Archive for 2022

The Dent County Commission met Thursday morning at the courthouse. At the meeting, Beth Frizzell with the Senior Citizen Service Fund Board was in attendance along with Linda Johnson from the Salem Nutrition Center Board and Lead Center Administrator Jody Schaefer. They were there to discuss the special budget hearing that was to be held Monday concerning amending their budget. Their budget showed that Aging Best picks up about $212,797 of the annual expenses while local funds must account for $100,359. Schaefer said the Nutrition Center received a letter from Aging Best stating they would no longer cover about $25,400 of the raw food costs. This came as quite a blow as the Salem Nutrition Center is expected to serve about 43,900 people this year. It was also revealed that the books had not been kept very well in the last few years and the board knows they owe the IRS a penalty and there are other expenses they believe have not been paid. With the combination of the rising costs of food and the reduction of funds provided by Aging Best to pay for raw food, the Nutrition Center Board was asking for emergency funds of $50,000. The Senior Citizen Service Fund provides funds for the Nutrition Center as well as the SMTS bus system and does not have a lot of reserves. Frizzell asked about the Certificate of Deposit and the Money Market Fund the Nutrition Center has, but the money that is there would only tide them over for a year or so. They were hoping the additional funds could come from the ARPA money the county has or possibly from another fund. The commission was not satisfied with the financial information provided as there was no listing of any deposits made or any statements accurately depicting the expenses for the year. They would need to prepare financials before any funds could be distributed that would accurately depict the financial situation at hand. Since they didn’t have that information immediately available, the special meeting of the Senior Citizen Service Board for Monday was postponed and will be rescheduled. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray reported that since the county received some rain, materials were going to be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 6090 and 6100 while only grading would be done on county roads 5450 and 6380.Brush was going to be cut on county roads 6220 and 6230 and chip and seal work was going to be done on Dent County Road 4110. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 2570, 2590 and 3020 while only grading would be done on county roads 2593, 2600, 3050, 3080 and 3090. Materials were also going to be added to county roads 2210 and 3040 while brush would be cut on county road 2240. Larson reported the chip and seal on county roads 2300 would be patched and he said he will be in checking into the report that the National Forest Service is blocking off access spaces on Dent County Road 4330 that have been used by hunters for years. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said the excused absentee and non-excused absentee voting continues at her office through 5:00 on November 7th. She said her office will be open on Saturday, November 5th from 8:00 in the morning until noon for those who want to vote absentee. Remember to vote, you MUST bring a valid photo ID. At 10;00, the commission planned on opening bids for the FLAP Tan Vat paving project, but again the county received no bids. It will be rebid next year in February. Dave Wells with Automated Business Systems stopped by and thanked the commissioners for their loyal support over the years and they wished him the best. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

After a two-year hiatus, the annual Fall Rocks celebration returns to the Missouri Mines State Historic Site Powerhouse Museum in Park Hills, Missouri, this Saturday evening from 5:00 until 8:00. Co-sponsored by the Missouri Mines State Historic Site and The Doe Run Company, the family-friendly event features activities and games that teach the importance of Missouri’s mineral resources. Fall Rocks is free and open to the public. Hard hat decorating, cookie mining, toothpaste making, and a mineral challenge are just a few of the activities that families can look forward to this year. Free snacks and refreshments will also be provided. Doe Run staff and volunteers will run the activity stations, and state park staff will be available to answer questions about mining and minerals in the Old Lead Belt. The Powerhouse Museum will be open for guests to explore exhibits about the history of mining technology, including both the mining equipment and mineral gallery. The Missouri Mines State Historic Site is located at 4000 State Highway 32 in Park Hills, which is on the south side of Highway 32 at the Flat River Drive overpass, 1.5 miles west of U.S. Highway 67. For more information, visit the Missouri State Parks website at mostateparks.com

Dent County Prosecutor Andrew Curley reported on cases heard on Friday, October 21st in Dent County in front of Judge Michael Randazzo. In the first case heard, Roger Burgess of Eunice, Missouri, was on probation for the felony possession of a controlled substance. At the hearing, the defendant admitted to violating his probation and was he sentenced to serve seven years in the Department of Corrections as requested by Prosecutor Curley. Next, Stephane Culberson of Salem, pled guilty to the distribution of methamphetamine from a 2018 incident. Curley sought 10 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections due to the prior and persistent felony offender status of the defendant. The defense sought probation with a conviction. Over the objection of the state, the Culberson was sentenced to serve five years’ probation with a 10-year suspended sentence, as recommended by probation and parole. In the next case, Jeffrey Clark of Columbia, Missouri, pled guilty to the possession of a controlled substance (meth) in the jail. This came in connection with a traffic stop and subsequent arrest. Clark was sentenced to 10 years in the Department of Corrections as a requested by Prosecutor Curley. The defendant requested a 120-day incarceration through state’s RSMO 559.115 program. His request was denied due to his prior felony criminal history and persistent drug offender status. In the last case of the day, Damon Stiff of Salem pled guilty to failing to register as a sex offender. Stiff was sentenced to 10-years in the Department of Corrections as requested by Prosecutor Curley.

