Archive for 2022

The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Monday morning at the courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams was in with the CART receipts for the month of October which was $78,410.78. The receipts are up $19,029.03 when compared to the $59,381.75 received in October of 2021, which is an increase of 10.88%. In the road report, District I Commissioner Wes Mobray said that his men continue hauling Title II Rock to Dent County Road 5600. He said that the final load count will be around 190. Mobray also reported that his crew was cleaning pipes on county road 2470, cleaning out both sides of a bridge on county road 6080, and working on a bridge on county road 5600. District II Commissioner Gary Larson indicated that materials were being hauled to Dent County Road 2570 and a culvert was being installed on that road. He went on to report that his crew was hauling brown rock to the maintenance shed and tractor #9 was being serviced. Larson added that he had two men going to county road 4055 to check on a report of some low hanging limbs, plus a man was loading chips for the chip and seal contractor. Mobray noted that he and Larson both want to make sure county residents are aware that once the chip and seal contractor has done their initial work, they will be going back over those roadways to correct any flaws or problems. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he had some good financial news in that on September 29th the US Treasury announced the availability of Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Funds for counties with Federal Lands. These dollars are part of ARPA and Treasurer Williams submitted Dent County’s application last Friday. He went on to say that there would be one payment in 2022 and one in 2023, each in the amount of $244,227.63. Commissioner Larson noted that he heard that the Feds have blocked off areas where hunters have camped for years. He plans to confirm the report and then make the appropriate contact. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley reported that bills and payroll were being approved by the Commissioners for payment. She noted that Wednesday is the last day to mail out an absentee ballot, that no excuse absentee voting starts today, and absentee voting will continue until 5:00 on November 7th. In other business Commissioner Larson brought to the commission’s attention invoices from McCoy Equipment on the new graders for rental charges that were not discussed as part of the deal. These will be discussed with the McCoy salesman, especially since the loaner graders McCoy provided have either been unusable or have repeatedly broken down. Curley initiated a discussion of the County’s technical service provider with this week’s closing of ABS. She has been in contact with Karl Kindel with PC Technologies in Rolla. She shared that her office contract amount would be $1,275 annually for 10 hours of tech service. Travel time is not included in the 10 hours, unused hours would roll over, and some service can be done online. Due to differences in the number of stations, peripherals, budgeting, etc. each office holder would have their own contract. Skiles said that the costs can probably be covered under the current budgets. The Commissioners voted 3-0 to advertise for auto insurance for all the County’s vehicles. Bids will be due into the County Clerk’s office by 10:00 Thursday, December 1st. The next meeting of the Commissioners will be Thursday morning at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education met Thursday evening at the district administrative offices. Superintendent Dr. Lynne Reed reported the footings for the improvements to the Tin Gym are in and work is progressing nicely. She said the HVAC work continues and is about 95% complete. The board reviewed the new elementary school floor plans and went over the preliminary spreadsheet showing the cost at $11,797,000 with an anticipated $3,360,000 coming from FEMA that would leave a total cost of $8,437,000 for the work proposed including the adding of classrooms and increasing the cafeteria size. Reed said the district is looking at a new phone system and is researching new vendors. She said the district is looking at using SPEDtrak which is a software program for Special Education which can simplify all the paperwork that is needed. Administration is also researching updating from the SIS system currently being used. The school is also in the process of evaluating their benchmark assessments. After the building principals gave their reports, the board approved using John Odom as the architect and engineer for the new construction trades building. The district has asked for an extension to complete the project that would allow time to construct the actual building before the deadline and are waiting on some paperwork from the city. The board approved the SRCSP policy at the school concerning COVID-19 restrictions and made no changes. The board discussed making changes to the pay for bus drivers. Currently the base sets at $11.39/hr. With the need for more drivers, they discussed offering $100 per day that would be for a minimum of four hours to drive the school bus routes in the morning and afternoon. The district would start accepting applications immediately for those interested. There was also talk of raising the base pay for the current drivers and also increase pay for trips, but no decisions were made on those topics at the October meeting. This will be revisited at the November meeting. The board did approve adding four people to provide authorized signatures to the Dent Family Scholarship. The board then went into closed session.

