Local News – Tuesday, December 5th, 2017
The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Monday morning at the courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said due to the dry conditions, no grading would be done. He did say crews would be checking and cleaning out crossover pipes. Another crew will be replacing stolen, missing or vandalized signs in the county while brush would be cut on Dent County Road 5600. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said grading would be done on mostly hills on Dent County Roads 4050 and 2070 with some additional material being added to county road 2070. He said brush would be cut on county road 2150 and two men would be servicing county trucks 72 and 76. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said the MRPC Annual Retreat will be held Wednesday at the Salem Community Center@The Armory with a number of Dent County people attending as well as others from the regional counties. He is also reminding everyone to refrain from any type of outdoor burning until we get a substantial amount of rain. Even though rain is expected, winds will be blowing very hard and will dry things out quickly by late in the week. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she would be attending the MRPC retreat. She also stated she and the treasurer balanced on all accounts for the month of November, and stated she is still working on the 2018 budget. Representatives from the National Park Service, Larry Johnson and Larry Sandarciero were in to discuss the proposed Road and Trails Management Plan Alternatives. Johnson, who is the Ozark National Scenic Riverways Superintendent, said the three options were derived from public meetings held last year as well as stakeholder meetings. The options had to be delayed due to the flooding in the spring that changed some of the alternatives. Johnson said the event caused about $9.1 million in damages to the riverways as the rains exceeded the record event of 1904 by ten feet. The first alternative offers no action to be taken, the second alterative would increase the amount of new trails by almost 35 miles while there would be a reduction in about 20.5 miles of roads; and the third alternative would designate an additional 50 miles in trails with a reduction of about 9 miles of roads. Johnson said ATVs and UTVs trails are not allowed by law, but mountain bikes are allowed and there is a push to increase trails for them. He said a number of unauthorized horse trails have popped up that were not established by the NPS in the past that have caused some erosion problems. Some will have to be eliminated while new trails can be developed. Johnson said interested persons have until December 15th to comment on the alternatives. Dent County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley brought in a Quit-Claim Deed for the former easement of the Burlington Northern Railroad on property owned by the Laura and Larry Branson in Crawford County. He said the $500 administration fee has been paid and the commissions approved and then signed the deed. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and it is open to the public.
The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will hold a special session by teleconference today at 2:00 to discuss health insurance. This meeting is open to the public at the hospital.