Board of Aldermen - Regular Meeting

Six o'clock, I'd like to call this meeting to order and ask everyone to please rise for Pledge of Allegiance and Prayer. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. John, if you would lead us in a prayer, please.

Heavenly Father, we just come to you this evening, Lord, and I just ask you to forgive me where I failed you. But, Lord, I want to thank you. I want to thank you for this community that you've placed me in. I want to thank you for the people in this community. And I just ask that tonight everything we say and do brings honor and glory to you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Amen.

First up, we'll do a roll call. I am present. Older woman Dent.

I'm here.

Alderman McKenzie. Present. Alderman Whalen. Here. Alderman Lutchworth. Present. City Administrator Burbridge.

Present.

City Clerk Kohler.

Present.

Attorney Weber is absent. Public Works Director Payne. Here he is. Chief of Police Chase. Present. Finance Director Houston. Economic Development Director Sutterfield. Present. And I see we've got Jared from Building Code. Why are we taking that out? All right. Next up would be the approval of tonight's agenda.

I'd like to make a motion to approve tonight's agenda with the exception or the removal of 3716.

And do I have a second?

I'll second the motion.

This time I'll call for the vote. Alderman Whalen? Yes. Alderman McDent? Yes. Alderman Letchworth? Yes. Alderman Kinsey? Yes. Next up is the approval of the consent agenda. I make a motion to approve the consent agenda. And do I have a second?

I'll second.

This time I'll call for the vote. Alderman Letchworth? Yes.

Alderman McKenzie?

Yes. Alderman Windent? Yes. Alderman Whalen? Yes. Moving right along for public comment. Probably have to help me here, Carrie Gaither. Did I say that right? Gaither, yes. Okay.

My name is Carrie Gaither, and I live at 2 North Pershing Avenue here in Salem. Since moving to Salem in 2020, I've been very frustrated with the city utilities. For the first year I lived here, I couldn't get a consistent monthly bill. And even after the billing cycle issues were fixed, I couldn't get answers on why the rates were rarely the same from month to month. or why certain fees were being applied. Every time I would call, I was assured everything was done by the computer program, so it was fine. I finally gave up trying to get answers. Later, the recycling pickup was reduced from once a week to every other week and then taken away completely without a reduction in the fees. Then trash pickup fees were increased. Even though I set my trash bin by the road the night before it's supposed to be picked up, it still isn't always picked up. And when I call the city, I'm told to give it an extra day or they'll pick it up next week. Now we're being told that the rate increase for water is being assessed to fix a water tower that's been out of service for quite some time and that the city has funds and reserves to pay for it. It seems no end date to this rate increase was put in place, so even when the special project's funded, we'll still be paying the increased rate. The board's disregard for its constituents is concerning. The economy's been hard for several years now, and the arbitrary rate increases are getting frustrating. It's sad to have friends and family who are interested in moving to the area lose that interest when they hear about how the city operates and the lack of care and transparency that's given. I appreciate your time and respectfully ask that you give more consideration to the rate increases and the quality of services offered by the city. Thank you.

Thank you.

Moving right along, next up would be resolution number 16-2026.

COMMISSIONER WRIGHT- Resolution number 16-2026, a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a one-year memorandum of understanding between the City of Salem, Missouri and the Board of Governors of Missouri State University West Plains Adult Education and Literacy, AEL, program to allow a classroom space of 36 feet by 12 feet at Old City Hall, 202 North Washington Street to be used for purposes of conducting activities associated with the educational programs delivered by the university for the AEL program.

Thank you.

So this is the same agreement as last year. Ms. Todd is in the audience. If anyone has questions for her or for myself, I'd be happy to answer.

Any questions from the board? No. There's no questions. Do I have a motion?

I'll make a motion to approve memorandum resolution number 16-2026. Do I have a second?

I'll second the motion.

There's no further discussion. I'll call for a vote. Alderman Letchworth?

Yes. Alderman Whalen?

Yes. Alderman Dent? Yes. And Alderman Kinsey? Yes. Next item up we have a conditional use permit approval for 707 West 1st Street.

