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The Salem Board of Aldermen held a meeting at the City Hall Council Chambers Thursday night. The board approved the bid for a recycling trailer from Cowtown USA for $3,200 and it will be paid for by grant money. After the consent agenda was approved, City Administrator Ray Walden stated work has been done on cleaning up the property at 817 East Gibbs owned by Darin and Tina Cook. Nuisance officer Jared Brown, said Cook has cleaned up some of the lumber and debris, and has busted up much of the concrete around the property and put it inside the foundation. The board was going to review the bids to cleanup the property, but elected instead to wait until the March 17^th board meeting to see the progress made on the cleanup. Walden then reported on the utility bills being sent out late as there had to be some adjustments made and re-reads of meters done due to the ice and snow. Estimated water bills had to made for the last two months and the city uses the first three months to determine rates for thee year and needed to have an actual reading taken. Walden said citizens would still have the same amount of time to pay the bills once they are received. He told the board he is waiting on an engineering report on the downed pole at Al Brown and should have it by Monday so he can talk with the insurance company. It was also noted that two other poles are getting in bad shape at the Al Brown fields and may need to be replaced. Walden said the city would be affected by a new federal requirement on the reflectiveness of road signs and the street department will evaluate those in the city withy a tester to see if they comply. Mayor Gary Brown said he spoke with MoDOT about the McArthur project and said the city would take over the street when it is completed and when the new ADA compliant sidewalks are also installed. Brown also said he spoke with the construction contractor and 4,500 feet of new water and sewer lines as well as valves from Grand to Highway 32-72 will be installed. He said the new codebook is online but the link has not yet been put on the city’s website. Brown reported that he and City Administrator Ray Walden attended a meeting of the Missouri Public Utility Alliance where electric rates could increase 80 to 90% if the EPA gets there way by eliminating coal as a major source of electricity, that new exhaust regulations could virtually eliminate the use of wood burning stoves and the new Clean Water Act is going to force the city to meet new requirements that as of yet can’t be measured. He stated the city may possibly be looking at extending the electric contract another three years this summer. The board approved Bill #3277 that will add a conditional use permit for counseling or professional services to the city code book and also approved to pay Evans Enterprises $4,173.82 to repair a pump at the waste water treatment facility. The board then went into closed session.

The Cosmopolitan Club’s 63^rd annual Miss Salem Pageant and Variety Show, entitled “Swinging on a Star”, was held this Saturday night with Gracie Fiaoni being crowned Miss Salem 2014. The First Runner-Up Award went to Anndy Hill, the Second Runner-Up Award was presented to Nicole Hall, and the Miss Personality Award wentto Sarah Chase. Congratulations to all the girls and acts that participated in the show and the Cosmopolitan Club would like to thank all those that attended and the sponsors for making the show possible. 

A Rolla man apprehended Thursday night after a three-hour manhunt has been arrested for the first-degree murder of a man. According to the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department, 60-year old David E. Lundin, of Rolla was incarcerated Thursday night in the Phelps County Jail pending a warrant application for first-degree murder. At 5:20 Thursday evening, deputies responded to the 13000 block of Private Drive 7136 and once they arrived, they discovered the body of 57-year old Richard R. Finnell, who was deceased from an apparent gunshot wound. The initial call to the private drive, about 1 mile south of Rolla off Highway 63, was in reference to a domestic disturbance, but deputies, while en route to the scene, learned that shots were fired. Lundin was identified as a suspect and according to witnesses, Lundin was last seen walking east on Private Drive 7136 with a gun. Officers from the Rolla Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol assisted with a search of the area, near the south Rolla city limits of Rolla, and a large-scale manhunt began. The Missouri State Highway Patrol helicopter arrived on the scene to assist. At about 8:40 that evening, witnesses called central communications and reported a suspicious man walking around houses in the 1200 block of Winchester Drive. Rolla police officers responded to the area and found Lundin who was still in possession of a firearm, according to the sheriff’s department. Officers gave Lundin commands, he dropped the weapon and was taken into custody without incident. The investigation is ongoing but info indicates that no one else was involved.

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