Archive for 2022

A special meeting of the Board of Alderman was held on Friday, July 29th. At that meeting, the board approved Resolution No. 24-2022 which authorizes the mayor to execute an agreement between the City of Salem and MPUA Resources Corporation Mutual Aid Program for weather related and/or staffing emergencies. Next was Resolution No. 25-2022 which is a Resolution authorizing the filing of an application with Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Financial Assistance Centers State ARPA Grant programs for a sub-award of federal financial assistance provided to the State of Missouri by the U.S. Department of the Treasury pursuant to Section 602 (B) of the Social Security Act, as added by Section 9901 of the American Rescue Plan Act. The Department of Natural Resources did not accept the wording of Resolution No. 18-2022. Resolution No. 25-2022 included updated wording to reflect Mayor Parkers name within the resolution. The resolution was passed. Next Carlos Lopez was recommended being added to the Parks and Recreation Board and was approved. The Board of Alderman will hold their regular meeting Tuesday evening at 6:00 in the City Hall Council Chambers. After the consent agenda the board will discuss the Enhanced Enterprise Zone which is a stimulus for existing business expansion or new business development that results in creating sustainable jobs in targeted industries via local property tax abatements to eligible businesses. Next the board will go over Community Revitalization Grant applications. Next Finance Director Stacey Houston will go over the draft purchase policy. Kristen Deluca will go over the 2021 audit of the City of Salem. The board will then discuss rescheduling the September 13th meeting till September 15th. The board will hear reports from City Administrator Ray Walden, Mayor Greg Parker, Public Works Director Mark Nash, Economic Development Director Sally Burbridge and any aldermen who wish to give a report. The meeting will then be adjourned. The regular board meeting of the City of Salem Board of Aldermen is open to the public.

The Dent County Sheriff’s Department has released a few reports for the first week of August. On Monday August 1st, a deputy responded to the 33000 block of Highway 72 for a report of a fraudulent stop payment on a check issued to a business. During the course of the investigation, a 67-year-old Salem man was advised to pay the balance of the check in full or criminal charges would be sought. The check was paid, and the case was closed. Then on Wednesday August 3rd, a deputy responded to the 200 block of East Tenth St. for a reported wanted subject. During the investigation, a 42-year-old Salem woman was arrested on an active warrant. She was transported to the Dent County Jail where she was incarcerated on the warrant. Later that day, a deputy responded to the 1100 block of South Main St. for a reported wanted subject. During the investigation, a 35-year-old Salem man was arrested on an active warrant. He was transported to the Dent County Jail where he was incarcerated on the warrant. On Friday August 5th, deputies responded to the 2200 block of East Highway 32 for a reported domestic dispute. Upon the officer’s arrival it was determined that the incident was unfounded. There was no further investigation. Please contact the Dent County Sheriff’s Department at 573-729-3241 if you have any information on any ongoing investigation.

The Dent County Fire Protection District board of directors will be meeting Tuesday evening at 6:00 at the fire station located at #2 South Main Street. After the roll call and approval of the consent agenda, the board will review the minutes of the July meeting before hearing the financial report and approving bills. Next on the agenda will be the calendar review and the monthly reimbursement report before discussion of any old business. The board will then set the tax levy for 2023 before fire chief Brad Nash gives his report to the board. Before adjourning the date will be set for the September meeting. The meeting of the Dent County Fire Protection District board of directors is open to the public.

The University of Missouri Extension will be holding a Farm Management Through Drought class this Wednesday evening, August 10th from 6:00 till 8:30 at the Wurdack Extension and Education Center located on 164 Bales Road in Cook Station. Extension specialists will go through topics that producers should be mindful of during drought situations. Topics will include livestock decisions and feeding, forage toxins, forage management, money considerations, management, and planning for future events. To register contact the Crawford County Extendion Office at 573-775-2135. This is a free class and everyone is welcome.

