Local News – Friday, February 17th, 2023
The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning for their regular meeting. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles was unable to attend the meeting do to symptoms from a concussion he suffered so county clerk Angie Curley appointed First District Commissioner Wes Mobray as acting presiding commissioner for the meeting. In the road report, Mobray said crews were out removing trees and limbs that were blown down during the storm overnight as well as cleaning out culverts and checking roads for any possible washouts. Brush was also being cut on county road 5600. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said his crews were basically doing the same thing as well as patching chip and seal on a number of different roads with the ultimate paving material and were installing a new lift cylinder on the old loader. County Clerk Angie Curley said the courthouse would be closed Monday for President’s Day and the first day to absentee vote will be Tuesday, February 21st. She also said the last day to register to vote for the Municipal Election will be March 8th and sample ballots for all elections are available in her office. She did say there would be no polling location at Dent-Phelps R-3 and Green Forest R-2 as they have no school board election or any other issue they need to vote on. Curley said her office balanced with the county treasurer and collector on all accounts for January including collections, abatements and add-ons. She said she has the financial statement of the county for the year 2022 ready to be submitted to the newspaper. It must have a summary of the receipts of each fund, summary of disbursements and transfers of each fund, the beginning and ending cash balances for each fund, a summary of delinquent taxes for each fund, a summary of warrants for each fund, statement of bonded indebtedness at the beginning and end of the year for each fund, a statement of tax levies of each fund for the year, and gross annual salary of each elected or appointed county official. She has until June 30th to have it published in the Salem News and all the commissioners must sign the certificate of accuracy. Curley also said she received a letter from Rich Devereux and Company, LLC, that they will be unable to do the county audit they were awarded in January for $18,500 due to them being shorthanded. The county will have to put the audit out for bid again. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Thursday, February 23rd at the courthouse at 9:00 and the meeting will be open to the public.
The City of Salem held their regular Board of Alderman meeting on Thursday in the City Hall Council Chambers. The board approved a request from Kerri Konkel to close a number of streets on the afternoon of Sunday, May 7th for a Senior Parade. The board approved Resolution No. 5-2023, which is an agreement between the City of Salem and H.W. Lochner, Inc in the amount of $19,500 for the engineering and project oversight of six T-hangers at the Salem Memorial Airport. City Administrator Sally Burbridge reported that she has done several public education speaking engagements to educate the public about the upcoming sales tax and sewer bond issues on the April ballot. A Town Hall meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 21st from 5-7 PM at the Salem City Hall Auditorium to discuss the Downtown Project, Sewer Bond and Sales Tax issue that are on the April ballot. Mayor Greg Parker reported there are Line Dancing Classes being held at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory every Tuesday in February. The Salem Rotary Club Pancake Day will be held on Saturday, February 25th from 7-11 AM at the Salem Middle School. Park and Recreation Director, Melissa DuBois gave an update on the recent Park Board meeting. She noted there were 106 children that participated in the Football Skills and Drills training and Soccer sign-ups are going on now. The Garden Club will be donating and installing nearly $5,000 worth of trees in and around the perimeter of the city park. The new sound system has been installed at the Civic Theater and the projector is being installed by the electrician. Alderman Sisco reported that Bob Jenkins has resigned from the Finance Committee. She thanked him for his service. A new committee member is needed. If you would like to serve please e-mail Chairman Sisco at ksisco@salemmo.com. Alderman Bolerjack reported that the traffic light at Doss Road has been fixed by MoDOT. Alderman Williams gave a report on the recent Utility Committee meeting before the board went into closed session.