Good evening. Good evening. This is a conditional use for the installation of a manufactured house, manufactured home, 707 West 1st Street. That property will be readdressed as for North Grand Avenue when this project is complete. Mr. and Mrs. Zandvliet are here with us if you have questions for them. But essentially, what we've done so far, the Board of Adjustment granted a variance for the rear setback of that property because that house is going to face Grand Street. The property that they currently are living in is 705 West First, just adjacent into the east. The house that they're currently living in is going to be demolished after the placement of the manufactured home. And then that entire parcel then will be quite a bit bigger. So the setbacks then really won't be an issue. So this is kind of a temporary setback situation. Then on May the 28th, Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing about the placement of the manufactured home and voted to recommend the approval of the conditional use for it to this board. Okay. Do you have any questions for Mayor? The Zenfleet's there here.

Jared, was there a map in the packet?

There is. It's on down.

Quite a ways on down, huh? Yeah. It's getting closer. Tap by tap. Yeah. Apologies.

One more.

There we go.

I should. I need to adjust a little bit what I said. Their recommendation was to approve the conditional use under the condition that the home that is currently at 705 would be removed within a year of the installation of the manufactured home.

Okay, I was going to ask.

I apologize for that. I got ahead of myself there. So on the map there, you've got the number three parcel and number four parcel. They own both of those. The number four house is already gone. The blue area there in the middle is where the manufactured home would go. Then there would be a 30-foot front setback to Grand Street as it gets readdressed. The rear setback after demolition of the other house then would be, I believe that's 64 feet.

And then this is the house to be demolished?

That one will be demolished.

All right. Any questions?

I don't have any. No.

All right. Do I have a motion? I'll make a motion to approve the conditional use for the installation of the manufactured home to be located on the property addressed as 707 West 1st Street with the condition of the demolishment of the residence at 705 West 1st Street within a year of the installation of the home. You are out of the second.

I'll second the motion.

There's no further discussion. I'll call for the vote. Alderman Kinsey? Yes. Alderman Whalen?

Yes.

Alderman Dent? Yes. And Alderman Letchworth? Yes. All right. Next up, next conditional use permit approval. 1003 East 3rd Street.

This is for conditional use for a short-term rental. The property located at 1003 East 3rd Street. Does this one have a map? There is not a map on this one. I apologize for that one. It's at the corner of 3rd and Iron Mountain Road, owned by Jeffrey Bergdorf. Their intention is to use that as a short-term vacation rental, see how it goes. They have two others. They said, I believe, one in Rolla and one maybe in St. Robert. We'll see how it goes here. Planning and Zoning had a public hearing. Following the public hearing, they voted to recommend the approval of the conditional use for short-term rental at that address.

Is that the house at the split where East 3rd and Iron Mountain Road split here on the right? Yes.

Okay. Is that the one with all the doors and windows? I think so. That's the one with all the doors and windows.

I couldn't tell you. I believe Capps owned it. Steve Capps, I believe, owned it before a long time ago. You're right. Oh, no, before that. Okay. The house before it? Yeah. Okay. Quad a ways up the road on 3rd Street.

All right.

Okay. Any questions from the board?

No. I have none.

I have none. All right. Do we have a motion?

I'll make a motion to approve the conditional use of the property at the 1003 East 3rd as a vacation rental.

Do I have a second? I'll second. There's no further discussion. I'll call for the vote. Alderman Letchworth? Yes. Alderman McKenzie? Yes. Alderman Whalen? Yes. Alderman Wendat? Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Next up, we've got some first readings of some bills. We'll start with bill number 3717.

Bill number 3717, an ordinance approving change order number one for the Salem water system improvements, contract A project, and authorizing the mayor to execute the same.

Good evening, Mayor, board members. Good evening. We were going to ask to try to utilize the last of the ARPA funds that are being used for the water tower to do a water line that needs to be bored underneath the railroad trail, but it couldn't be used for that. So we were going to revert back to having the fire hydrants replaced by BuildTech. We're going to pick out four that are a little tricky and let them do them because that's what they do for a living. And then that would leave roughly $347. It would cost the city of Salem $347.60. Okay. Okay. One of our oldest fire hydrants is right there off the corner of our parking lot at our admin building across from the 4th Avenue Mall. And it's set kind of underneath the concrete and all that. So we'll probably have them do that one and then some other ones across town. So you think you'll get three?