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning for their regular meeting. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated a tree was blown down in the storms Wednesday night across Dent County Road 5600 and it was being removed. Work crews were going to check other roads in the district for any water damage or trees that had been blown down into or blocking any roads. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said trees were blown across Dent County Roads 2240, 2370, 3275, 5225 and 5300 and crews were removing those trees. He said crews would also be out checking for any roads washed out by the rains or that had trees down near or in the roadways. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he spoke with City Administrator Ray Walden about his position on the Transportation Advisory Committee at the MRPC. Walden said he would remove himself from the TAC as his last day will be August 31st. Skiles spoke with Sally Burbridge who will take over as the interim City Administrator once Walden leaves, and she indicated she would serve on the committee in place of Walden. The commissioners approved the change in representation. The other representative from Dent County on the TAC is Gary Brown with Bob Parsons as an alternate. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley wanted to remind all tax entities to make sure they advertised their tax rate public hearings to determine their rate for the next year. Once determined, that rate must be submitted to the county clerk’s office by September 1st. Bids were opened on the FLAP Project for Dent County Road 5610 and the culvert replacement. Aaron Benson, the Project Engineer with Great Rivers Engineering, was present. Jason House with West Plains Bridge and Grading was in attendance to present a bid of $555,000. No decision was made at this time. Ron Copeland, State Representative of the 120th district, came in to visit and Commissioner Skiles expressed to him he had some concerns with the Missouri Ethics Commission. Dent County Coroner Ben Pursiful came in to visit and reported he has had seven autopsies this year and the State will pay for two of those. He will be under in his budget on toxicology while indigent deaths are becoming more of a problem with families not claiming their loved ones. He would like the Commission to consider letting him get a truck and sell the suburban due to transporting bodies that are badly decomposed. Pursiful said this could be paid for out of LERF. He will gather some information, get some prices, and get back to the Commission. The next meeting of the Commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and it is open to the public.

Missouri’s annual back-to-school sales tax holiday begins this morning at a minute after midnight and runs through midnight on Sunday, August 7th. During this time, certain back-to-school purchases such as school supplies, computers, clothing, and other qualifying items as defined by statute are exempt from state sales tax. During the sales tax holiday, state sales tax will not be charged on clothing that does not have a taxable value of more than $100. State sales tax also will not be charged on school supplies, not exceeding $50 per purchase, that are used in a standard classroom for educational purposes. Also excluding from state sales tax are handheld calculators and graphing calculators that do not have a taxable value of more than $150, and computer software that does not have a taxable value of more than $350. Also exempt from the state sales tax are personal computers that do not cost more than $1,500 and computer peripheral devices that do not cost more than $1,500. Anyone who makes a qualified purchase may participate in the holiday. You do not have to be a Missouri resident or student to participate and save. In addition to the state sales tax, local sales tax will also be waived in the City of Salem and Dent County as they elected NOT to opt out. Even if a local jurisdiction is not participating in the sales tax holiday, the state’s portion of the tax rate (4.225%) will remain exempt for qualifying purchases.

A proposed 375-mile-long scenic byway is headed to several communities for public meetings and a vote of approval. The Scenic Missouri group submitted the proposal, called “Ozark Run,” to the Missouri Department of Transportation, which is authorized to create a state system of scenic byways to preserve cultural, natural, archeological, rustic, historic or recreational roads for the traveling public. The proposal involves six routes including State Highway 21, 185, 106, and 19, and US Highways 63 and 160 that go through 11 different counties including St. Louis, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Iron, Reynolds, Shannon, Oregon, Howell, Ozark and Taney. The route would go through eight incorporated towns that include Hillsboro, Sullivan, Caledonia, Centerville, Ellington, Eminence, Alton and Forsyth. The route runs from St. Louis south to the St. Francois Mountains, across the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, west past Bull Shoals Lakes, and ends near Branson. Each governmental agency located along the proposed route will receive a “Written Notice of Intent” requesting a public meeting be held within the next 30 days. The local cities and counties then must approve or disapprove the scenic byway designation through their communities. The application requires 100% local government approval before it’s taken to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for approval and official designation. More information about the proposal is located at modot.org/ozark-run-proposed-scenic-byway. Anyone interested in providing feedback is encouraged to contact their local government agency.

