Local News – Friday, April 8th, 2022
The Dent County Commission met for their regular meeting Thursday morning in the courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams was in with the sales tax receipt for April. She reported that the General Revenue and LEST both received $100,589.11 compared to $17,855.87 each in April of 2021 during the DOR sales tax issue. Year-to-date they are each up $289,114.87. Williams and the Commissioners thanked the voters for their support of the Road and Bridge Sales Tax which generated $45,723.80 and is up year-to-date $140,107.47. She said the Jail Operations Fund and Jail Trust Fund each received $90,891.50 and are up year-to-date $279,481.79. It is important to note that the Road and Bridge Fund and the Jail Funds received no sales tax in April of 2021, again due to the DOR sales tax issue. In the road report District One Commissioner Wes Mobray said grading would be done on Dent County Road 5610 and grading would be done on county road 2440, plus two trucks were hauling materials to that road. He also reported that his district’s brush cutter tractor is to be back next week. District Two Commissioner Gary Larson reported that grading was to be done on Dent County Roads 3030, 3080, 3090, 4430 & 2380, while materials were to be added to county roads 4430 and 3060. Larson said that brush would be cut on county road 4380. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported on the Hazardous Mitigation Planning Meeting held Tuesday at the Community Center at the Armory. He said that he was disappointed that only two of the county schools were represented at the meeting. Skiles said the ARPA Distribution Agreement was received from MRPC for the Salem Memorial District Hospital to complete their application for funds for the new generator. The commission signed the distribution agreement. Brad Nash, Dent County Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director, was in to discuss extrication since SMDH is out of the extrication business. Currently the tools the fire department have won’t cut the new vehicles and most of the rural fire departments’ tools are in bad shape. Nash had two proposals. The first was with Alex Air Apparatus, which consisted of four sets of tools with each consisting of a cutter, spreader, ram and two batteries with chargers for each set. Included would be four years of training and service of the tools for a cost of $126,310. The second was from Sentinel Emergency Solutions for four sets of tools with cutter, spreader, ram and batteries for $115,905. No training would be included. Nash said Emergency Management would pay the $50/year insurance on each set, plus a memorandum of understanding would be signed if the county purchased the tools. The proposals were discussed, but no decision was made, and plans are to re-visit the issue with Nash. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said that the commissioners were approving bills for payment. She also noted that 1,125 citizens, which was 11.92% of Dent County registered voters, voted in Tuesday’s election. The next regular meeting of the commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.
The Salem Community Carden will be offering a variety of Growing Green Educational Workshops. The first workshop will be on Saturday morning at 9:00. This will be the opening of the garden and a 101 Garden Workshop. The garden is located behind the Salem Methodist Church at 801 East Scenic Rivers Bld. For more information contact Charlie Grimm at 573-368-9902.
Team members at Current River State Park invite the public to learn to make wildflower jelly from 9:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon this Saturday and Sunday. If you have ever wondered how to make wildflower jelly that you see everyone posting about on social media, this class is for you. Participants should bring their lunch, a water bottle, and small jars to the workshop. Space is limited, so registration is required. For more information and to register, contact Connie Weber at 573-751-1224 or email connie.weber@dnr.mo.gov. Current River State Park is located on Highway 19, approximately 23 miles south of Salem and approximately 15 miles north of Eminence. For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.