Four. Four? OK. Yeah.

That's kind of good because last year we continued with the project of having all the maintenance work done on all of our fire hydrants. We haven't done it for years.

Our guys replaced some. Yeah, we're making gains on it. With the maintenance, they're getting better across the board. We still have the fire hydrant maintenance crew will come back and do some restorative painting on the remainder 55 hydrants. So they're just waiting for a better weather window. Okay.

And whenever it stops raining during the summertime, right? Yeah.

Mayor, if I may, just for clarification, this is to use up the remaining grant funds for this grant. So that's what this is about. It's using up the remaining grant funding that's been allocated to the city. And it's a 1% match.

Yes, ma'am. And at the bottom there's a request for contract extension so they can get it completed by 1 August. So give them a little more of a timeline.

All right. We're moving right along then. We'll go next is bill number 3724.

Bill number 3724, an ordinance establishing rates for electric services provided by the city of Salem, Missouri concerning electric rates.

Okay. So the staff summary for this covers this and the following three ordinances. So there are four ordinances total dealing with electric utility rates. The rates as proposed follow the year two recommendation in the cost of service study performed by UFS that was completed in February of 25. In the staff summary, I actually detail out what the current rates. I used the average kilowatt hours per month for residential per the study, which is 981 kilowatt hours per month. and calculate out what that current bill looks like at that average usage with the current service availability fee and current kilowatt hour rates. The year two recommends that we move up to $10.50 for service availability fee, but the kilowatt hour rate drops, and that drops the overall bill. You can see not by a lot, but it is a decrease. And just because there's always a lot of conversation that goes on about how inner county's rates are so much better than the city's, I put inner county's current rates for the same usage. And you'll see it's about $10 more, $10 to $11 more per month. I just wanted to point that out. I then did the same calculations for 1,200 kilowatt households. Again, you'll see the proposed new rates are just a little bit cheaper. And then inner county. Then we have the commercial rates for current. $12 service availability fee, and then the kilowatt hour rate of just over 13 cents, the proposed $17 service availability fee, and the electric rate of just under 13 cents. And you'll see the difference there. Again, just a couple of dollars there. So the commercial rates actually go up just a little bit overall. And then demand customers, we go from $12 service availability fee, sorry about that, and a 12.4 cent kilowatt hour rate with a demand of 360. And so you see the current average bill. And then this one will be a shocker for some people. The service availability fee goes up to 45, but then the kilowatt hour rate drops by even more. And again, the overall same usage monthly rate drops by about $5 for the month. Okay. So it looks different, but just small tweaks to the rates. Overall, a reduction for residential and demand customers and a very slight increase for commercial customers. And that follows on UFS's recommendations. These are the exact rates they recommended for year two. And the premise behind that shift was that residential had been subsidizing commercial rates. So that's why residential comes down and commercial rates go up just a little bit. And so, like I said, this is for the one that Tammy just read and the following three ordinances. And there's no action tonight. It's a first read. Right.

Does anybody have any questions so far? No. All right.

Sorry, my apologies. One more point that I wanted to add. The other option per code per our city code that's in place, if the board were to choose not to take action at all on these, rates would automatically increase or decrease by the same amount that the power is provided to the city over the past 12 months. And especially with the impact of Winter Storm Firm, that would be a 10.6% increase across the board. So that's an alternative.

So basically, if no major decisions are... no major decisions made, and when it auto-adjusts, it basically would be a major increase.

It would be a very large increase, and we are not recommending that.

Thank you. All right. It's safe. We'll move along to Bill No.

3725. Bill No. 3725, an ordinance establishing rates for electric services provided by the City of Salem concerning demand meters and rates for commercial customers. Next slide.

So this is the second in that series of ordinances.

Any questions so far? No. No, I'm fine. All right.

Bill number 3726. Bill number 3726, an ordinance establishing rates for electric services provided by the city of Salem, Missouri, concerning the employment incentive rate.

