Archive for 2024

The Dent County Commission held their regular meeting Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. At the meeting, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray was not in attendance due to a prior commitment. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk gave the road report for both districts. For District 1, grading was being done on Dent County Roads 5220, 6520 and 6580; and sand will be delivered to the road and bridge department shed. For District 2, Commissioner Polk stated that rock would be added, and grading done on Dent County Roads 2050, while only grading would be done on county roads 2060, 5330 and 5333. He also said crews would be hauling sand to the road and bridge department shed. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams reported on the sales tax received in December. The General Revenue Fund and Law Enforcement Sales Tax Fund each received $109,841.05 which is $21,226.57 more than for December of 2023. Year-to-date, the General Revenue Fund and the LEST funds are up $81,758.32 which is about a 7.8% increase. The Road and Bridge Fund received $51,830.46 this month, and that is up $10,118.30 from the  money received in December of 2023. Year-to-date, that fund is up $35,549.34 which is close to a 7.3% increase. The Dent County Jail Operating and Trust funds each received $104,083.12 in December and that is up $20,237.05 from the December 2023 receipts. Year-to-date, those funds are up $72,261.72 which is about a 7.4% increase.  Williams also gave the CART Tax report from November which showed the county received $82,142.17 and that is down $2,627.21 from November of 2023. Year to date, the CART Tax fund is up $38,645.04. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk gave the November turnover report which showed the collector received $1,805,788.50 in rea estate and personal property tax payments and that money has already been distributed appropriately to the proper taxing entities. She said the increase over 2023 is about 1.2%. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he will be attending the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management meeting and banquet tonight in St. James. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley continues to work on the 2025 county budget. The county commission then approved the one bid received for new voting election equipment, software, licenses, etc. from Adkins Election Services for $84,468.00. This includes an $8,700 customer discount. The annual maintenance fee is $6,790. This new equipment should last between eight and ten years. The machines Dent County used in the 2024 elections were already ten years old when the year started and were the second oldest in the state. The commissioners heard from Jeff Banderet from Great Rivers Engineering. He said the TAP grant for the new sidewalks around the courthouse should be bid out in the late spring of 2025 and construction should begin the summer of 2025. Banderet said MoDOT is requiring a Cultural Resource Survey on the entire corridor of the FLAP project 077 which is the road leading in the back side of Montauk. The survey will cost $11,602.17 and will be done by Missouri State archeologists. Once that is finished, permits for the work can be obtained and negotiations for right-of-way can continue. The commission then approved Supplement #3 for FLAP077 for the survey which the county will have to pay before being reimbursed by MoDOT. That expenditure will be added to the proposed 2025 county budget. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

The City of Salem Board of Aldermen will meet this evening at 6:00 at 202 N. Washington in the Old City Hall Auditorium. After the Call to Order will be the approval of the agenda and the consent agenda. Public Comments will then be heard followed by new and miscellaneous business including Resolution No. 2-2024 a resolution by the City of Salem seeking funding with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Division of Energy for the Missouri Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Funding. The Board will address the acceptance of a WWTF Grant Award, plus reschedule the December 26th Aldermen Meeting, followed by Re-appointments to the EEZ Board. A bill to be considered is Bill No. 3635, an ordinance amending Section 110.170 addressing meeting times of the Board of Aldermen. Reports from City Officials will be heard before adjournment. The meeting Tuesday night of the City of Salem Board of Aldermen is open to the public.

The Dent County Fire Protection district board of directors will be meeting Tuesday evening at 6:00 at the fire station at #2 South Main Street. After the roll call and approval of the consent agenda which includes the budget review and financial reports, the monthly reimbursement report will be heard. In old business, the board will discuss Bond/Tax issues followed by new business. Chief Floyd will then give his report to the board. The date will be set for the January meeting and Closed Session may be held to discuss personnel, if necessary, before the board adjourns. The meeting Tuesday evening will be open to the public.

The Dent County Commission held their regular meeting Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. At the meeting, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said work crews would try to grade Dent County Road 6470, while other workers would be working on the dump bed on County Dump Truck 121 which is going up and down very slow. Mobray also said workers will be out measuring pipes and box culverts as many pipes after the heavy rains need to be extended to widen the road. Mobray said this work would not get done until 2025 once an inventory has been determined and ordered. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk stated grading would be done on Dent County Roads 2020 and 5310. He said crews would be hauling sand to the shop for Montauk State Park and doing maintenance on county dump truck 124. He said crews may change tires on county truck 122 but Polk said he didn’t think they needed to be changed out yet. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he and Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams attended the opioid settlement committee meeting Thursday night. The commissioners approved roof repairs be made to the Dent County Annex Building for $1,200 and to the Dent County Judicial Building for $2,956 by Hope Construction. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she is working on the county budget and the first day to sign up for positions in the 2025 April Municipal Election begins December 10th at the tax entity for which you want to run. The election will be held on April 8th. Commissioner Mobray announced the county has some surplus property they would like to sell before the end of the year. He said they have a Salt Dog Spreader Box, a 1997 Dodge 1500 pickup, and an old air compressor. Sealed bids may be left at the Dent County Courthouse in the clerk’s office, and they must be submitted by 10:00 in the morning on December 23rd. For more information about these items, call the Road and Bridge department at 573-729-7770. Mike Elliott from Town and Country Insurance  came in to visit about the new insurance premium through Tokio Marine HCC regarding the county building, property and auto insurance. The county had a 41% increase in their current premium over last year and it came in at $272,000. There were numerous deductibles that changed. Many such as coverage for law enforcement and auto doubled while other such as equipment and buildings more than doubled. Limitations on wind and hail damage to buildings were also added with a much higher deductible. The insurance begins January 1st and the county will not have time to rebid the insurance this year, but they will be taking bids from different insurance carriers during the summer of 2025. The next commissioner meeting will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and it is open to the public.

