Archive for 2022

The Dent County Commission met for their regular meeting Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said work crews would add materials and try to grade Dent County Roads 5600 and 6600, while crews will only try to grade county road 6370. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson stated work crews would try to grade Dent County Roads 2110 and 4050, while other workers would be repairing and replacing downed or stolen road signs. Larson went on to say work was going to be done on the snowplow blades on county trucks #116 and #122, while maintenance work would be done on county truck #68. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he attended the CCAM Board meeting last Wednesday and worked on the commissioner training that will be held in February. He said they also received a report on the upcoming legislative session. Skiles said that Thursday, he and Representatives Ron Copeland and Bennie Cook visited Montauk State Park to look over the complex and see if some state money can be allocated toward improvements at the park to the lodge, cabins and more. Skiles said he would be attending the MRPC Legislative Day today at the capitol. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she attended the MAC board meeting Wednesday before the Missouri Association of County Clerk Election Authority board met with legislators with a pamphlet that outlined what has to be done county wide to hold elections. She said they also received updates on the proposed redistricting. She said today is the final date for the election authorities to submit their certification for the municipal election. Curley said she has received five submissions from high schoolers for a new “I Voted” sticker with the last day to submit being February 4th. The commission then voted on a proposition to extend the Road and Bridge Sales tax which is scheduled to expire this year. They discussed the ballot language that read, “Shall the County of Dent, Missouri, retain the countywide sales tax at the rate of 1/4th of one percent for the purpose of maintaining and improving roads and bridges?” A “yes” vote will continue the current countywide sales tax of 1/4th of one percent for the maintenance and capital improvements for roads and bridges that has been imposed since 2015 and will remove the requirement to place the question on the ballot for the renewal after seven years but will not result in an increase in sales tax. A “no” vote means the current tax will expire would expire on September 30th. The commissioners approved the language and certifying the issue to be placed on the April 5th ballot. Commissioner Skiles said the public hearing for the 2022 county budget would be this Thursday morning at 10:00 at the commission’s office and it is open to everyone. There will be no regular commission meeting that day, but the commissioners will be paying bills after the budget is approved.

The Salem R-80 School Board in closed session Thursday night discussed Superintendent Lynne Reed’s evaluation, then made a motion to extend her contract through the 2024-2025 school year. The meeting was then adjourned.

The Salem Tigers Basketball Homecoming will be held Friday night between the JV and varsity basketball games against Licking at the Salem High School Gym. The Homecoming Court is Khloe Baldwin for the freshmen, Leya Russell for the sophomores and Hannah Brookshire for the juniors. The three seniors vying for title of Homecoming Queen will be Evelyn Labastida, Faith LaJoie and Alyssa Russell.

The Salem Board of Alderman will meet this evening at 6:00 at the City Hall Council Chambers. After the consent agenda, the board will hear Bill #3498 which would create an ordinance amending Chapter 700, Article 1 of the Code of Ordinances pertaining to the disconnection of utility services. The amendment indicates residential customers will not be charged for a reconnection fee when electric is temporarily restored, and that the electric consumed during the emergency reconnect time will be billed to the customer. The board will hear bids for police vehicles and for 30 and 45-foot utility poles. The board will hear the report from City Administrator Ray Walden, Mayor Kim Steelman, Public Works Director Mark Nash and aldermen reports. The board will also review the city’s financial statemen for the 6-month period from July 1st through December 31st, 2021. The board may then go into closed session. The meeting of the Salem Board of Aldermen tonight at 6:00 is open to the public.

The Dent County Sheriff’s office is requesting the public’s help with any information on a male individual found deceased on the side of the road on Highway DD. Anyone who may have seen a male individual walking or receiving a ride on any of the county roads in the area of Anutt to Route DD, or if any residence in the area had a knock on the door between dusk on January 19th to the early morning of January 20th, please get in touch with the Dent County Sheriff’s Office. In addition, the Sheriff’s Office is asking any residents in the area to review their security camera footage for anything suspicious. Anyone who has any information is asked to please contact Detective Matt Atkinson at the Sheriff’s Office at 573-729-3241, Ext 2.

The Dent County Sheriff’s Department has released reports from the department’s activities in the last two weeks On Monday, January 10th, a deputy traveled to a residence in Bunker to serve an arrest warrant. A 20-year-old Bunker woman was arrested on an active warrant out of Dent County. She was transported to the Dent County Jail and incarcerated. Then on Thursday the 13th, deputies traveled to a residence on South Jackson Street to serve an arrest warrant. As a result, a 47-year-old Salem man was arrested on an active warrant out of Dent County. The man was transported to the Dent County Jail and incarcerated. That same day a deputy conducted a traffic stop at Highway 68 and Route U. As a result of the stop, a 42-year-old Salem man was arrested for trafficking drugs in the 2nd degree and for the unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. The man was taken to the Dent County Jail where he was fingerprinted and incarcerated. Finally on Friday the 14th, a deputy conducted a traffic stop on Highway 19 North. During the course of the stop, a 38-year-old Salem woman was arrested for driving while having her license revoked or suspended. The woman was transported to the Dent County Jail, where she was fingerprinted, issued a summons, and released. If anyone has any information regarding and ongoing investment, please call the Dent County Sheriff’s Office at 729-3241.