I'm going to ask this on everyone. Questions? No. All right.

Bill number 3727. Bill number 3727, an ordinance establishing rates for electric services provided by the city of Salem, Missouri, concerning the large industrial user rate.

Questions? No. All right. Moving right along, we'll start with our second readings. We'll start with bill number 3714.

Bill number 3714, an ordinance of the city of Salem, Missouri, authorizing the mayor to execute task order number five with Toth and Associates Incorporated for engineering services related to the Hickory Street sanitary sewer improvements project.

Do you need me to go over it again?

No. This is the Philmark issue, right? No. No. This is the other one. This is the one. The 10th Street? Yeah. No. No. This isn't 10th Street. This is the one by the church.

This is Hickory Street behind Grace Community Church. Yes.

This is the church. Oh, okay. We've got so many sewer issues.

We're working on them. We're whittling them down.

We have less than we did a year ago. All right.

And so this is just for the engineering services related to this project.

At this time, do I have a motion for bill number 3714? I make a motion to approve bill number 3714. Do I have a second?

I'll second.

Any discussion? At this time, I will call for the vote. Alderman Whalen. Yes. Alderman Kinsey. Yes. Alderman McDett. Yes. And Alderman Letchworth.

Yes.

Next up, second reading for bill number 3715.

Bill number 3715, an ordinance of the city of Salem, Missouri, authorizing the mayor to execute task order number six with Toth and Associates Incorporated for professional land surveying services related to the Roosevelt Street sidewalk survey project.

CHAIRPERSON WONG So this is for the sidewalk itself on the east side of Roosevelt, east of 19.

VICE CHAIRMAN FISCHER All right. Did you say east of 19? CHAIRPERSON WONG Yes. VICE CHAIRMAN FISCHER No, west. CHAIRPERSON WONG West of 19. VICE CHAIRMAN FISCHER Sorry. Thank you. West of 19. CHAIRPERSON WONG West of 19.

VICE CHAIRMAN FISCHER All right. This time do I have a motion for bill number 3715?

I make a motion to approve bill number 3715, approving task order number six for the Roosevelt Street sidewalk survey. Do I have a second?

I'll second the motion.

This time I'll open it up for discussion.

Okay.

All right.

This time I'll call for the vote. Alderman Kinsey. Yes. Alderman Whalen. Yes. Alderman Letchworth. Yes. And Alderman Dent. Yes. Second reading for bill number 3718.

Bill number 3718, an ordinance approving change order number four for the Salem Water System Improvements Contract C pitless well project and authorizing the mayor to execute the same.

At this time, do I have a motion for bill number 3718?

I'll make a motion to approve bill number 3718.

Do I have a second? I'll second the motion. 3718. Open it up for discussion.

I'm fine. I'd just like to know, it says that you have a deadline of the 30th of June. Will you be done by the 30th of June, Steve?

That's what the contractor is telling me.

But understand this is for the well. So there were three different contracts related to the well and tower. So this is just for the well piece.

Any other discussion? I have nothing. All right. Time I'll call for the vote. Alderman Letchworth? Yes. Alderman Whalen?

Yes.

Alderwoman Dent? Yes. And Alderman Kinsey? Yes. Second reading for bill number 3719.

Bill number 3719, an ordinance amending chapter 115, article 9 of the code of ordinances of the city of Salem, Missouri, relating to the the director of engineering or a qualified engineering firm.

So this and the next five, let's see, one, two, four total ordinances are all related to the changes, the housekeeping.

The language.

Yes. Just cleaning it up so that we can contract out engineering services. Okay.

Did you say the next five are all?

So that one and the next three. Okay.

3723. Okay. All right.

Mr. Condor, I have a motion for bill number 3719.

I make a motion to approve bill 3719, ordinance amending chapter 115, article 9 of the code of ordinance of the city of Salem related to the director of engineering or qualifying engineering firm. Am I on the right one? I got that look. Did you see it?

Okay. Sorry.

We're checking here.

You're good.

Staff okay over there. All right. Do I have a second?

I'll second.

