Board of Aldermen - Regular Meeting

Role call. I am present. Alderwoman Dent. Present. Alderman Kinsey. Present. Alderman Whalen.

Present.

Alderman Letchworth. Present. City Administrator Burbridge.

Present.

City Clerk Kohler.

Present.

City Attorney Webber is running late. Public Works Director Payne. Present. Chief of Police Chase. Present. Finance Director Stacey Houston. Present. And Economic Development Director Sutterfield. Present. And for our other city staff, we have James from the wastewater and Chris McGirt from the water superintendent. Any other city staff? All right, moving right along. Next item up is the approval of tonight's agenda.

Make a motion to approve tonight's agenda.

Do I have a second?

I'll second.

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

Yes.

Alderman Kinsey?

Yes.

Alderman Dent?

Yes.

And Alderman Letchworth? Yes. All right, next item up is the consent agenda.

I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda.

Do I have a second?

I'll second the motion, approve the consent agenda.

This time I will call for the vote. Alderman Letchworth.

Yes.

Alderman Whalen.

Yes.

Alderman Kinsey. Yes. And Alderman Dent.

Yes.

All right. Next item up for public comment, we have Dylan McGinnis to speak about the trailer corridor on East Center Street.

Hello, Alderman. Hello, Mayor. First off, I would like to start by saying, Alderman Whalen, I did hear your comments about when you get old and wanting to still be able to spread hate, and I just want you to know that was extremely inappropriate, and I don't think you should have made that comment. The next thing I would like to say is about two months ago, we heard about the trailer court that's going in on Center Street. Alderman Letchworth, you said that you talked to them, and they... They said it'd be about 30 days before they started. It's been almost two months and they haven't hardly done anything. The only thing that they did after the 30 days was move in another trailer that was just as bad as the rest of them. Now they finally started moving some stuff and doing some stuff. But if any kind of update on that, you know, we haven't heard anything since then about that. And, you know, the whole point was you saw it on Facebook. You saw that everybody was complaining. So you said, okay, I need to say something. But then because nobody's been complaining, you haven't said anything since. That's one of the things that we're talking about when it comes to transparency and everything else with this city. I know that y'all see everything on Facebook because I hear you talk about it. But when we come to the meetings, you won't say a word about it. That's not how it should work. You guys should be open, honest, and tell us what's going on. But far too often, we have to beg and plead and get auditors to come to even be able to get you to say anything. You know, all of a sudden, the city's been putting out all this stuff about a tiger and a trowel and all this other stuff. But before any of this came about, none of that was happening. But y'all sit there and you make comments when the cameras aren't on, but as soon as the cameras come on, you be quiet. You don't talk. I see Alderman Kinsey laughing and cutting up, and I see y'all all joking around, but as soon as the cameras come on, it's... And you don't tell us anything. That's why we're so angry. That's why we're so mad all the time. And then you make little snide comments about stuff like that. What do you expect us to do? How do you expect us to react when that stuff happens? And I'm just going to sit here for another 50 seconds because I can't. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. All right.

Next item up, we have presentation from the Missouri State Auditor's Office. Up, folks.

