Local News – Friday, June 17th, 2017

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said workers were servicing grader #26 before it was to grade Dent County Road 6020. He said grading would also be done on county road 5170. Purcell stated that Fabick Cat Trainer Jim Masters was in town to work with a grader operator to show him exactly what the machine can do. Purcell went on to report work was being done on truck #121 as it had an air leak, plus they were going to fix the brakes and do general maintenance on the truck. Work will also be done on Loader #920. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said two trees were down in his area on county roads 4380 and 2540 that were being removed. He stated brush was being cut on Dent County Road 3210 while materials were being added to county roads 2050, 2160 and 5320. Larson said a backhoe was out on county road 5320 removing trees and cleaning out the ditches. Larson reported general service was being done on truck #70 as they will also change a pump in the diesel truck. Larson said he attended the Meramec Regional Development Corporation meeting Wednesday in St. James and they do have money available for new startup businesses or those businesses ready to expand. They have a Revolving Loan Funds, SBA 504 loans, Missouri Action Loan Funds and more available. For more information about the funds available, call 573-265-2993. Presiding Commissioner Darrel Skiles reported the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District grant packets will be available in July. He said there will be a grant workshop on Wednesday, July 26th and the grants will all be due at noon on Friday, August 18th. Skiles said that since June of 2007, the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District has awarded over $2.4 million dollars in grants. Skiles also stated the MCEC and Naturally Meramec are applying for another round of financing or trying to extend their financing to help continue programs like the county’s Work Ready program. These are federal funds issued through the Delta Regional Authority. Skiles indicated the county has received a letter from Drug Court Commissioner Jon Kaiser that pretty much demanded the county increase the Drug Court budget from their pool of funds from the $7,500 at the start of the year which was requested to $20,000 due to an error. Skiles said the county does not have to amend the budget according to the state auditor’s office if they don’t want to. The commissioners voted 3-0 to hold a Public Hearing for amending the drug court budget request as they feel they do good work and also to adjust the General Revenues budget. The hearing to amend the budget was set at 10:00 at the courthouse on July 3rd. The Board of Equalization will be meeting on July 6th at 1:00 in the commissioners’ office. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley attended the South Central Clerk’s Association meeting at West Plains and wanted to let voters know that as long as you are registered in the county you live then you are eligible to vote. She said the new Photo ID Bill that passed means voters will now have to show a Missouri Driver’s License, a Missouri Non-Drivers License or a State ID, a military ID or a passport when they vote. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The City of Salem’s Finance Committee will be holding a meeting, called by Alderman Haydn Powell, on Monday, June 19th at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory, located at 1200 West Rolla Road beginning at 6:30 pm. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the 2017-2018 budget. The meeting of the City of Salem’s Finance Committee is open to the public.

A special Current River cleanup will be held this Saturday to help keep the river and Montauk State Park near Salem clean and attractive. Registration will be held from 8:00 to 9:00 AM at the park’s Dorman L. Steelman Lodge near Salem with cleanup activities lasting from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The cleanup will take place from the start of the Current River at Montauk Spring down to Baptist Camp. That night at 6:30, all registered participants will have a barbecue supper at Current River State Park followed by a drawing for prizes. Montauk State Park is located 22 miles southwest of Salem on Highway 119 in Dent County. For more information about the event, call the park at (573) 548-2225.

The Current River Car Cruisers will hold their annual car show this Saturday at the Courthouse Square in Downtown Salem. Registration begins at 8:00 and judging starts at noon using the 100 point system. There will be 20 First Place awards, 20 Second Place Awards and 20 Third Place Awards presented. The registration fee is $20 and the proceeds raised from the car show will go to the St. Jude Children’s Hospital, the American Cancer Society relay for Life, Project Win Cancer Support, Veteran’s Home and local scholarships. For more information, call Gary Cook at 247-0530, Ginny Chase at 729-6405 or Gary or Mary Jo Cook at 729-7859. The show will be held rain or shine!