Local News – Friday, March 13th, 2020

The Dent County Commission met Thursday morning at the courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams presented the sales tax received by the county in the month of March. Williams gave the figures for the General Revenue Fund and the LEST Fund which are basically the same. She said the county received $89,360.20 this year while in March of 2019 the county received $82,679.53 which comes to an increase of $6,680.67. Year-to-date, both the GR and LEST Funds are up $1,509.45. The Road and Bridge Fund received $41,791.11 this March which is $4,373.19 more than last March and year-to-date, that fund is up $3,058.42 or 2.86%. The Jail funds each took in $83,470.99 for March and that is $8,721.43 better than the March 2019 collection of $74,749.56. Year-to-date, each of the jail funds are up $6,917.04 and that comes to about 3.25%. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said materials would be added and patch grading would be done on Dent County Road 4080 while materials will be added to county road 5420 where a crossover pipe repair is being done. Purcell said brush was being cut on county roads 5520 and major maintenance was being done to dump truck #125. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson stated materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 2135 and 3020 while brush would be cut on county roads 2570 and 4380. Larson said some maintenance at the shop was also being done. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported on the SACBA Board meeting Monday night. Their Trivia Night fundraiser is tonight at 6:00 at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. You can still enter a team of eight for $100 by calling 729-8163. The doors will open at 5:30 and food and beverage will be available for purchase. Skiles also attended an Ozark Solid Waste Management District Executive Board meeting Tuesday at the MRPC offices where they approved five grant closures and extensions. They also reallocated $24,960 from grants awards that were declined. They also heard a report on an illegal dump cleanup in the national forest in Washington County. The market for recyclables was also discussed as it continues to be weak. Skiles also reported on a conference call from Governor Mike Parson about the COVID 19 virus that he attended with City Administrator Ray Walden, Dent County Health Center Director Kendra Mobray, Emergency Management Director Brad Nash and deputies from the Dent County Sheriff’s Department. The call was to discuss the state’s preparedness on the issue. The state will be receiving about 13 million dollars to help fight the virus. Parson said the biggest health concerns will be for the elderly, those with respiratory problems or those with a compromised immune system should they get the virus. The state has set up a hot line for anyone who has questions: 1-877-453-8411. The state wants to remind everyone the best way to ward off the virus is to continue good basic hygiene, wash your hands if they come in contact with surfaces and never touch your face with dirty hands. They said you have a much better chance of getting influenza than the COVIC 19 virus. Skiles said on Wednesday he attended a Meramec Regional Emergency Planning Committee meeting where they talked about the COVID 19 virus. They also talked about an awareness class for anhydrous ammonia that is to be held. The commissioners will be going to a South Central County Commissioners meeting today. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said about 20% of registered voters in the Presidential Preference Primary voted on Tuesday. She said absentee voting for the April 7th Municipal Election will continue and the last day to mail out a ballot for that election will be March 25th. She also said the last day to register to vote for the August Primary is July 8th. The Commissioners went into closed session at 10:00 to discuss security contracts for the new jail. The next meeting of the commissioners meeting will be Monday at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.