Local News – Friday, August 18th, 2023

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 5170 and 5520 while only grading would be done on county road 2460. He said brush would be cut on county road 6400 and rock would be added to county road 6250. Mobray also reported the county has received a grant through the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District that will allow for the pickup of old used tires from county trucks, as well as tires that have been collected from roadside ditches that were not properly disposed of by citizens. Mobray said the county has about 200 old tires at the Road and Bridge Department that will be removed. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk said grading would be done on Dent County Roads 2313, 2320, 2390 and 2403. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson discussed along with the electronic pickup for anything with a cord or battery that will be held on September 9th at 3rd and Grand here in Salem, the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District will also be collecting tires for a small charge from 9:00 in the morning until noon. They will accept your old wore out passenger tires for $2.00 each, truck tires for $7.50 and tractor tires for $35 each. If you have any questions, please contact the MRPC at 265-2993 and ask for Jill Hollowell. Corky Stack from AES Engineering was in to speak with the commission about a change in the price for the Christmas Lights for the courthouse. Stack said he told the commission Monday the cost for the lighting system, tracking and installation would be $42,000 which the commission approved after a presentation. Stack said that figure was derived from a phone conversation held last Friday with Trim Lights where Stack provided some information and received a “ballpark” price. The owner had not yet discussed the project with Jared Barnard who was in town Monday for the presentation to the commission and to assess the project. After reviewing the building and assessing what the commission wanted, Stack said the price was increased to $49,800 because of additional wiring, tracking and transformers that would be needed, but he was able to negotiate that price down $3,000 because the crews would be able to use the scaffolding provided by the general contractor. He said the new cost would be $46,800, which is an increase of $4,800, and if the county wanted the edge tracking to match the brick color on the building, they would need to be powder coated at a cost of about $2,400 bring the cost to $49,200. The commission wanted to think about the change in price. Stack said he checked out another company who does this type of light replacement, but the reviews on their product are not very good. Stack also said he checked into the lightning protection for the courthouse that was requested by the commission and said the cost would be around $7,620. The commission approved the lightning protection be added to the project by a 3-0 vote. Stack also stated he still did not have the actual bid from the electrical contractor yet but expected it an any time. After Stack left to visit with the contractor, the commission discussed the change in the price on the lights. The current lighting system is no longer a viable option as the wires have deteriorated and the lights are harder to replace. The county has been spending anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000 per year over the last few years making repairs to the lights that will not last, and felt the increase in price with the lifetime warranty on the lights and savings from not having to make repairs need to weigh in on the decision. The commission discussed the project further and approved by a 3-0 vote to offer Trim Lights $45,000 for the project, and they would look at the different colors of tracking offered by the company to see if the powder coating was actually necessary. Stack was called back into the meeting and was informed of the offer by the commission. He felt he could get Trim Lights to do the work for $45,000. The next meeting of the commission will be Monday at 9:00 at the courthouse and it is open to the public.

The Salem Police has released reports for the week of August 5th to August 11th where there were a total of 107 calls for service. Officers with the Salem Police Department conducted 12 traffic stops for various traffic violations with three resulting in a summons or arrest. Officers conducted two traffic accident investigations along with three informational reports. On Sunday, August 6th at approximately 3:00 in the morning, officers were dispatched to the 1300 block of Iron Mountain Road for a report of a domestic disturbance. It was reported that a male subject was intoxicated causing issues in the residence. After investigating the incident, the 38-year-old Salem man was placed on a 12-hour safe-keep. Later that same morning around 6:00, officers were dispatched to the 600 block of North Pershing for a report of a subject that appeared to be under the influence of narcotics. Officers investigated the situation and located the man. During a search of his person, the Salem Police located methamphetamine as well as methamphetamine paraphernalia. As a result of the search, a 44-year-old Salem man was arrested and incarcerated at the Dent County Jail. Later that Sunday afternoon at around 4:00, officers on patrol located a female subject who had an active capias warrant out of the Dent County Sheriff’s Office. As a result, 23-year old Destiny Woods of Salem, was arrested and incarcerated at the Dent County Jail. At around 10:30 on the morning of Tuesday, August 8th, officers located a male subject who had a $500 cash only warrant for his arrest out of the Dent County Sheriff’s Office. As a result 40-year-old Herbert Bartlett of Salem, was arrested and incarcerated at the Dent County Jail. On Wednesday, August 9th near 11:30 in the morning, officers took a report of a shoplifting at Walmart. It was reported that approximately $40 of merchandise was stolen. That report is still under investigation. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have any information regarding an ongoing investigation.