All right. Thanks for giving us a few minutes of your time. Also, thanks for these comfortable seats. That's unusual at these kind of meetings, so I like that. My name's Chris Vetter. I'm the Audit Manager with the State Auditor's Office. As you know, we're here to start our audit. I also have with me Jackie Woods. She'll be supervising the day-to-day operations. And Sarah Boone is one of our staff members that'll be working on the audit. There'll be two other staff members on board eventually. And Lori Melton is our Director. She's supervising all of us. All right, I'm just going to go over the audit process. It's kind of the point of our little presentation, just to let you know what to expect over the next several months. So as you know, we were petitioned under Chapter 29.230 of the Missouri Statutes to conduct a performance audit in accordance with standards contained in government auditing standards. We received 284 valid signatures for the audit. We needed 278 to trigger the audit. We got 284. As part of the process, the city will eventually pay for the audit. I believe the estimate we gave you guys, it'll be between 80,000 and 125,000. We'll try to keep that as low as we can. The audit, we'll be looking at primarily this fiscal year that just ended, 6-30-26. However, if there are issues that we feel like we need to go back farther than a year, we'll do that. That'll be up to us. That's based on our results of interviewing city personnel, citizen concerns, things like that. The actual work part that we do will probably last roughly two to three months. Most of that will be done through phone calls and emails. There will be some on-site visits we'll make throughout the audit. We're starting our on-site visits on Monday. Sarah and Jackie will be back on Monday to get started with that. So we'll start off with doing some survey work and internal control work. and assess where the most risk is in the city and try to spend most of our time in the high risk areas. We'll be interviewing employees and looking at documents to help us determine that. During the process, we'll try to keep everybody up to date on if we have any findings and what they are, what the recommendations are. As we go along, we don't want to just hit everybody at the end of it with all these issues. And if the public is curious, The work that we do is confidential until the report comes out, and that's the first time the public will get an idea of what we have found. So all our work papers remain confidential even after the report, but we can talk about any issues after the report comes out if there's questions. We'll go over that then. At the end of the field work, we'll have a pre-exit meeting with the proper employees for the areas that they work in. And after we do that, we'll write the audit report. And once we have a draft that's been approved by everybody at our office, we'll meet with the board in a closed session, and that'll be your first chance to see what we have. Thirty days after that, we'll need a written response to our findings and recommendations, and those responses will go into the final public copy of the report. I think that's about it. My last part here is... If you know or suspect any fraud going on within the city governance, let us know. You don't have to say today, but if there's anything you suspect or know of over the last few years, let us know so we can investigate that. And if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them. Other than that, that's about all I got.

Is there a way that we can get information in case the public has questions during the audit process or would you prefer them to after? You've already done it to wait to ask questions while it's being conducted.

Yeah, well, we can't. Oh, I guess I should mention that anything we talk about with the city during the audit, you cannot talk about with the public.

Yeah. I'm just saying if citizens from the public have questions during the audit, like something that they think of or something like that, there's a way for them to reach out? Oh, reach out to us? Yes.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I have some business cards I'll leave here. Okay. They can also, we have a hotline on our website. They can call that. But I got my, we got phone numbers and my emails on here, so. And if anybody, whether it's somebody from the city or the public, want to meet with us in the next few weeks as we're kind of shaping how the audit's gonna go, please reach out to us and we'll schedule something if you have concerns you want us to look into.

Okay.

Board have any other questions?

No questions. All right. Okay.

Thank you. Thanks, everybody.

All right.

Next item up, we have a board and committee appointment for the Salem Housing Authority. Ms. Sue Hubbs has completed the partial term. Wanda Henderson, ending July 24th of 2026. Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, I recommended that Ms. Hubbs to fill the next four-year term, which runs from July 25th of 2026 to July 24th of 2030. So at this time, do I have a motion to accept the recommendation?

I move that we accept the recommendation of Sue hubs to the housing authority.

Do I have a second?

I'll second.

There's no further questions. I'll call for the vote. Alderman Dent.

Yes.

Alderman McKenzie.

Yes.

Alderman Whalen.

Yes.

And Alderman Letchworth.

Yes.

Next up we have new and miscellaneous business. It's for the next grid electric meters.

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening. So basically, this is a staff summary for approval to purchase next grid meters, antennas, and supporting hardware for continued operation over the next, we're hoping, coverage for a year plus if we were to make this purchase. Eight Echonet duos, two Echonet HDLs. And mind you, this is so that we have stock on hand because what we've been operating on is It takes the company a while to get us this stuff, so having it in place would be great, because after these storms, some of this stuff gets zapped, and it's a problem. So two Echolink routers, eight Echonet dual-pole mount kits, and then 50 Focus AXE-SD 2S 200 meters. And that all totals up to $26,875.92. Now, the meters, Those are residential service meters, and typically we don't have any issues with them unless they've been flipped off and on a lot or they get zapped by lightning or a tree falls over on, smashes a pole in the meter. So we're hoping that with new construction in town and the new services we're putting in with shops and garages and things that we'll be able to, 50 will get us a ways. Okay. the bids are from next grid because next grid is the sole provider of these parts for this system and Then it would be split between electric and water. So out of the two different departments budgets, okay Do you have any questions Do we have a motion

I'll make a motion to approve the purchase of these next grid components in the amount of $26,875.92. Do I have a second?

I'll second the motion.

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

Yes.

All right. Next item up is the back truck remote control.

