Posts by CTC

The Dent County Commission met Monday morning at the courthouse for their regular meeting. Dent County Presiding Commissioner Darrel Skiles was unable to attend due to a prior commitment. Commissioner Dennis Purcell after reviewing the minutes stated that at the last meeting, the Commissioners actually approved the purchase of polypropylene 20-foot pipes in the amount of $8,168.40 from Viebrock & Sales. The purchase had been approved 3-0 by the commissioners. The commission did not make any decision on the purchase of the metal culverts after receiving the bids as the bids now exceed the budgeted amount for culverts. In the road reports, District 1 Commissioner Purcell said crews would be checking the Bunker area for any rain damage to the roads or washouts. Another crew will be installing tires on the pup trailers and another crew would be out checking roads and cleaning out culverts. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said he was sending a man to Springfield to get the oil for the Durapatcher to do chip and seal road repairs. He said a man would go to the Boss area to check for any damages, plus other crew members would be checking culverts, trimming back brush and checking for washouts. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley reported on an electronics collection sponsored by the MRPC on May 20th at the Brewer Science Parking Lot from 8:00 in the morning until noon. She also reported she balanced with the collector and assessor on all collections, abatements and add-ons. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be held Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

In closed session, the Salem R-80 Board of Education hired James Joynt as a high school business instructor; Jessica Haberman as a high school special education instructor; Jerry Adkins as a middle school social studies teacher; Nick Frillman as the middle school girls’ basketball coach; Kim Cooper as the assistant high school volleyball coach; Kristi Steelman as the middle school volleyball coach; Travis Sampson as the cross country coach and Sherry White as the middle school cheerleading coach. The board also approved moving Lane Howard from a 7th/8th football coach to an assistant high school football coach and also to employ Chelsie Tune for the high school student council. The meeting was then adjourned.

An accident occurred at 7:45 Monday morning in Dent County on Highway VV about 20 miles west of Salem. According to the highway patrol report, a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica driven by 21-year old Zachary Thurman of Houston was traveling westbound. The crash occurred at the Pacifica traveled off the right side of the roadway to avoid a deer. Thurman overcorrected and returned to the roadway. The Pacifica then crossed the centerline and traveled off the left side of the roadway, struck an embankment and trees and then overturned. Thurman suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene. He was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The Chrysler Pacifica was totaled and removed from the scene by Kinder’s Towing of Licking.

Replacing the deck on the Missouri Route 68 Bridge over Coppedge Creek east of Route H in Maries County is now underway. One lane of the bridge will be closed, while the work is taking place. A temporary traffic signal will be installed on both sides of the bridge to guide traffic through the work area. The work is scheduled to be completed in early June. MoDOT appreciates the patience of motorists while the work takes place. For more information about this project or other transportation-related matters, please call 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636).

The 2017 Business Expo will be held Saturday morning from 9:00 until noon at Salem Community Center @ the Armory, located at 1200 West Rolla Road. The Business Expo is an excellent opportunity for businesses to advertise their products and services and many of them will be giving away promotional items or have their own drawing. There are six star giveaways this year and they are provided by the Aaron’s Inc., Town & Country Bank, A-1 Tech of Rolla, The Auto Connection, Schwartz Salvage and Salem News/Action Graphics. There is no cost to attend the annual Expo, it’s FREE and open to the public. It is organized by the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Salem Publishing Company and KSMO Radio. For more information about the 2017 Business Expo, contact the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce by calling 729-6900.

An accident occurred at 1:00 Thursday afternoon in Shannon County that took the life of a Salem man. According to the highway patrol report, a 1999 Ford Explorer driven by 64-year old Kevin Richards of Salem was traveling eastbound on Shannon County Road 258 about ten miles north of Round Spring. Richards entered a turn too fast and left the right side of the roadway. The Ford Explorer overturned into a pond. Richards was pronounced dead by Shannon County Coroner Tim Denton at 1:15 Thursday afternoon. He was not wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The Ford Explorer was totaled and removed from the scene by Whitaker’s Towing of Salem. Richards body was taken to the Wilson Mortuary in Salem.

An accident occurred Saturday afternoon at 4:10 in Phelps County on Route F about 1 1/2 miles south of Rolla. According to the highway patrol report, a 2016 Nissan Sentra, driven by 30-year old Milan Koirala of Rolla, crossed the center line of the roadway on a hillcrest and struck an oncoming 2007 Chevrolet 2500,
driven by 72-year old James D. Fullerton of St. James. Koirala sustained serious injuries and was transported by Phelps County Ambulance to Phelps County Regional Medical Center Helipad and airlifted by Arch Air Ambulance to UMC-Columbia Hospital. Fullerton, along with a passenger 62-year old Patricia L. Fullerton, sustained moderate injuries and were transported by Phelps County Ambulance to PCRMC. According to the report all occupants were wearing safety restraints. Both vehicles were totaled and the Chevrolet was removed by C & C Towing, while the Nissan was removed by Ron Dishman Towing.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education held a re-organizational as well as their regular meeting Thursday evening at the boardroom. The Salem R-80 Board had three seats available and incumbents Holly Erway, Drew Whitaker and Larry Maxwell each re-filed for those positions and were unopposed, thus an election was not needed. Bernie Sirois was re-elected as President and Dustin Howard was re-elected as Vice President, while Holly Erway was elected as Secretary and Chris Heavin was re-elected as Treasurer. The Board also voted to re-elect Larry Maxwell as the MSBA delegate and Carry Snider as the alternate. The Board voted to move into their regular monthly meeting. After approval of the agenda, McColloch discussed with the Board in length a facilities need for a new restroom facility at the football field, storage for equipment, lockers $7,417.68. The Board then approved a request from Project Graduation for two busses and two drivers. After a discussion, the Board considered and voted to hire another IT person. It was and an update to the press box. In new business, the Board voted to leave the tuition for 2017-2018 school year at noted that as many as 450 Chrome Books will be added each of the next three years that the district will totally be maintaining on site. The Board then addressed changes to the support staff employee manual, most of which were just the wording, but McColloch noted that one was to reduce the probation period for support staff from 90 to 30 days the same as for the certified staff and the Board agreed. The Board received numerous 2017A MSBA updates and agreed to accept them. Based on the facilities update earlier in the meeting, and much discussion, the Board voted to go with McKinstry for a detailed engineering study agreement for the cost of $20,000. The initial items that are most pressing that need immediate attention are a new restroom facility at the football field, followed by storage and lockers and then down the line to update the press box. The Board declared surplus property consisting of 12 bus radios 6 tires and accepted the one bid that came in for each. The Board then voted to go into closed session for the purpose of discussing personnel.