Want to learn how to clog? Join the “Intro to Clogging” class with the Rock’n Country Cloggers led by Lavonda Lawson TONIGHT from 5:30 to 7:30 at the Creative Arts Center behind the ONCRC. Enjoy the cultural art of clogging and try it out for yourself. Get a lesson for $5. For more information or to register, call 247-0651 or 247-5306, or sign up on the Salem Arts Council Facebook page.

The Delta Regional Authority on January 12th graduated 24 regional leaders from the Delta Leadership Institute Executive Academy. The 2021 Delta Leadership Institute class marks the 16th year of trained regional leaders, comprised of government, non-profit, and business professionals from all eight Delta Regional Authority states. The graduates participated in six training sessions over the past year, learning best practices employed throughout the Delta region for economic and community development in order to catalyze innovative solutions that would be implementable in their own community and region. The Delta Leadership Institute fellows learned from subject matter experts in infrastructure and transportation, small business and entrepreneurship, workforce development, public health, and other fields necessary to facilitate economic growth. This year’s executive academy graduates included Salem and Dent County Economic Director Sally Burbridge. After graduation, Delta Leadership Institute fellows become members of the Delta Leadership Network, which is comprised of more than 600 community leaders who understand the importance of regional collaboration, resource sharing, and innovative thinking. Congratulations Sally!!!

An accident happened in Dent County on Dent County Road 5170 about five miles southeast of Salem Sunday afternoon at 12:40. According to the highway patrol report, 33-year-old Johnny Barton of Salem, lost control of his 2007 Ford Escape in his driveway and the Ford struck a mobile home. Barton suffered moderate injuries and was taken by the Salem EMS to the Salem Memorial District Hospital. He was not wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The Ford sustained moderate damages and was left at the scene.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will hold a special meeting tonight at 6:00 at the hospital library. This meeting will be closed to the public.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education met Thursday evening at the High School Library. At the meeting, Superintendent Dr. Lynne Reed said three candidates have filed for the two open positions on the R-80 School Board: Sandy Parker, Phillip Mercer and Calvin Malone. Incumbents Dustin Howard and Bernie Sirois elected not to run again. Reed said all the school districts discussed the 2022-2023 school calendar and came up with three different options, but no decisions were reached. Reed stated she would report on this at the next meeting. Reed said she met with food service staff in anticipation of the board discussing possibly letting out an RFP for food service to discuss what options would be available for current staff. All the principals gave reports on their school. Dr. Tori Snitker told the board the high school is revamping the alternative school program that affects about five kids, opening up their afternoons to let them pursue more career-oriented paths. The board did not set any dates for the CSIP program and will await a guidance letter from DESE before setting any definitive dates. The board approved the bid on replacing the gymnasium floor from Missouri Floor Company in Maryland Heights for $162,900. The bid includes a completion date by August 5th. The price increased over the last few weeks due to the increased costs of the subfloor and Assistant Athletic Director Clay Moody said the school would put out bids for a flooring sponsor for 10 years and possible for new mats to help offset the increased costs. The board heard from Tonya Voss from Opaa Food Management about putting out a request for proposals to do the food service work for R-80. Superintendent Reed said current food service workers could stay with the district or work for the food service company, whichever would be best for them. Reed said if the board would elect to contract out food services, she said the contract would begin May 31st to allow the company a soft opening with summer school before the next full school year. The board asked if the food service management companies would work with US Foods and Voss said that could be arranged. Reed said the soonest the board could vote on any RFP would be at the March board meeting. The board approved to put out the request for proposals for the food service. The board discussed at length the Safe Return In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan and finally decided to go with any student or staff testing positive for COVID-19 would have to be isolated. Those students who came in close contact with someone who tested positive would have their parents notified, and it would be the parent’s choice if the asymptomatic child returned to school or stayed home, and if they did go back, if would be up to the parent if the child should wear a mask. The board accepted the resignations of High School Junior Class Sponsor Robyn Taylor and Linda Gibbs in food service. The board heard from Pamela Haldiman from FEMA about a grant to create a public area/multipurpose building at the Upper Elementary School that would cost 2.7 million dollars. She said the board would need to apply for procurement documents and contract management to fill out, and then submit an application to FEMA for the grant which is a 75-25 match. It normally takes over a year for FEMA to review the grant application, and if approved, the board would have six months to prepare the documents to finish Phase 1 of the funding. Once that was approved, the school would have 30 months to bid and build the project in Phase 2. The government would pick up $2,025,000 of the building cost while the school would have to come up with $675,000. The board approved moving forward with the FEMA project. The board then went into closed session.