Local News – Friday, January 11th, 2019

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the courthouse for their regular meeting. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell stated that due to the temperatures being below freezing, no grading would be done. He did say a man was in the Bunker area opening up tail ditches. He also said the work crews would be preparing the trucks with snow equipment and checking the spreaders in anticipation of the winter storm. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said materials were going to be added to Dent County Roads 2210 and 2183 where patch grading was going to be done. He also said brush would be cut on county road 2210. Larson said the men would be preparing a truck that had been repaired for the anticipated winter storm. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles stated he attended the MRPC Board meeting where they presented their federal priorities to the US Congressman or their representatives. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley reiterated that her office continues to work on the 2019 county budget. Curt Faigle from the 100-Acre Wood Rally was in to give a list of the county roads and the locations they would be using this year for the timed segments of the rally. He said that his team would be back in the area in about six weeks to be in contact with landowners in the race areas that may be affected. He did say there would be a Rally Race on February 2nd in Shannon County as kind of a warm up for the 100 Acre Wood Rally and act as a training exercise for some of their volunteers. Cody Roberts, a private land conservationist from the Missouri Department of Conservation was in attendance to discuss the upcoming “Stop the Weed Invasion” public meeting that will be held Tuesday, January 15th at the Salem Community Center @ The Armory. This meeting will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 and it is free and open to everyone. He said virtually every property in Dent County has some sort of invasive species on it and meeting will provide basic information about problem weed plants, discuss cost-share programs to help private landowners fight the invasive species, and talk about the Scenic Rivers Invasive Species Partnership that covers nine counties including Dent County. This partnership includes local, state and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, universities, private landowners and other stakeholders that have an interest in controlling or trying to eradicate the invasive species. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has awarded $50,473 in grant funding to the Meramec Regional Council of Governments to conduct a wastewater partnership feasibility study in Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties.
The project will calculate time and expenses related to the operation of wastewater systems in the study area and evaluate the potential cost effectiveness of a multi-community partnership that shares a regional operator of multiple facilities. The study’s objective is to determine whether cost savings and improved stability can be achieved by sharing operational responsibilities among several communities rather than each community hiring and training its own part-time staff. A shared regional operator may benefit small, rural communities by reducing expenses and eliminating staff turnover. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Region 7 has provided funding for this project under Section 604b of the Clean Water Act. The Department of Natural Resources will administer the grant funds. The department is committed to supporting formation of water and wastewater system partnerships and to working closely with Missouri communities to improve water quality. For more information, contact the department’s Water Protection Program at fac@dnr.mo.gov or 573-751-1300.