The City of Salem Board of Alderman will conduct a re-organizational meeting after canvassing the election results electing a new president of the boar, as well as appointing a City Clerk and City Attorney. They will then hold their regular meeting tonight at 7:00 at the City Hall Council Chambers. In bids, the City had requested bids to tear off the existing roof, clean up and haul away all trash, install felt,
new pipe boots, two black turbines, one black flat air vent and white roof edging on the Al Brown Field Concession Stand. The three bids
received will be presented to the Board for consideration. City Administrator Ray Walden will then update the Board on various present and future issues and projects concerning the City of Salem, followed by reports from Mayor Nash. In new and miscellaneous business, Water/Sewer Superintendent Jack Emory will request approval to repair 2 Flygt Mixers that need to be repaired at the Waste Water Treatment Facility. One repair is in the amount of $2,903.50 and the other is $3,514.78. The Board will then vote to go into closed session for the purpose of discussing real estate, litigation and contracts. The meeting of the City of Salem Board of Alderman is open to the public.

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the courthouse for their regular meeting. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams brought in the figures for sales tax money received from the state in April. In General Revenue, a total of $69,879.94 was received which brings the year to date increase over last year to $7,520.39 which is a 2.76% increase. Last year in April, the county received $70,974.40. For the Road and Bridge Department, a total of $32,109.92 was received in April versus $31, 829.57 received last April. So far in 2017, sales taxes for Road and Bridge are up about 4.84% amounting to $5,932.74. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell stated grading is being done on Dent County Roads 6280 and 6287, while materials are being added and grading done on county road 4160. Purcell went on to say that one man was screening brown rock and a crews was patching chip and seal on Dent County Road 4110 with the Durapatcher. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson indicated materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 2200 and 3240 while only grading would be done on county road 3240. He did say a man would be cleaning debris from around bridges on county roads 4280 and 5260. Presiding Commissioner Darrel Skiles said all three commissioners and County Clerk Angie Curley attended the Missouri Association of Counties annual legislative conference where they learned that HB104 repealing the prevailing wage has passed out of the House and a Senate committee and will be going to the full Senate for a vote. They also heard about the statewide 9-1-1 bill and others. In other news, the Commission voted 3-0 to approve signing a Quit-Claim Deed for property owned by Lou Trombley to remove a road easement in the original plat. The Quit Claim Deed was prepared by Dent County Prosecutor Andrew Curley. Skiles reported the county had received the contract for the creation of the Dent County Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Dent County Commission, SEMA and MRPC have to sign off on it to get the plan moving forward. The Commission voted 3-0 to sign the contract. It was also brought to the commissioners’ attention a request from Sheriff Bob Wells to purchase five DV-1 patrol cameras made by Watchguard Video for $11,000 which includes the hardware and software. There was no other bid submitted as Watchguard Video is the exclusive and sole manufacturer of these types of patrol cameras. The money to pay for the cameras will come out of the LERF fund. The commissioners opened bids for new culverts for the Road and Bridge Department at 10:00 and they received bids from Viebrock Sales and Service, LLC and Metal Culverts, Inc. Bids were received on metal culverts and as well as on new Polypropylene pipes. A discussion was held but no decision on the bids was reached. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) encourages hunters to remember safety while in the woods turkey hunting. Regular spring turkey hunting season begins April 17th and runs through May 7th. Shooting hours are from a half hour before sunrise to 1:00 p.m. MDC offers the following safety tips for spring turkey hunting: Identify a turkey’s head and beard before aiming; Never shoot at sound or movement. Assume it is another hunter until you can clearly see a turkey’s head or beard; Wear hunter orange when walking through the woods. Use hunter orange to identify your hunting location; Wrap a bagged turkey or decoy in hunter orange when transporting it; Dress defensively. Never wear red, white, blue, or black clothing because it resembles a turkey. Be sure of your target and what lies beyond; Never follow the sound of a gobbling turkey or attempt to sneak up on turkeys; Always call turkeys to you. Sit against a large tree or other natural barrier to shield yourself from hunters approaching from the rear; Shout “STOP” when another hunter approaches. Don’t move, wave, whistle, or make turkey calls to get their attention. Find detailed information on harvest limits, allowed hunting methods, hunter education requirements, permits, MDC hunting areas, tagging and checking procedures, regulations and more in MDC’s 2017 Spring Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet available from MDC offices and nature centers.