There's no further discussion. I'll call for the vote. Alderman Whalen. Yes. Alderman Kinsey. Yes. Alderman Letchworth. Yes. And Alderman Dent. Yes.

So my apologies. The look was because I was off. So that one and the next four.

Okay.

are all related to a director of engineering.

I wouldn't cut it, my math's bad.

Do you want me to stick out of you later? Yeah, or my shoes. Next up, second reading for bill number 3720.

Bill number 3720, an ordinance amending Chapter 115, Article 9 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Salem, Missouri, relating to the director of engineering or a qualified engineering firm and their appointment and tenure.

Okay. Any discussion? No. Not after the last explanation. You got your math right? I'm close. All right. I got my finger on it.

Put your shoes back on.

Okay. All right. It's time to have a motion. I make a motion to approve bill number 3720. Do I have a second?

I'll second the motion, 3720. Yep. If there's no further discussion, I'll call for the vote. Alderman Letchworth? Yes. Alderman Whalen? Yes. Alderman Dent? Yes. And Alderman Kinsey? Yes. Next up, second reading for bill number 3721.

Bill number 3721, an ordinance amending Chapter 115, Article 9 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Salem, Missouri, relating to the director of engineering or a qualified engineering firm and qualifications.

Do I have a motion for bill number 3721?

I'll make a motion for bill number 3721 for approval. Do I have a second? I'll second the motion.

Any discussion? I haven't heard. It's time I'll call for the vote. Alderman Kinsey? Yes. Alderman Whalen?

Yes. Alderman Dent? Yes.

And Alderman Litchworth? Yes. Next up, second reading for bill number 3722.

Bill number 3722, an ordinance amending Chapter 115, Article 9 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Salem, Missouri, relating to the director of engineering or a qualified engineering firm and compensation.

At this time, do I have a motion for Bill number 3722?

I'll make a motion to approve Bill number 3722. Do I have a second?

I'll second. Any discussion? I have none. No. No. At this time, I'll call for the vote. Alderman Letchworth. Yes. Alderman Kinsey. Yes. Alderman Whalen. Yes. And Alderman Dent.

Yes.

Next up, second reading for bill number 3723.

Bill number 3723, an ordinance amending chapter 115, article 9 of the code of ordinances of the city of Salem, Missouri, relating to the director of engineering or a qualified engineering firm and their appointment and duties.

All right. Do I have a motion for bill number 37, 23?

I'll make a motion to approve bill 37, 23. Do I have a second?

I'll second that motion. Any discussion? I have none. This time I'll call for the vote. Alderman Whalen. Yes. Alderman Letchworth. Yes. Alderman Dent. Yes. And Alderman Kinney. Yes. Next up, we've got the first and second readings. We'll start with bill number 3728.

Bill number 3728, an ordinance amending the annual budget for the city of Salem, Missouri, beginning July 1, 2025, and appropriating funds pursuant thereto. Permission to read second reading by caption only? Yes, please. Bill number 3728, an ordinance amending the annual budget for the city of Salem, Missouri, beginning July 1, 2025, and appropriating funds pursuant thereto.

All right. This time I open it up for discussion. I have none.

None.

I have none. Do I have a motion for bill number 3728?

I'll make a motion to approve bill number 3728.

And do I have a second?

I'll second.

There's no further discussion. I'll call for the vote. Alderman Letchworth.

Yes.

Alderman Kinsey. Yes. Alderman Nett. Yes. And Alderman Whalen. Yes. Next up will be the first and second reading for bill number 3729.

MS. Bill number 3729, an ordinance adopting an annual budget for the City of Salem, Missouri beginning July 1, 2026 and appropriating funds pursuant thereto. Permission to read second reading by caption only?

MR. Yes, please.

MS. Bill number 3729, an ordinance adopting an annual budget for the City of Salem, Missouri beginning July 1, 2026 and appropriating funds pursuant thereto.

Open it up for discussion. I have none. I have none. At this time, do I have a motion for bill number 3729?

I make a motion to approve bill number 3729, adopting the annual budget for city of St. Missouri beginning July 1st, 2026. Do I have a second?

