Local News – Friday, August 26th, 2022
If you had drought damage to your property in Dent County that caused economic hardship, US Representative Jason Smith for the 8th District in Missouri wants to know. He is trying to have Dent County included in the Federal Drought Disaster Declaration and need your help. People who have data on the lack of rainfall to their farm or land areas or have pictures of the drought damage on their property are being asked to send the data or pictures to Grant Wilson at the Rolla Office of Representative Jason Smith. Text the data or send the pictures to Wilson’s number which is 417-321-0203. If you have any questions, please call the Rolla Office of Representative Jason Smith at 573-364-2455. Please send the data or pictures as quickly as possible so the information can be compiled and submitted for consideration to add Dent County to the disaster declaration.
The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning for their regular meeting at the Dent County Courthouse. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson was not in attendance and Road Supervisor Jason Akins gave his report. Akins said materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Road 5260 while brush would be cut on county road 2050. District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray indicated grading would be done on Dent County Roads 4080 and 6010 while brush was going to be cut on county road 4220. Mobray said that he heard from Jeff Banderet of Great Rivers Engineering on the FLAP projects #056 and 057 that went out for bid. Banderet said they received one bid on the Cooley Bridge project, but the bidder did not meet the specifications and the bid was rejected. On the Tan Vat paving project, there were no bids received. Banderet thought it best to re-bid these projects in February where new eyes can look at the projects. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles thanked Tod Kinerk, Sherman Odom and the Hester family for putting on the fundraiser Monday evening at the Salem Methodist Church to raise funds for the Construction Trade and Technology Building for the Salem High School Campus. Odom was at the commissioner's meeting and reported $42,000 was raised Monday night, and other contributions that came from those attending that meeting in the following days totaled $50,000, $10,000 and $8,000. Odom said 17 people had said to contact them at the fundraiser Monday night and, with what has already been raised, the fund is still short about $50,000. Missouri State Tax Credits of 50% are still available for contributions. If anyone would like to contribute to the project, contact Salem R-80 Superintendent Lynne Reed at the Salem R-80 District Administrative Offices at 729-6642, or Salem and Dent County Economic Development Director Sally Burbridge at 729-2428. The Commissioners did approve re-appointing Brad Nash as the Dent County Emergency Management Director on a part-time basis with an annual salary of $3,300. They also met with Engineer Corky Stack about bids for the exterior of the Dent County Courthouse. They received one bid from Alexander Construction from Rolla and Ad-Par from Salem who would be working as a sub-contractor. The bid came in at $1,647,679. No decision was made on the bid by the commission. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley reported she and the treasurer balanced on all accounts for the month of July. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning, September 1st at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting will be open to the public.
The Dent County Historical Society is hosting a Civil War Program on the 160th Anniversary of the Skirmish at Ashley this Sunday at 2:00 at the James & Gahr Fellowship Hall in downtown Salem. Kent Nichols plans to show his documentary movie: "Civil War in the Ozarks: Battle for Dent County," created for the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War. It is a Remembrance Ceremony for both the Skirmish of Ashley and the Skirmish of Inman Hollow in Southwest Dent County. Each Skirmish took place within four miles of what was then the Stephenson Mill, located in what became Montauk State Park at the headwaters of Current River and next to the beginning of the National Park Service (NPS) Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The present-day 1895 Montauk Mill replaced the Stephenson Mill that had burned. For information about the Civil War program, contact Deloris Gray, President County Historical Society, at 573 729-2545 or Jon Logan, VP of the Society, at 816-541-0328.