Archive for 2017

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning for their regular meeting at the courthouse. The commission saluted the Salem Marching Blue for their accomplishments this past weekend in competitions in Branson and Reeds Spring. In the road report, District One Commissioner Dennis Purcell indicated materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 5510 and 5550. Purcell said workers would be servicing brush cutter #8 and a man went to Springfield to get oil for the chip and seal repair of county road 4253. Purcell said he would be attending the South Central Community Action Agency meeting tonight in Winona. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson stated grading would be done on a number of roads including Dent County Roads 2520, 2530, 2570, 3080, 3090, 3100 and 5325. Larson said materials would be added and grading done on county roads 5320 and 5323, while brush was going to be cut on Dent County Road 2570. Dent County Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he attended a Transportation Advisory Committee meeting last Thursday where it was reported fatalities in the central district in Missouri are down 28% from 103 last year to 74 this year. He also reported on the South Central County Commissioners Association meeting held last Friday in Houston that was attended by all three commissioners. Skiles said the guest speaker was Lt. Governor Mike Parsons. Also speaking at the conference on issues involving the state legislature were State Representative Robert Ross and State Senator Mike Cunningham. Skiles indicated that representatives from Senator Blunt and McCaskill’s office were in attendance as well a person from Representative Jason Smith’s office. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said her office and the treasurer’s office balanced on all accounts from September. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and it is open to the public.

The City of Salem Planning and Zoning Commission met Monday evening to discuss rezoning the vacant lot north of 701 South Main Street for the display and sale of industrial pipes. Many thought this would be a commercial business, but only the industrial classification deals with industrial pipes sales and storage. After some discussion, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved recommending the rezoning request of Gary Fiebelman from Commercial to Manufacturing/Industrial for a period of four years only to the Board of Aldermen by a 4-3 vote with Chairman Gary Brown breaking the tie with some reservations. He felt there should have been a better effort to discuss this with neighbors and get their opinions. In the regular Board of Aldermen, the board approved the bid from Strukel Electric to repair the airport lighting regulator for $15,383 with the necessary budget adjustment to the Capital Sales Tax Improvement Fund. This was originally in the budget to be done with the next MoDOT grant for 10% of the cost, but the lights have not worked correctly now going on two years and they need to be fixed for safety reasons. William Camm Seay presented the report form the Planning and Zoning Commission and the board approved their recommendation to rezone 701 South Main from Commercial to Manufacturing/Industrial for a period of four years. City Administrator Ray Walden presented information from the personnel manual and from other cities to the aldermen to review about considering a differential in pay for those who have a CDL endorsement. He would like to hear from alderman and come back with something at the November Board meeting. Walden wanted to let the Aldermen know that the current budget has $150,000 in it for the engineering of sidewalk work and another $75,000 for the engineering of street lighting on 4th Street downtown. This will be a multiyear improvement from Pershing to McArthur. The costs of the concrete and street lamps will stay have to be budgeted. Walden did say WCA Sanitation said they would begin distributing the new waste and recycling containers next week to residents. They will leave them curbside. If you currently rent a trash dispenser from WCA, that lease will cease when you get your new dispensers and they will pick up the old rented trash containers. The board approved two bills from Archer/Elgin Engineering: one for $3,320 for the LWCF Playground work and the other of $13,250.00 for the Wastewater Treatment Facility work. They also approved the bill from the Dent County Treasurer for $12,000 for the mailing of property and real estate tax statements, a bill from Dent County Collector Dennis Medlock of $5,500 for the collection of the city property and real estate taxes, and a bill from Tyler Technology of $11,357.64 for maintenance and support fees for the city’s computer payroll and bookkeeping software system. The board voted to go into closed session to discuss real estate.

Twenty-three communities, 11 youth groups and 8 community leaders were honored at the Missouri Community Betterment Conference in Columbia Monday. Houston won the Gene Speichinger Community of the Year award. This award recognizes the outstanding community among the 23 communities entered in this year’s Awards program. The community of Salem came in third place in Category Five. The Steelville Youth Group took 1st Place in Category 3. Also at the banquet, Judy Apperson of Salem received the Ambassador Award, Marilyn Sweitzer of Salem received an Adult Leadership Award, and Jacob Stotler of Salem took home a Youth Leadership Award. Congratulations to all the winners in all the categories and to those individuals and communities who competed.