I'll second.

There's no further discussion. I will call for the vote. Alderman Whalen. Yes. Alderman McKenzie. Yes. Alderman Ludworth. Yes. Alderman Wendt.

No.

All right. Next up, we have reports. We'll start with Stacy Houston. Would you like to come up here and give us an end-of-the-year budget report? Huh? You don't? Okay. I seen it in there, so I figured I'd ask. Okay. Administrator Burbridge.

I'd like to just kind of make a couple of statements and clarifications. There has been on Facebook, on social media, a lot of chatter. And I've heard that folks have been told in person about the city closing down one of the businesses here in the community. And I just wanted to clarify for the public who I've had folks approach me specifically about it. The closing of this business was not the doing of the city. And so rather than being cryptic, I'll just put it right out there. It was the dispensary, the marijuana dispensary here in town. This isn't meant to be a political statement one way or the other about it, but that business has been operating for the past five and a half, six years under the same regulations that it opened under. There have not been any changes on the city's part, and so I just wanted to clarify that. There's been no... other kind of enforcement. Like I said, they've had the same regulations from the day they've opened. And my understanding is the business sold to new individuals. We've not been contacted by those new individuals asking about changing anything. And so I just wanted to clarify that the closing of that business was not because the city shut them down. So that's all I wanted to say.

Thank you.

Thank you. Gary, anything from economic development? Come on up.

Good evening.

Good evening.

So as per usual, we're not going to I'm not going to read it to you because you can you can do that. Sally, if you'll scroll down to where they can see it.

Okay. After the budget? Okay. Hang on.

All right. We'll just get started. No big deal.

I've got nothing but time.

I hosted the business at the table featuring the ACT work ready communities and we had a great turnout. Sherry Hughes, she explained how the employers could really benefit from the work ready community certificates that Salem already has in place. They can use that by being more intentional and matching the right employees with the skill sets that are needed to complete that job. Unfortunately, when a company loses a worker, it can cost the company more than maybe some people think it can. It can actually end up being... I've heard cost and done some research, it can be upwards like 50% of their annual salary that it would cost a business to hire, recruit, train, and go through all the process in order to get a new employee. So it increases the productivity and then, of course, develops and retains their workforce. So that's beneficial. The next one is scheduled for June the 29th, next Monday. I have a flyer in y'all's packet for that tonight. I was able to get a personalized tour of the protoplex at Missouri S&T. I met some of the members there of the leadership team. That was exciting. The work that they're doing there can help support the existing industries, and it's a... It's an innovative hub where research and development for new manufacturing technology and industry upskilling, it really will help our region and even nationally be able to compete in the global market, even as far as the global market. It was very impressive. I was fortunate to be able to attend the governor's forum on AI and data centers that was held on June the 18th. I wasn't able to go there in person, but I did secure a seat digitally, so that was cool. I attended a Missouri Economic Development Council conference that was really powerful. I came away with some really good ideas on how we can incorporate what I learned into moving Salem forward. Um, I think one of the biggest things was telling our story and coming up with new and unique and, um, exciting ways to tell our story. And I know that we all have different ideas of what that can look like, but we all also probably share some really core ideas on what makes that strong. So, um, we'll just, we'll just, uh, keep moving in the, in the form. I haven't broken down in the breakout session, and with the different speakers just to kind of give you an idea of what was discussed and a brief summary of what that was. I learned a little bit more. Actually, it was introduced to me the first time, so I don't really have a good handle on it, but it's called P3, or public-private partnerships. And so I'm exploring into that because I still don't have my head wrapped around it all the way, but briefly summed up, there are ways that the public sector and private partnership can link together to be able to... move and be able to be involved in some economic development that will benefit for everybody and be much more efficient. So in your packet, you see that infographic there with the states and the flash points there the mayor asked me to pull some visitor data for our certified site as I know that you all know we have a database and it's called Lois or location one information system and that just helps communities market their properties that are for sale for businesses And so I wanted to share this with you. I think the numbers look encouraging. The Masters Industrial Park, let me just slow down here just a second and make sure that I'm saying exactly right. The Masters Industrial Park got the most attention. Our certified site was visited several times, though. The traffic is still growing. And then I compared it to last year, and it has more than quadrupled. I thought that that was pretty powerful. And from what I can tell from what the analysis showed me is that they're not just casually browsing. They're looking with intention. So I found that to be encouraging. And you can see there where the geographic reach is coming from. There's people looking at us from the east coast and then north and then, of course, So I thought that that was awesome. I brought the, you have in your packet, the protoplex. another infogram, if you will, that was given to me when I went to tour the center. And so you can just read through that, and you can see what they offer. They are willing to do guided tours and have faculty presentations. And so they are interested in networking in order to benefit the communities around them. So I found that to be a very interesting and informative visit that I had with them. the leadership of that group is phenomenal um and then uh did you show them you have there. We already talked about it just briefly, but the flyer that's in there for the June 29th workshop, that's next Monday, and that will be in the Walden room at the Arnon. And that's during the noon hour. So if you know somebody or if you intend to participate, I would that you would RSVP to the contact information on my business cards, my emails, my cell phone, however you can, so that I can make sure that everybody has enough to eat. Okay.