A one vehicle accident happened Wednesday morning just after 8:00 in Dent County on Highway 72 about a mile north of Salem. According to the highway patrol report a 2015 Dodge Dart being driven by 58-year-old Penny Dawson of Salem swerved to avoid a southbound vehicle which was traveling in her lane. Dawson traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck a tree. Dawson suffered minor injuries and was taken by Salem ambulance to the Salem Memorial District Hospital for treatment. The Dodge was totaled and removed from the scene by American Automotive and Towing. The report went on to state that Dawson was wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident.

This Saturday from 10:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon, you can turn in your unneeded or outdated medication during the DEA “National Drug Takeback Day” at Country Mart and Wal-Mart in Salem. Any prescriptions you no longer take, that are old, those who may have belonged to a loved one who has passed on, or drugs you have in the medicine cabinet that you are not sure what they actually are can be dropped off at either Country Mart or Wal-Mart. The Dent County Prevention Coalition, the Prevention Consultants of Missouri and Healthy Dent County are sponsoring Drug Takeback Day locally. A big thank you goes out to the Salem Police Department and the Dent County Sheriff’s Department. Remember, this is extremely important if you have children. Keep your children safe by clearing those unneeded prescriptions out of your home and taking them back where they can be properly handled and destroyed. If you can’t make it to Country Mart or Wal-Mart this Saturday, you can also visit DEAtakeback.com for a collection site near you that can accept your medication drop-off.

The Dent County Senior Service Board will be holding a special budget meeting to discuss budget adjustments for the current fiscal year on Monday, October 31st at noon in the Salem Housing Authority meeting room at 606 McGrath Lane. The meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital board of directors will be holding a special meeting this afternoon at 1:00 in hospital library. After the call to order and roll call, new business to be addressed will be a resolution and discussion on the masking policy. The meeting will then be adjourned. The meeting will be open to the public via Zoom.

Fall is in the air and Halloween is in the park! Come on out to Echo Bluff State Park this Saturday for a fun-filled afternoon and night of spooky, exciting activities. Event activities start with a special Halloween Hike – animals that “trick” you! Visitors should meet at 2:00 in the afternoon at the “Stairs to No WHERE” for the hike. Also starting at 2:00 that afternoon the grab-and-go craft bags will be available across from the check station while supplies last. All campers participating in the camper decorating contest will need submit forms to the check station no later than 3:00 in the afternoon. All cabin door decorating participants will need to submit paperwork to the front desk no later than 3:00 also. The trick-or-treating parade starts at 5:00 in the evening. Participants should meet at the cemetery. The last event will be the night program and contest winner announcements. Winners must be present to accept prizes. The night program starts at 8:00 and includes Ozark stories and songs at the fire ring in the field by the cemetery. Echo Bluff State Park is located at 35244 Echo Bluff Drive in Eminence. For more information, call 573-751-5211.

Dent County Clerk Angie Curley is reminding everyone they have sample ballots available for you if you would like to pick one up before voting in the November General Election at the courthouse in her office. They are free. She can also e-mail or fax one to you. Just call her office at 729-4144. On the ballot, there are contested races for the US Senator seat, a state auditor, US Representative for the 8th District, State Senator Seat for the 16th District, Missouri Supreme Court Judges, Missouri Appellate Court Judges in the Southern District and four constitutional amendments. They also have in the office the plain language explanations of those constitutional amendments. They are lengthy and are too large to be copied by the clerk’s office, but you are more than welcome to bring your phone and photograph them to review at your leisure. Unexcused absentee voting will continue through Monday, November 7th during normal business hours, and you must have a photo ID to vote. Acceptable photo ID’s are a nonexpired Missouri driver or non-driver license; a nonexpired military ID, including a veteran’s ID card; a nonexpired United States passport; or another photo ID issued by the United States or the state of Missouri which is either not expired or expired after the date of the most recent general election.