A 29-year old man from Salem died after a motorcycle crash early Sunday morning at 12:54 on Highway 32 about a mile west of Dent County Road 4350. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol report, the man was riding a 2008 Harley Davidson Sportster 883 westbound when he lost control on a turn and went off the left side of the road. The man was ejected from the motorcycle and was pronounced dead at the scene by Dent County Coroner Ben Pursifull. The man was not wearing safety equipment at the time of the accident and his body was taken to the Wilson Mortuary in Salem. The motorcycle sustained extensive damage and was removed from the scene by Whitaker’s Towing.

The Creative Arts Center will hold a class on Wheat Christmas Stars Thursday evening, at 6:00 with Suzanne Douglass. Students will learn how to prepare the wheat straws, tied knots and how to combine multiple simple stars to make more elaborate ones. The cost of the class is $20. To sign up, go to the SACBA website, click on “Programs” link and then on Creative Arts Center.

The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Salem will be holding their “Parade of Lights” Saturday night starting at 5:30 from the SBU Salem Campus at Grand and Franklin. Over 50 entries are participating this year with the theme “Have Your Elf a Merry Little Christmas” with the Grand Marshall this year being Mike and Diane Godi. The parade will move east on Franklin to MacArthur where the parade will travel north to 4th Street and then head east to the courthouse square. The City of Salem is asking everyone to use caution if you will be downtown as there is sidewalk construction work going on. Everyone is invited to come out and enjoy the parade, but if you are unable to make it this year, KSMO Media will be streaming the parade LIVE from their post near the Salem Public Library at 4th and Jackson Streets. The broadcast should get underway close to 6:00 and can be seen on the KSMO Facebook Stream page, ksmoradio.com and the KSMO YouTube page. There is no charge to watch the parade and if you miss it, the parade will be available for playback at a later time. If you have any questions about the parade, please call the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce Office at 573-729-6900.

Representatives from the Missouri State Parks invite the public to attend a conceptual development planning meeting for both Taum Sauk Mountain State Park and Jay Nixon Backcountry this Saturday at Taum Sauk Mountain State Park. The meeting will be held in an open house format starting at 9:00 in the morning. At 10:30, a guided hike to Taum Sauk Mountain State Park’s Mina Sauk Falls will be available for those attending the meeting. This is a strenuous 3.5-mile hike. As the long-range plans for the facilities are updated, the public is encouraged to come learn more about the planning process, ask questions and provide input regarding the future facility use and development. A 30-day comment period begins December 7th with a survey available online at mostateparks.com/page/90071/conceptual-development-plans. For those who are interested in seeing the Jay Nixon Backcountry, a guided overnight hike and camping trip will be offered in the spring of 2025 in conjunction with the second conceptual development planning meeting. Taum Sauk Mountain State Park is located off Highway CC in Ironton.
Highway 72 in Reynolds and Dent Counties will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform pavement repairs. This section of roadway is located from Highway 32 to Highway 21. Weather permitting, the work will take place Monday, December 9th and Tuesday, December 10th from 8:00 in the morning to 2:00 in the afternoon each day. The work zone will be marked with signs. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution while traveling near the area. For additional information, contact MoDOT’s Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-888-ASK-MODOT (1-888-275-6636) or visit www.modot.org/southeast.

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows that hunters harvested 11,424 deer during the state’s chronic wasting disease (CWD) portion of the firearms deer-hunting season, November 27th through December 1st, in CWD Management Zone counties. Of the 11,424 deer harvested, 3,917 were antlered bucks, 1,052 were button bucks,and 6,455 were does. MDC initiated the CWD portion last year to increase deer harvest in the CWD Management Zone to help slow the spread of the disease. For a list of CWD Management Zone counties, visit the MDC website at mdc.mo.gov. Hunters were allowed to use any unfilled firearms deer hunting permits during the CWD portion and had to abide by the statewide limit of one antlered deer during the firearms deer season, all portions combined. Hunters also had to abide by county-specific firearms antlerless permit numbers. Top counties for the CWD portion were Franklin with 413 deer harvested, Jefferson with 301, and Howell with 279. Totals harvest by county in our area included Crawford with 170, Dent with 105, Phelps CWD harvest was 128 and Shannon with 122. For more information on this season’s harvest totals, visit the MDC website at extra.mdc.mo.gov. Last year’s harvest total for the CWD portion was 11,707 deer. Get more information on Missouri deer hunting from MDC’s 2024 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, available where hunting permits are sold and online at mdc.mo.gov.