Okay. Thank you.

Any questions?

Any questions? No questions? No. Press it.

Thank you, Gary.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

All right. Next up, I'll give my little short report. Just as a reminder, we've got our annual parade coming up. It's America's 250th. They're celebrating our past, present, and future. The parade starts at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 4th. The grand marshal this year will be the American Legion Auxiliary, the Rony Post 99. This is a group of volunteers that work behind the scenes to honor and enhance the life of our servicemen and women, past and present. You might have seen them at the stoplights. They sell the poppies. After the parade's over with the Salem, Missouri Fireworks Committee, they're going to be doing a fireworks display at the city park. Following the parade, they're going to have food, craft vendors, and some entertainment. Also, the Leathers family will be singing again the national anthem this year. Next coming up will be the Christmas in July that they're hosting. It's a toy drive. It's going to be held Saturday, July the 25th at noon. It's going to be held at the Commons. They're going to be celebrating their 50th anniversary. They have a link on their Facebook page for anybody that wants to register because they're still looking for vendors for this event. So I'd encourage everybody to come out. It's a great event. Other than that, that's all I have for my report. Moving right along, we'll start with Steve.

I'm going to run through this pretty quick. It's pretty typical information. Wastewater treatment plant, because of the transferring of liquids over to the reservoirs, had a little bit of a blip in the readouts on it. So they're hoping to get that oxidation ditch back online soon, and we should be fine. We've talked to DNR, and we're fine. Progress is being made on it, and we're hoping to be back to normal soon. Water service, department service, a few line repairs over the past two weeks. And like I talked to you, the plan for boring that water line underneath railroad trail kind of fizzled on us, so we'll be doing hydrants. Appreciate that. Electric departments replacing more street lights, made repairs on the new light poles downtown. Somehow, even though we put the light pole banner holders up 10 feet high, they've still gotten whacked, so we've had to fix some of those. They've worked assorted projects across town to include new service pole installations, rebuilt the three-phase meter bank at the forestry facility there across from Pizza Inn. Got them up and running with all new equipment. Construction-wise, they just finished a new drop-in at Healthy Dent County gym parking lot. It had a low spot. It's always held water there. And so the team got out there, and hopefully we've got that beat. They're currently setting up a large concrete pour at the corner of the park there by the T-ball fields, just off the embankment from the healthy Dink County building. Apparently those rocks, kids don't just throw them in the roads. Apparently they get flushed down the toilets. So we're hoping to concrete that and take the rock away. They've replaced various missing pieces of sidewalk and curb citywide as well. Construction guys really do a lot that you may not notice, but a lot of just sidewalk repairs and things that I point out in front of Dr. Cox's office, there's a piece of curb. that's shattered and we got some rebars sticking out, so they'll tend to that. Really responsive, good group of guys. And once again, kudos to them. I've had so many people come to me that are impressed that three guys did that T-Ball parking lot pour. And that was a lot of work, you know, so kudos to those guys. Street Department patching asphalt digouts citywide. They're working with the paving crew right now. Paving crew's milling over on West 9th to start pavement capping the four streets that we talked about. They conducted more street sweeping, maintained the yard waste lot, and mowing continues citywide. They set up the temporary Edison bulb lights with the construction crew for the 4th of July festivities. The pretty lights over where the vendors will be and stuff, so that'll be nice for the event. The mechanic, still hearing great things about the mechanic. They are keeping him really busy, and he is impressing them. Cemetery crew, same thing. The three guys are doing a great job out there. I think it's the best it's ever been. They come in at 6 now to get ahead of the heat. Yeah, did you guys have any questions for me?