The Salem Board of Aldermen met Tuesday evening for their regular meeting. The board approved listing for sale the old 1932 City Firetruck that no longer runs. They also approved the contract from the Dent County Collector for the printing and mailing of the city real estate and personal property tax bills and the collection of those taxes for a total of $17,500. The board approved the Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation for the conditional use permit for a childcare facility at 1111 South Hickory Street as well as the recommendation for a conditional use permit for the installation of a new AT&T Cell Tower on property at 1702 Doss Road. The board approved the bid from Schulte Supply, Inc. for 12 4” Hymax Couplings for $3,105.60 for the water department. The board approved Bill #3524 that allowed the mayor to sign Task Order #14 from the C.M. Archer Group for an engineering report to determine the magnitude of the inflow and infiltration in the waste-water collection system. The original cost of the report was to be $62,500, but the price increased to $72,850 and the city’s share will be $22,850. The DNR grant will pay for the rest. The board approved Bill #3525 that set the procedures for purchases by the city, and approved Bill #3526 for services and contractual services as well as for the sale of city property that has become obsolete. If it is over $12,000, it must be in the form of written bid contracts. They approved Bill #3527 about the soliciting of sealed bids of purchases for the city or for the sale of city property, and Bill #3528 that address the soliciting of non-sealed bids. The board approved Resolution #36-2022 that changed dollar thresholds in the purchasing policies of the city. Purchase orders will be now required for purchases over $500 instead of $300; changed departmental purchases that require city administrator approval to go from $300 to $3,000 and from $500 to $5,000; changed the threshold from $3,000 to $5,000 for board approval on written bids; and added the category for purchases exceeding $12,000 to make it the same as state statutes. Temporary City Administrator Sally Burbridge said there was a conference call on the airport hangar project and that the plans for the project will be resubmitted to the city and MoDOT since there has been a delay in the work and a cost increase. Burbridge said the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Bill will make up the difference in funding and the project should begin in May. A project oversight agreement should be coming to the city by next month. Burbridge said she met with the MPUA and state legislators last Friday concerning utility needs and signed a letter of support for them to apply for a Workforce Development Grant for the training of people from the area. She stated she also sent a letter to the MRPC to apply for an additional extension of the CDBG grant for the work to be done on the R-80 Construction Trades Building Project as the current extension will expire December 31st. Mayor Greg Parker wanted to invite everyone to the 1st Annual Salem Community Trunk or Treat that will be held downtown on 4th Street between MacArthur and Highway 19 on Monday, October 31st. Public Works Director Mark Nash said the city’s property was sold Monday on the Purple Wave auction site and brought in $42,650 as they sold eight items. He said he talked with two local electrical contractors about the lighting at the Al Brown Field to get that project moving forward. He indicated he will talk with two companies who do “pipe bursting” with material that replaces the pipe that is bad. He will try get some pricing that may be able to be used for budgeting. He also said Akins Technology who was supposed to clean out the old fuel tank at the airport has been unable to do the work due to their company employees having COVID-19 as they have been off work for about three weeks. He said they are back and will get here as quickly as possible. Alderman Shawn Bolerjack said from his Missouri Municipal League information that 56% of the 283 cities served by them have a water loss of 20% or more with 51 of those cities having over a 40% water loss. Aldermen Kyle Williams wanted to remind the public the Disc Golf “Welcome and Ribbon Cutting” will be today at 5:30 at the Salem City Park with open play beginning at 6:00. Alderwoman Kala Sisco thanked the Salem Area Community Betterment Association for the Family Feud night and congratulated the Salem Lady Volleyball Tigers on a great year. Alderwoman Amanda Duncan wanted to remind everyone about the Healthy Dent County Casino Night with a Kentucky Derby theme to be held November 5th at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. Temporary City Administrator Burbridge wanted to remind everyone the next alderman meeting would be held at the Salem Community Center @The Armory on November 8th due to it being election day. The board then went into closed session.

“Halloween in the Holler” will be held this Friday evening from 6:00 until 8:00 at the Bonebrake Center of Nature and History, and people will be “going batty”. Mill around with some crafts and a photo booth until our guest speaker (Count Batula) officially kicks things off. They’ll be making “Bat-crows” (You’ve gotta come to see what that is), hear some bat jokes, sing a batty song, walk the Bat-Trail to the bat cave (Bring a flashlight) and more! “Halloween in the Holler” is designed to NOT be scary, so all ages are welcome and is a great full-family event! The program and activities are free. Donations of $2 per person or $5 per family to the Bonebrake Center would be appreciated. All activities will be held outside, so please dress for the weather. The Bonebrake Center of Nature and History is located at 601 N. Hickory. For more information about “Halloween in the Holler”, e-mail moonshadowmomentsllc@gmail.com.