Archive for 2021

The Dent County Commission held their 2021 budget hearing Monday morning at the commissioner’s office in the courthouse. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles went over the major funds that comprise the budget. The General Revenue Fund ended 2020 with net cash available at $1,871,201.38 as actual revenues were about $32,000 more than what was budgeted. The estimated revenues for 2021 were 1.606 million dollars while estimated expenses for this year are 2.063 million dollars, resulting in an estimated ending balance of $1,414,211.17 as of December 31st, 2021. Skiles stated that $300,000 has been budgeted for repairs to be done on the courthouse in 2021. The Road and Bridge Fund ending cash balance in 2020 was $577,460.34. The commissioners have estimated revenues in 2021 at 1.742 million dollars and estimated expenses of 1.996 million dollars that would result in an estimated ending balance of $323,704.34 at the end of 2021. The Assessment Fund ending balance for 2020 was $145,008.20. The commissioners estimated revenues in 2021 of $201,803.43 and with estimated expenses of $226,927.40, the estimated ending balance at the end of 2021 would be $99,884.23. The Law Enforcement Sales Tax (LEST) Fund ending balance in 2020 was $387,575.78 that was helped with increase in actual revenues of over $58,000 in 2020. The commissioners estimate revenues in 2021 to be 1.131 million dollars while the estimated deductions came in at 1.285 million dollars leaving an estimated ending balance of $234,142.45 at the end of 2021. The 9-1-1 fund had an ending balance of $45,630.20 in 2020 that showed an increase in revenues of over $11,000. Expected estimated revenues are $38,290 in 2021 and with estimated expenses of $45,208.17, there would be an ending balance at the end of 2021 of $38,712.03. The Jail Construction and Operations Fund finished the 2020 year with cash available of $1,524,102.18. The fund has expected revenues in 2021 of 1.351 million dollars and estimated expenses of 1.404 million dollars that would leave an ending balance of $1,471,459.59 at the end of 2021. The Jail Construction Trust Fund finished 2020 with an ending balance of $1.539 million dollars. The commissioners estimated revenues of $976,220.76 and with anticipated expenses of $936,423.50, the fund would have an ending balance of 1.579 million dollars at the end of 2021. Skiles also went over the new budgets for the SB40 fund and offered to revue smaller funds to see if there were questions, but there were none. The budget for 2021 was then approved by a 3-0 vote. The hearing was then adjourned.

The salemmo.com website committee is pleased to announce the launch of the revised website which represents a collaboration of the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, Dent County, and the City of Salem. The new service-focused website is mobile-friendly, secured for user privacy protection, and makes accessibility a priority. The new website also better empowers those internally who manage digital services to the community. The website includes frequently asked questions, news, events, and social media integration. In addition, there is a new “Accessibility Assistant” that you will see on the edge of your screen as a stick figure. When you click on this, you can utilize a number of features designed to help citizens and visitors with accessibility issues related to viewing websites. The newly designed site also provides easier access for businesses to find resources and information critical to maintaining operations and growing in Salem and Dent County. Whether you are thinking of starting a business, wanting to expand your operations or locate in the beautiful foothills of the Ozark Plateau with all the amenities that small town living can provide plus you can find your business information needs and contacts by starting on the salemmo.com website. The branding portion of the project was done in conjunction with the Connection Group and the web development with Revize with funding support from the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, County, City of Salem and the Dent County Tourism Commission.

The Missouri Conservation Commission gave initial approval to the Missouri Department of Conservation at its January 22nd open meeting on a proposed change to Wildlife Code of Missouri regulations that would allow the expanded use of bicycles on many department-area service roads. Bicycle use on MDC’s approximately 1,000 conservation areas is currently restricted to roads open to public-vehicle traffic and some multi-use trails. This regulation change would expand bicycle access to include most service roads on MDC areas. The proposed change does not apply to electric or other motorized bicycles, which would not be allowed. Exceptions would be service roads during hunting seasons and on area-access roads used by staff at fish hatcheries and other MDC areas where bicycle use could be unsafe or cause damage such as erosion.

The Dent County Commission met Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse for their regular meeting. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams brought in the CART Fund money received this month. She said the county received $55,028.29 which is $1,021.86 less than the 2020 figure of $56,050.15. In the road reports, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray and District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson stated that workers would be out checking roads for washouts, downed trees and clogged pipes. District 1 will also be adding materials to county road 6220 if possible. District 2 workers will be servicing Grader #37 which is due for its 1,000 hour service. Larson said he also attended a Tourism Tax Committee meeting on Monday, January 18th. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said the MRPC Annual Awards dinner rescheduled for this March has been postponed. Skiles said he attended a MAC virtual board meeting last Thursday with County Clerk Angie Curley and said they are looking at holding a regular meeting with participants in the near future. Skiles stated he would be attending a CCAM Board meeting in Jefferson City in person as he is an officer while other board members will be attending via Zoom. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said once the budget is approved, the commissioners will need to catch up on paying bills. She said the last day to register to vote for the Municipal Election will be March 10th and the first day to vote absentee will be February 23rd. She also said she balanced with the collector and assessor for the month of December on all collections, add-ons and abatements. After the commissioners approved the 2021 county budget, Curley opened proposals from firms who would like to do the improvements on the Dent County Courthouse. Five firms submitted their qualifications to provide the assessment of the courthouse and the ability to complete the work that needed to be done. Those firms were N-Form Architecture from Springfield, Anderson and Associates from Rolla, Buddy Webb and Company from Springfield, AEA Stack Design Group from St. James, and Treanor HL from Lawrence, Kansas. Superintendent Jason Lott of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways was in and wanted to update the commissioners on what is going on. He said there will be a new Roads and Trails Plan that is supposed to come out sometime in March for public comment that will define horse trails, ownership of roads and a UTV corridor trail. He said the Big Spring Lodge in Van Buren will be getting a major overhaul this year, there will be improvements to the group camping at Round Springs damaged from the flood last year and there will be a time for public comment on the needed improvement or replacement of the two bridges in the Round Spring area starting with a virtual presentation next Thursday. He said Alley Mill will be getting two new pedestrian bridges to replace those that were damaged by the flood last year. He went on to say that a two-year project that will begin this year will be for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways to find and identify cemeteries in the park boundaries and then create a plan on how to provide some care for them. Lott said the attendance at the park was up over 30% in 2020 and the camp grounds were full most of the year. He also said he has two staff people who work on eradicating feral hogs and in 2020, there were 325 hogs killed in the scenic riverways and another 23 have already been killed in 2021. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday, February 1st at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