No, I know it's the electric department putting up a lot more new utility poles out there. You guys are doing a really good job. I was kind of impressed. I seen them over on, what was that, South Pershing?

Yeah. I appreciate it. They really get after it. So, yeah, super thankful to have that team. Thanks, Steve. Thank you, Steve. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

add one piece to Steve's report. So he mentioned about the repaving that's going on currently for the couple of streets, two or three streets. So that's with the current year's budget for street repaving. With the approval of this evening's budget, then We have allocated, so 120,000 is what we had in the current year's budget for paving. Those of you who sat through or watched the Finance and Capital Improvement Committee meeting have already heard this, but with the approval of tonight's budget, we already have 310,000 now that come mid-September, they will be repaving Pershing from Scenic Rivers all the way to the end. So that will also happen kind of within the next few months. So I just wanted to point that out, that we are working hard and listening to the community about the issues that we see out there, and just wanted to point out that that will be a huge street project to get accomplished.

Yeah, I think every year there's an annual, what is that, a 20% markup on re-asphalting? Yeah, it's good-sized. Right.

Between Pershing and then Bodot doing 32, it's going to be super exciting. And then once the Industrial Park water tower starts getting its refurb, you cannot see good things going on.

Something I'd ask that we might want to look into for future, like repaving. They mentioned it in the Ozark Solid Waste Management District meetings that they were incorporating tire chips into the asphalt mixtures. and see if that might be a thing in our area because after the demonstrations, they've started taking tires and chipping them up and pinning all the asphalt mixtures to sustain pressure where asphalt's not breaking up and it lasts a little bit longer. It makes it a little bit more durable. If you notice, like, when the road gets re-asphalted, Within maybe less than a year you start to see cracking and stuff like that and asphalt itself This is some new idea by some of the colleges down in Springfield some of their professors come up with this idea and some of their demonstrations was pretty impressive about How much more pressure and how much longer lasting that that that might be for the future, you know, so Something I'd probably encourage maybe our street department and you guys to maybe see if it's out there, if it's possible.

Roger that. I'll have the conversation with Brent.

Okay. That's all I got. Thank you. All right. Let's move right along to the board reports. All room and dent.

Prior to the parade on the 4th of July at 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock, there will be a performance here at City Hall by the Salem Community Choir. It's going to be a lot of fun. It's really a cool performance, and all the choir members have had a good time singing the music and being patriotic. So hopefully you will attend. It is free. And afterwards at the 4 o'clock performance, they will pull the name of the person that has won the quilt.

This is the same one they had last year, isn't it? Different. Different one. OK. Good. All right. Over to Noel.

No report.

Today I attended the Good Dads meeting, so some exciting stuff is coming from that, so hopefully in the near future we'll start classes. I encourage you guys, if you know someone that is struggling as a parent or is a new dad that isn't sure where to go, they can reach out to me and I can put them in contact with with the proper classes also we're starting a program called good dad strong schools so we're talking about once a quarter we'll be into the schools to where we can have dads and kids show up and and have breakfast and and work on something for a few minutes before school so kind of exciting thing for salem i think and it'll be good for the the schools and and the youth so anyway that's what i do today sounds great thank you nothing to report all right last but not least

I need a motion for adjournment.

I move that we adjourn.

Do I have a second? I'll second. At this time, I'll call for the vote. Alderman Dent. Yes. Alderman Kinsey. Yes. Alderman Whalen. Yes. And Alderman Westworth.

Yes.

Thank you all for attending tonight.