Okay, the vac truck and remote are from 2015, and the guys were out working on a project replacing a sewer line, and one of the gentlemen set the vac truck remote on the back of the truck, and it wasn't stable enough, and it tumbled off the truck, and it sustained some damage. Not to say that the vac truck remote was already having some issues. I just hate to see this happen, but... The most important safety feature ensures the operator can have eyes on the work being done while engaging the lift and the vac accessories. So it's a very important pivotal part. Procedure wise, I've set the guys all down. We've had a talk about The standard procedure was it goes in the vac truck when it's not wrapped around somebody's neck in the harness position. So reiterated that with them. The lowest the two bids received for replacement came in at $5,413.60. And this would be funded out of each department because all the departments chipped in on the truck. I hate to say it, but it should carry us through the life of the truck, I'm hopeful. Okay.

And what happened with the last remote?

I'm sorry?

What happened with the last remote?

We just have it in a box and it's just... No, I mean, how was it damaged? It fell off the back of the truck. So the operator stopped, set it on the truck, and went to help with the water, basically fixing a pipe. And then as the truck rocked with the vacuum system, it just rolled off the back.

Do they ever make any cases or anything like that for them?

It's got a pretty good case. Like I said, with them, I will ensure that it goes in the truck.

I get it.

They get out there, and if they're a man short, they're trying to make things happen, and you don't want that hanging around your neck when you're in the hole in the water. Right. So, yeah. Okay. All right.

Any of the board have any questions? No. No. All right. This time, do I have a motion?

I'll make a motion to approve for the purchase of a VacTrack remote control for replacement of the old one.

Do I have a second?

I'll second.

There's no further questions. I'll call for the vote. Alderman Whalen. Yes. Alderman Kinsey. Yes. Alderman Dent. Yes. And Alderman Letchworth. Yes. Now we've got a list of second readings. We'll start with bill number, second reading for bill number 3717.

Bill number 3717, an ordinance approving change order number one for the Salem waste management. Sorry, correction, Salem Water System Improvement Contract A project and authorizing the mayor to execute the same.

All right, this time I'll open it up for questions. No questions?

Let me discuss it.

All right, do I have a motion?

Make a motion to approve bill number 3717. Okay.

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 Dent. Yes. And Alderman Whalen.

Yes.

Next up, second reading for bill number 3724.

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

Time to open it up for questions. No questions. Do I have a motion?

I'll make a motion to approve bill number 3724.

And do I have a second?

I'll second the motion 3724.

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

Yes.

Next up is bill number 3725.

Bill number 3725, an ordinance establishing rates for electric services provided by the city of Salem, Missouri, concerning demand meters and rates for commercial customers.

All right. It's time I open it up for discussion.

None here.

Any? None. Okay. All right. Do I have a motion?

I make a motion to approve Bill 3725, an ordinance establishing rates for electric service provided by the City of Salem.

Do I have a second?

I'll second that motion.

All right. If there's no further discussion, I'll call for the vote. Alderman Whalen? Yes. Alderman Letchworth? Yes. Alderman Dent? Yes. And Alderman Kinsey? Yes. Next up for the second bill or second reading for 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.

This time I'll open it up for discussion. I have no discussion. Do I have a motion?

I'll make a motion to approve bill number 3726.

And do I have a second?

I'll second the motion.

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

Yes.

Alderman Whalen. Yes. Alderman Letchworth. Yes. Alderman Dent.

Yes.

Next up is 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.

Thank you. Open it up for discussion.

I have none.

Do I have a motion?

I make a motion to approve bill 3727 ordinance establishing rates for electrical services by the city of Salem concerning large industrial user rates.

Do I have a second?

I'll second.

There's no further discussion. I'll call for the vote. Alderman Whalen. Yes. Alderman McKenzie. Yes. Alderman Dent. Yes. And Alderman Letchworth. Yes. We have a first and second reading of bill number 3730.

Bill number 3730, an ordinance amending certain provisions of ordinance number 3608 of the city of Salem, Missouri, authorizing the issuance of a sewerage system revenue bond series 2024 of the city In the principal amount of 400,000 and authorizing certain other documents and actions in connection there with permission to read second reading by caption only.

Yes, please.

Bill number 3730 and ordinance amending certain provisions of ordinance number 36 0 8 of the city of Salem, Missouri, authorizing the issuance of a sewerage system revenue bond series 2024 of the city. in the principal amount of $400,000 and authorizing certain other documents and actions in connection therewith.

Thank you.