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the courthouse for their regular meeting. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams presented sales tax revenues received in October for the General Revenue Fund. Williams said the county received $64,197.70 which is down form the 2016 figure of $67,993.67, and year-to-date, general revenue is down $1,759.19. She said the Law Enforcement Sales Tax figures are roughly the same as general revenue for October. Williams also presented the Road and Bridge Fund collections for October that came in at $30,477.25 which is down from the 2016 figure of $31,427.87 and the year-to-date total is up $2,693.45. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said all full grading practices in the southern part of Dent County have been suspended due to dry conditions. He did say patch grading would be done on Dent County Road 6240 while materials would be added and grading done on county road 5170. Purcell also said workers would be cleaning out crossover pipes and culverts also on county road 5170. Purcell reported the chip and seal surface on Dent County Road 4253 was being repaired as well as on county road 6510 that will also have edge work done. Purcell indicated the graders #24 and #33 would be getting their required regular maintenance service. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said his district has received enough moisture to keep grading roads. He stated materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 3300, 5330 and 5335. Larson indicated a man went to Springfield this week for a load of oil for the Durapatcher so that two men could repair the chip and seal on Dent County Road 3210. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles gave the numbers for the electronics and tire recycling held in Dent County on September 30th. Skiles said there were 90 vehicles that came through and dropped off 4.67 tons of electronics and 1.8 tons of tires for a total of 6.47 tons of recyclables. Skiles compared that to the last collection in Salem in 2014 that brought in a total of 2.92 tons dropped off by 59 vehicles. Skiles said this year there were four collections held by the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District that collected a total of 26.03 tons of electronics. Skiles announced the Dent County Commission would be attending the South Central County Commission Association Regional meeting today in Houston. Skiles said according to a statewide report, the state of Missouri in arrears in paying the counties their per diem payments for housing prisoners in their jails. He said the state owes Dent County $91,000 in per diem charges as of September. Skiles wanted to remind everyone the Meramec Regional Planning Commission’s Annual Awards Dinner and Banquet would be held October 26th at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. A social hour will begin the banquet at 5:30 followed by dinner at 6:30 with the awards presentation to follow. There will be silent auctions held for products specific to the Ozark Region. Two Salem residents will be recognized at the banquet and they will be Ted Ziske and Baylee Bilyeu. Tickets for the banquet are available for $30 and you must purchase your tickets by Monday, October 16th. Contact the MRPC at 573-265-2993 to purchase your tickets. Dent County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley came in with a request for the county to issue a Quit Claim Deed for railroad right-of-way in Crawford County on property that adjoined the Wishon Farms. Curley reported that everything was in order and the commission signed the Quit Claim Deed. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday morning at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

What are you doing this Saturday? The Salem Community Garden will be hosting an end-of-season work day to “put the garden to bed” for the winter! The work day will be held Saturday from 9:00 in the morning until noon at the Salem Community Garden located at 801 Doss Road, behind Salem United Methodist Church. All volunteers are welcome!!! Coffee and donuts will be provided. This is also a good chance to stop by and visit if you’ve always wanted to check it out and learn more about what goes on in the community garden! Call Sarah at 729-3196 with any questions.

The Ozark National Scenic Riverways will bring the Ozark past to life during the Haunting in the Hills event tonight and tomorrow at Alley Spring. This free event features storytelling tonight from 6:00 to 9:30 as illuminated pathways will guide your way through Ozark legends, folktales, mysteries, superstitions, and natural wonders with spellbinding age-old storytelling. On Saturday, local skilled crafts people will demonstrate their skills from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM with traditional bluegrass music and dancing featured throughout the day. Food vendors will be on site with cash sales only. Alley Mill is six miles west of Eminence on Highway 106.