Local News – Tuesday, June 22nd, 2021

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning for their regular meeting at the courthouse. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles was not in attendance due to a prior commitment and Commissioner Gary Larson was named acting Presiding Commissioner for the meeting. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams presented to the commission the CART funds received by the county. She said the county received $64,777.46 and that is $24,454.22 more than last June. She also said year-to-date, the CART funds are up $40,689.46. She went on to say she transferred $103,292.25 from the County School Fines Fund to all the local school districts based on the appropriate share as determined by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. These funds are accumulated from basically July through June and come from court fines, tickets, weapons auctions held by law enforcement, and other monies collected from legal penalties. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated brush would be cut on Dent County Roads 4110 and 4120. He also said crews would be out checking road signs and cleaning out pipes as needed. District 2 Commissioner Larson indicated that a man would be going to Springfield to get oil for chip and seal repair. He did say that a crew was patching some chip and seal roads using the ultimate paving material. Larson went on to report crews would be servicing truck #122. He wanted to let the public know numerous county road signs have been stolen, knocked down or damaged lately, especially in the Howes Mill and Boss areas. This is especially dangerous if an emergency vehicle needs to find a person and the emergency service personnel are not familiar with the roads in that area which could be a matter of life and death. This could also jeopardize someone’s safety if they are being threatened or the home is on fire. The county already has surpassed its budget for signs this year and would appreciate the public being aware and reporting anyone they see damage or stealing the road signs. To report the theft or damage of signs, please call the Dent County Sheriff’s Department at 729-3241. Larson also said he would be attending a Dent County Tourism tax meeting once a date has been determined. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she would be attending a South Central County Clerk’s Regional Meeting at West Plains on Thursday. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

A couple of other items occurred at the Salem R-80 Board of Education meeting last Thursday not reported in our story Friday. The Board of Education committee assignments that were changed for the 2021-2022 school year were Bernie Sirois with the CSIP program and Holly Erway in Health Services. The board also agreed to move the July meeting to Tuesday, July 20th at 6:00. In closed session, the board employed Steven Taylor as a High School counselor, Kalie Jay was moved to the specialist column on the salary schedule, and a $500 stipend was approved for Shelia Adamick, Traci Wulff, and Brenda Hanning. The meeting was then adjourned.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Community Development Block Grant program has awarded the City of Steelville a grant for $495,788 to help renovate the community building and bring it up to code per ADA requirements. Interior and exterior improvements to the Steelville community building will address ADA accessibility, improve environmental efficiency, improve security, and prepare the building for enhanced emergency use. The ADA improvements will include accessible restrooms, parking, ramps, sidewalks and three entrances. Additional improvements include LED light fixtures, a high-efficiency HVAC system, kitchen remodel with energy-efficient appliances, roofing, gutters, the addition of an emergency generator and automatic transfer switch for building and well, and a security system with card access and cameras. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $630,988 with difference coming from the city and in-kind donations. Archer-Elgin will be doing the engineering work on the project. Steelville was one of 38 recipients sharing in some $15.8 million in CDBG projects that were just announced. The MRPC assisted the city in writing the grant and will serve as the grant administrator.

A one-year contract that will provide guardrail and downed median guard cable repairs in several mid-Missouri counties have been approved by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission during its meeting last Wednesday. The contract entails repairs in various locations as needed in Camden, Crawford, Dent, Laclede, Maries, Miller, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington Counties. The commission awarded the contract to Collins & Hermann, Inc, which submitted the low bid of $1,171,021.74. Most of the work would require lane closures when repairs are needed. The project contract durations are from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. For more information about this project or other transportation-related matters, please call 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636) or visit www.modot.org/central.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will conduct their June meeting at this evening at 6:00 in the hospital library. After the approval of the minutes from the May 18th meeting, Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas will report on the summary of the operations and statistics for the month of May followed by the Chief of Nursing Report with Ashley Sullins. A report on the hospital foundation, plus the marketing and community perception report will be given by Chief Operating Officer Jason Edwards. In old business, Lucas will give the board an update on the hospital expansion and renovation, the Cerner conversion, and present the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget to be considered for approval. New business may consist of the review of purchases since the last meeting and a report on the July Election of officers. The board may vote to go into closed session. The SMDH Board meeting is open to the public provided they wear a mask to the meeting.