The Dent County Health Center will be holding a town hall meeting about Covid-19 vaccines on Friday afternoon August 5th at 4:00 at the Salem Community Center@the Amory. This will be a townhall style question and answer session to discuss recent updates regarding the Covid-19 vaccines including Novavax, a new vaccine that does not use MRNA technology, as well as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for children six months and older. Also, a discussion about the 1st and 2nd booster doses, as well as the Omicron booster which is under study. If you can’t attend, you can view the discussion online at www.facebook.com/DentCountyHealthCtr.

The City of Salem’s Finance Committee will hold a meeting this evening at 5:30 at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. The agenda includes consideration of fees, unused tax, update on the budget, and audit status before adjournment. The meeting was called by Finance Committee Chair Kayla Sisco and is open to the public.

The Doe Run Company (Doe Run) has released its most recent sustainability report, available at sustainability.doerun.com, showing how the demand for the minerals it mines will play a crucial role in technologies being developed now and in the future. Doe Run’s 13th sustainability report recaps the company’s 2021 performance on 15 key indicators in 10 categories. The report also covers the following highlights from 2021 states the Doe Run delivered nearly 15,000 hours of employee training while continuing to follow CDC protocols so the company could safely work during the second year of the pandemic. In the past 10 years, Doe Run invested more than 585 million on projects to reduce environmental impact, including over 90 million dedicated to remediating former mine sites. The company is also committed to investing in the future. In 2021, more than 30 university students took part in the internship program, and Doe Run donated 60,000 to STEM-related scholarships and mining education programs at Missouri universities. Additionally, Doe Run delivered mining education kits to 18 local elementary school classrooms to teach children about the importance of mining and minerals. Over the past 10 years, Doe Run has donated over 1.9 million to local schools and community organizations. Doe Run also contributes 1.2 billion in annual economic impact to Missouri, including spending more than 188 million with 665 Missouri businesses in 2021. Doe Run also provided good paying jobs for more than 1,200 individuals in 2021. Doe Run’s average employee wages are significantly higher than average in the counties nearest our operations. Doe Run’s sustainability report contains Standard Disclosures from the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework, known as the Global Reporting Initiative or GRI. These disclosures consist of data about environmental performance, health and safety performance, workforce composition, and economic impact.

The National Association of County and City Health Officials, the voice of the country’s nearly 3,000 local health departments, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has selected nine local health departments, including the Dent County Health Center, to participate as host sites in Cohort I of the Partnering for Vaccine Equity Project. Over the past three flu seasons, vaccination coverage has increased among adults; however, racial, and ethnic disparities in flu vaccination coverage remain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adults from racial and ethnic minority groups have lower flu vaccination rates and higher rates of severe flu illness and flu-related morbidity and mortality compared to non-Hispanic White adults. This same trend of low vaccination and high morbidity and mortality is documented for COVID-19. Disparities in vaccination coverage, especially among racial and ethnic minority adults, contribute to and further exacerbate existing health inequities. The Partnering for Vaccine Equity project seeks to support local health departments to improve COVID-19 and influenza vaccination coverage because it is an important approach for improving the overall health and economic opportunity for historically-marginalized groups and advancing health equity in communities. The Partnering for Vaccine Equity Project focuses on increasing local health departments’ capacity to address inequities in COVID-19 and influenza vaccination coverage among racial and ethnic minority adults to increase vaccination uptake. This work will be achieved by collaborating with local health departments to identify and address barriers to vaccines, engage community stakeholders and influential messengers to support vaccine messaging, provide education and vaccine delivery at the community level, and facilitate relationships between vaccine providers and the community to increase vaccine confidence, access, and uptake opportunities. The project will run through December 31st, 2022.

Montauk State Park will be hosting Summer’s End Kids Free Fishing Day this Saturday. Fishing tags will be free to kids 15 years of age and younger on this day ibn the park. The children will be able to pick up their tags Friday evening after 7:00 or anytime on Saturday. Adults must have a daily trout tag to assist their children with their fishing experience. For more information contact the park at 548-2201.