Local News – Friday, August 11, 2023

The Dent County Fire Protection District Board of Directors met Tuesday evening at the fire station at #2 South Main Street. The board heard the financial report which showed an ending balance of $151,544.22 as of July 31st. Bills, payments and statements as well as the budget were all reviewed. On the calendar, the board noted the Salem Memorial Hospital will be using the building for training on August 29th. The monthly reimbursement report showed a total of 21 calls for the month of July bringing the total calls year to date to 182. Some of those calls included one building fire, an off-road vehicle fire, three natural vegetation fires, a gas leak and a fire in mobile property. The Board declared in old business certain items as surplus which included two 3-phase air compressors, a Cat Truck engine (government) that is brand new and still in the crate, and one 100K Exterior Generator. The board then held their public tax hearing beginning at 6:15 which remained open until 6:50. Due to the Hancock Amendment, the tax rate for the fire district cannot be raised and the board approved the current rate of 23.77 cents per $100 assessed valuation to be the same for the year 2024. Fire Chief Brad Nash made his report to the board and said the department is still waiting on parts for Engine 85. The chief said the ladder truck has two touch screens that went down making it unusable. The screens were taken to the Technology Junkyard on Highway 72 for repair and they are now ready to be re-installed. The board discussed the lease for the antennae on the old Fidelity, now Cable One tower at the west end of Roosevelt Street. The current rental rate is $3,600 a year and Chief Nash is asking the board to renegotiate the lease terms as the way the lease currently reads, the rental rate will go up 5% every year from now on. The board asked the chief to get more information and possibly see if a lawyer would need to get involved. Chief Nash asked the board how they wanted to handle the surplus property declared earlier in the meeting. The board elected to list it on Purple Wave. The chief will contact Purple Wave to see when they can come and look at the items. The chief also reported that training is working toward creating a fire 1 and 2 training program that would start at the beginning of next year. Before adjourning, the date for the September meeting was set for 6:00, Tuesday evening, September 13th at the Dent County Fire Station.

The Dent County Commission met for their regular meeting at the courthouse Thursday morning. District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray was not at the meeting due to a prior commitment. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk gave the report for District 1 and said materials were being added to Dent County Roads 5015 and 5017, and brush was going to be cut on county road 6150. He then gave the District 2 report and said brush was being cut on county roads 2240 and 2245 while maintenance work was being done at the shed including the rotating of tires on a grader. Larson was to attend the Healthy Dent County Executive Board Meeting Thursday before attending the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting, the External Relations meeting and regular MRPC Board meeting Thursday night. He did say he met with City Administrator Sally Burbridge and Mayor Greg Parker about the possibility of a city/county glass recycling location and Larson said they were receptive to the idea. A location for the recycling bin would still have to be identified and other logistics would also have to be figured out, but the city and county are looking into it. The commission is still requesting bids for a surplus equipment sale at the Dent County Road and Bridge Department. The bid specs are still available and may be picked up at the Dent County Clerk’s office at 400 North Main today during regular business hours, but no one will be at the county shed for inspection of the equipment today. Bids on surplus equipment will be due at the Dent County Clerk’s office before 10:00 Monday morning, August 14th. Please mark on the envelope that your bid is for the Road and Bridge surplus equipment. The Dent County Commission has the right to accept or reject any and all bids. The next meeting of the commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors has a vacancy for directors for District six and District four. The SMDH bylaws and Section 206.090.1 RSMO. provide that a vacancy on the board shall be filled by appointment by the remaining Board of Directors. The appointee will hold office until the election to be held on April 2nd, 2024. Candidates for director of a hospital district shall be citizens of the United States, voters of the district of which they are a candidate, and who have resided within the state for one year preceding the election and who are at least thirty years of age. Persons interested in being considered by the Board of Directors shall complete and file a request for appointment form in the administrative office through 4:00, August 15th, 2023. The request for appointment form may be obtained in person by going by the administrative offices of Salem Memorial Hospital located at 35629 Highway 72 in Salem. The administration office is open from 8:00 in the morning and 4:00 in the afternoon today, Monday and Tuesday. Interested applicants are expected to appear at the special board of directors meeting on Tuesday, August 15th at 6:00 in the evening for a brief interview. District boundary information may also be obtained at the administrative office of Salem Memorial District Hospital. For more information, call 729-6626, extension 4005.