the agenda, the Committee watched a presentation by John Pettit on Hometown Grid, a company that provides a simple, secure, and affordable solution for residents of the community to report electrical outages. Customers would be able to call or text this system to report an outage in their area, which will then be updated to a live map of the City of Salem, and with follow up questions from the system, utility crews will be able to prioritize customers that may need immediate or emergency assistance. The City’s current procedure to report an outage has residents calling the police department’s non-emergency line, and at times, experiencing extended hold times or busy signals, especially if many people are calling at the same time. Hometown Grid would immediately eliminate the strain on the phone lines. For a five-year plan, the total price for this service would be $38,000. The Utility Committee will hold off on making a decision regarding Hometown Grid until they can see what the financial implications will be within the City’s budget. Bob Blank and Dan Caswell with Utility Financial Services (UFS) presented the Cost of Service Study. They recommend reinstating the service availability fee by charging residents $13.47, and commercial properties $21.56, while lowering the cost per kilowatt hour, to achieve neutral revenue. The Committee agreed that since the utility billing underwent a change recently, the recommendation from UFS should be tabled for now. Finance Director, Stacy Houston presented the financial updates. During her report, Houston noted that the Water Reserve Fund is at a $68,000 deficit due to the purchase of a replacement motor and pump, however, the City is currently waiting on the insurance payment to cover this. The Sewer Reserve Fund is in a $30,000 deficit due to a COP payment made in November and the purchase of a $16,000 pump for the lift station. This deficit will be offset with prior year fund balances. Public Works Director Steve Paine gave an update on the utility crews, and a resident expressed their concern about the proposed utility rate changes during the questions and comments portion of the meeting.