The Salem Board of Aldermen will be meeting this evening at 6:00 at the City Hall Council Chambers for their regular meeting. The board will discuss the old 1932 Firetruck the Dent County Fire Protection District wants to return to the city. It is not in working order. The board will discuss the invoice from the county for the Dent County Collector to collect the property taxes for the City as well as print and mail all statements for a total of $17,500. The board will also hear the recommendations from the Planning and Zoning Commission from their meeting last week on a conditional use permit for a childcare facility on South Hickory and for an AT&T cellular tower to be installed at 1702 Doss Road. Finance Director Stacy Houston will present the financials for the first three months of the fiscal year to the board. In Bids, Public Works Director Mark Nash will talk about the bids received for Hymax couplings. The board will then hear Bill #3524 that would authorize the mayor to sign and execute Task Order #14 dealing with the agreement between the city and C.M. Archer Group for engineering design services related to the Clean Water Engineering Report Grant. The next four bills: Bills #3525, 3526, 3527 and 3528, all deal with the city’s duties and procedures for the city purchasing of goods and services. The board will discuss Resolution #36-2022 adopting the City of Salem’s updated purchase policy. The board will then hear from Temporary City Administrator Sally Burbridge, Mayor Greg Parker, Public Works Director Mark Nash and the alderman before going into closed session. The Salem Board of Aldermen meeting tonight at 6:00 is open to the public.

An accident happened in Phelps County Saturday afternoon at 4:48 on Phelps County Road 8170 just north of Doolittle. According to the highway patrol report, a 2003 Chevy Impala driven westbound by 22-year-old Colette Davis of Rolla, failed to yield to a 2022 Harley Davidson motorcycle traveling northbound and operated by 35-year-old Jeremy Lane of Rolla. The Impala pulled in front of the motorcycle causing the Harley Davidson to strike the Impala in the backside which caused the motorcycle to overturn and eject a nine-year-old juvenile boy who was wearing safety equipment. The boy suffered moderate injuries and was taken to Phelps Health by the Phelps Health Ambulance. The driver of the Harley, Jeremy Lane, suffered serious injuries and was flown by Phelps Air to the University Hospital in Columbia. Lane was not wearing safety equipment at the time of the accident. The Impala sustained moderate damage and was towed from the scene by Dishman’s Towing. The Harly Davidson was removed from the scene by a family member.

Dent County Prosecutor Andrew Curley reported on cases heard on Tuesday, October 18th in Crawford County in front of Judge Michael Randazzo. In the first case heard, Jens Leon Moller of Salem pled guilty to the charge of failing to register as a sex offender. Judge Randazzo sentenced Moller to seven years in Missouri Department of Corrections. He was put in the Section 559.115 program as requested by Prosecutor Curley. In the second case, Jared King of Salem pled guilty to felony driving while having his license revoked and was sentenced to serve 120 days in jail as requested by Prosecutor Curley. In the last case of the day, Julie Dooley of Salem pled guilty to the charge of felony possession of methamphetamine and was deemed a persistent felony offender. Randazzo sentenced Dooley to serve seven years in the Missouri Department of Corrections as requested by Prosecutor Curley.

Natural gas rates for Union Electric Company d/b/a Ameren Missouri customers will change under a filing that will take effect on November 1st. The rate change reflects the Weather Normalization Adjustment Rider (WNAR) which authorizes rate adjustments based on weather variations. The purpose of the WNAR tariff is to adjust revenues, either positive or negative, for differences between actual heating degree days and normal heating degree days. Under the Ameren Missouri filing, a residential natural gas customer using approximately 100 Ccf (10,000 cubic feet) of natural gas a month, will see a net increase in their monthly natural gas bill of about $1.57. The WNAR replaces Ameren Missouri’s prior mechanism, the Delivery Charge Adjustment Rider (DCA). Ameren Missouri serves natural gas customers in the counties of Dent, Gasconade and Phelps.

The Creative Arts Center will be having a Kitchen Witch wheat weaving class on Wednesday evening October 26th from 6:00 till 8:00 with Suzanne Douglas. Older children and adults are invited to come and learn the art of wheat weaving. The Kitchen Witch is a traditional Celtic design. According to legend when hung in the kitchen she protects against burned food, spilled milk, and spoiled food. The cost is $25 per person and all supplies are provided. The Creative Arts Center has two easy ways to sign up for events! You can call or text them at 573-247-0651 or go online at salemcommunitybetterment.com and look under programs for the Salem Creative Arts Center.