So Mayor and Alderman, this is basically an extension of this interim bond. We took out an interim bond to cover engineering expenses and other expenses for Phase 2B of the sewer plant upgrades until the main bond closed. Now, that main bond can't close until we finally get things ready and put it out for bid and we know what the final total is. Those construction plans, design, and permit were submitted to DNR in March of 25, and they have not signed off on it yet. Now, they are undergoing staffing shortages as well, and so we don't have – we're not the only ones in this boat. Due to the influx of ARPA projects, DNR is flooded with these projects. They're trying to get approval out the door. Unfortunately, there's a timeline for us to complete them as well. Wait, I'm sorry, not ARPA projects. I'm mixing up my projects. This is not ARPA. This is afterwards. But they're flooded still with the ARPA projects and trying to get those wrapped up. So we don't have approval yet to go out to bid, so we can't close the main bond. So this is an extension of that interim bond in hopes that we'll get the main bond wrapped up in this next year. This is a one-year extension on that bond.

All right.

Is there anything else I need to add, Stacy?

No, not for me.

All right.

Any questions from the board?

No.

No.

All right. Do I have a motion?

Make a motion to approve bill number 3730.

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 Dent. Yes. And Alderman Whalen. Yes. All right. So we got reports, city official boards and committees. Sally?

No report this evening, Mayor. Thank you.

Tammy? No report. Gary? From our economic development side.

Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning. Actually, it is my morning, so you're close. Good evening, everybody.

So as per usual, you have your report in front of you, and you can look at it and see. I do want to touch... on a few things down here that I had put down here. The Love Thy Neighbor initiative, I want to point that out because obviously housing matters, right? The rural hierarchy of needs that Sally drafted for us several years back, it shows housing as the foundational piece. It's a big deal. So when you know that families can stay in their homes and they can be repaired and fixed up and they can live there more comfortably, then that just helps the neighbors and the neighborhood and have a more stable and strong community as a result. So I wanted to point that out. I think it's important to note the boots on the ground, the 130 volunteers. That's... That's substantial. It shows that we have a community full of people that want to share in that community spirit and step up and help their neighbors. Going through there, back up with the cybersecurity business at the table lunch and learn that we had. It was well attended. And it just kind of reminded us that these things are important and that we have resources that we can call and we can get help with these kinds of things. Cybersecurity may not be thought of as a economic development topic, but that's one of those layers. Economic development is a multi-layered topic, right? And so it's definitely one of those because it shows our business community that we're here for them. We want them to stay steady and strong, competitive. And it also, if they have a cyber issue, that can affect their cost, that can affect their bottom line, and then eventually shape customer trust. So we certainly don't want to do that. So we want to make sure that we're providing the means that they need to have those resources. Moving on, the workforce fact pages that I included in there was just to help give us a better sense of what's happening across Missouri. The May job postings is just a kind of a snapshot of the industries or the businesses that posted the most online, and it gives a comparison from May of 25 to May of 26. So the map, I'd like to touch briefly on the map. just to kind of go over that for context full employment is usually thought of about four to five percent and so that doesn't mean that there's zero unemployment it just means that there's a healthy sustainable market a job market so in other words If people want a job, in most cases, there is a job to be had. So what we find, if you look right there at Dent, in Dent County, unemployment itself is not really our main challenge. Our main challenge is obviously having the workforce available to work those jobs. The July 4th Independence Day fact sheet, it is statewide. However, I think it helps to state that our community celebrations matter. So when we support those civic events and when we're out there with the festivals and when we're contributing to all that, it brings businesses to downtown. And then not only just downtown, but it helps spread throughout our local vendors and shops and other businesses. So It's not just a party. It's not just a parade. It's vital and it's critical for the sustainability and the livability of our community. So I think that what we have going is we have progress happening in Salem. It is steady. And I think that it comes from, it has been being built over time. There's maybe no earth shattering news right now for everybody, but thank you for your leadership because I think that that is truly the foundational piece that helps us. And so with that continued strong leadership, I think that Salem is progressing nicely and will continue to do so. Do you have any questions for me this evening?

No, thank you for making me blush for saying that.

Where are we? Where are we on attracting new businesses? Have we had any nibbles, any kind of interest? We have.

We have. All of those conversations remain confidential at this time. But there is interest. Salem is being marketed well and is receiving some traffic. That is why I showed the last month's report, showed the traffic and the visibility and the marketability of the certified site. That shows you that we are being looked at and considered.