Dent County Prosecutor Andrew Curley has released a few of reports. The first report was from Thursday, January 21st when Earl Briggs
of Salem pled guilty to a Class C felony for the distribution of a controlled substance and for driving while having his license revoked. Briggs was sentenced to seven years in the Department of Corrections as requested by the state. Judge Nathan Kelsaw presided over that hearing in Dent County. On Monday in front of Judge Michael Randazzo, Chris Gibbs had his probation for a Class D felony for the possession of a controlled substance revoked. Gibbs had previously completed a 559.115 program in the Department of Corrections. Gibbs was sentenced to seven years in the Department of Corrections. Also on Monday, Jesse Wessel of Salem pled guilty to a Class D Felony of the possession of a controlled substance. Wessel was a prior and persistent felony offender and was placed on probation in 2019. A revocation hearing was held and Wessel’s sentence of 10 years in the Department of Corrections was executed due to the probation violation.

The Salem Police Department has released their report for the month of December. They served 13 summonses to appear in court, gave 52 warning tickets, and issued five traffic tickets. They also served nine fugitive warrants. The Salem Police investigated ten traffic accidents, wrote five property damage reports, 16 stealing reports, and investigated three dog bites. The department investigated three reports of driving while having a license revoked or suspended, one resisting or interfering with an arrest report, two possession of drug paraphernalia charges, and three reports of possession of a controlled substance. They investigated two domestic violence reports, and responded to 2 shots being fired in the city limits and one nuisance violation. The department was also dispatched for 42 animal calls, 12 ambulance assist calls, and performed 82 traffic stops for the month. The Department also conducted 28 follow-up investigations, investigated a leaving the scene of an accident report and responded to four suspicious circumstances. The Salem Police Department received 814 calls for service during the month of December and had 31 walk-ins to the station. The department drove 9,450 miles during the month of December. There were 13 males and seven females arrested in December. The Police Department also served four hours during the month as court bailiff for the month.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education in closed session Thursday evening discussed Superintendent Dr. Lynne Reed’s evaluation and then voted to extend her contract through the 2023-2024 school year by a unanimous vote. The board also called for a special meeting at 5:30 Tuesday evening in the High School Library. The meeting is called to address the Hybrid Model at the high school and Athletic Event Restrictions. That meeting will be open to the public.

Missouri’s 2020-2021 deer-hunting season ended January 15th with the Missouri Department of Conservation reporting a preliminary total deer harvest for the season of 296,516. Of the deer harvested, 140,468 were antlered bucks, 28,587 were button bucks, and 127,461 were does. Top harvest counties for the overall deer season were Franklin with 5,786 deer harvested, Howell with 5,367, and Callaway with 4,989. Hunters harvested 285,873 deer during the 2019-2020 deer hunting season with 134,092 being antlered bucks, 27,970 being button bucks, and 123,811 being does. Although harvest was down slightly during the November portion of firearms deer season, when most of the deer harvest occurs, increases in most of the other season portions contributed to about a four-percent increase in this year’s total deer harvest over last year. Deer hunting ended with the close of the archery season. Preliminary data from MDC showed that hunters checked 67,180 deer during the 2020-2021 archery deer season. Hunters checked 61,407 deer during the 2019-2020 archery deer season. Fall archery turkey hunting also ended January 15th. Preliminary data from MDC showed 2,905 turkeys harvested. Top counties for the fall archery turkey season were Greene with 84, Franklin with 78, and Texas with 61. Hunters harvested 2,406 turkeys during the 2019-2020 fall archery turkey season. The Department of Conservation reported four firearms-related hunting incidents during the 2020-2021 fall deer and turkey hunting seasons. The incidents were all self-inflicted and non-fatal.

A one vehicle accident happened Wednesday night around 9:45 in Phelps County on Highway 68 two miles north of St. James. The report from the highway patrol states that a 2017 Toyota Rav4 being driven by a 16-year old female of St. James was traveling north when she traveled off the right side of the road. The Toyota then struck a guardrail, became airborne, struck a fence and overturned striking several small trees. The teen was transported by a private vehicle to Phelps Health hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The driver was wearing a seat restraint according to the report. The Toyota was totaled and removed from the scene by Spurgeons Towing.