And that's on the state website to you as well, isn't it?

Mm-hmm.

Right. Okay.

All right.

Thank you. No. No. I think that's it. If the board don't have any further questions.

I don't.

All right. Thank you, Gary.

Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Gary.

All right, Stacey, you want to come up and give a very lengthy report about financials?

Good evening, everyone. Good evening. So before you are the financials that end fiscal year 26. Sales tax revenues came in strong, exceeding budget expectations with a 3% increase over prior year. General fund sales tax generated $3.4 million, while parks and rec sales tax brought in $647,000, and capital improvement sales tax brought in $863,000. Then for those of you who like graphs, the graph illustrates a year-to-year sales tax performance for the past three years. Any questions on sales tax? Okay, now we'll move on to the next slide. Okay, so this next slide is an overall look at utilities usage and revenues, and this is how we ended fiscal year 26. Utility revenues have come in close to budget expectations. For electric, we build around 50 million kilowatt hours. That is up slightly compared to prior year. generating $6.8 million in sales revenues. On purchase of power, this is what the city pays to NPUA to provide power to us. We paid out $4.9 million. That is up 10% compared to prior year, and that is due to winter storm fern. Water consumption, we have billed around 123 million gallons. That is down slightly compared to prior year. Water revenues generated are around 1.2 million. Going to sewer, sewer consumption, we build around 115 million gallons, with sewer revenues billed at almost 1.6 million. Questions on utilities? No, okay.

Next slide.

Okay, this next slide is a list of all of the city funds. It shows the beginning balance of fiscal year 26, so that's the budget year we just completed. Then the revenues and expenditures and any transfers between funds. Then the very last column shows the ending balance in each fund. Revenues continue to outpace expenditures, contributing to an increase in total fund balances from 14.7 million at the beginning of the year and ending at 17.5 million as of June 30th, 26. We are still posting, and we have until the end of September to post expenses, so these numbers could change slightly, but I don't see it changing very much.

And then my last slide.

OK, so this slide shows the total revenues and expenditures compared to what was budgeted. The city has collected 91% of budgeted revenues, while expenditures total 84% of budgeted expenditures. So overall, the city ended the fiscal year in a strong financial position, with sales tax collections continuing to outperform prior year's levels, utility revenues meeting expectations, and expenditures remaining below budget. That's all I have. If you have any questions?

No. Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you. Since Melissa's not here, I guess I'll give my report next. So inner county is going to be hosting a family movie fun night at the city park, July, Friday, July the 24th. They're going to be playing Zootopia 2. The movie starts at dark and they got popcorn and water they'll be providing. They asked to bring your chair, blanket and snacks. Also we have coming up Christmas in July, which is July the 25th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's to help families in our community that can't, you know, provide Christmas for their children. It's a really great event. They asked to just bring a new toy to fill our truck and receive a chance to win some door prizes. They're going to have a silent auction. They got a cruise in, poker run. They'll be having pulled pork there, live music, the DJ, and they have some craft shows and vendors of small carnival, snow cones and more. And they'll be hosting that at the Dane County Commons. Also, as a reminder, the Dent County Museum, for anybody that's a history buff like myself, they're open on Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. now through the end of September. And also the Salem Farmer's Market at 200 South Main. They're open every Saturday from 7.30 a.m. to noon from May until September. So that's all I have for my report tonight. I'm moving right along to the board reports. all the Roman dent. We'll start with you.

I'd like to thank the fireworks committee for the great job that they did for the fireworks and everything at the city park. The community choir had a great program. I think everybody enjoyed it. We're working on something for Thanksgiving and trying to work with the various churches in the area to get a community Thanksgiving program going, plus a Christmas cantata. So we're busy. Beautification or involvement committee has to do some trimming out at the fountain. It is growing, and we need to get out there and do some trimming. And other than that, there's no other report from me.

All right. Alderman Whalen. No report. Alderman Ledgeward. No report tonight.

Alderman Kinsey.

Nothing to report.

All right. Well, at this time, we're going to need a motion to go into closed session for real estate and litigation.

I move that we go into closed session for real estate and litigation.

And do I have a second?

I'll second.

At this time, I will call for the vote. Alderman Dent. Yes. Alderman Kinsey. Yes. Alderman Whalen. Yes. And Alderman Letchworth. Yes. All right. Thank you all for attending tonight.