Local News – Friday, September 16th, 2022

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the courthouse and welcomed Grant Wilson from Congressman Jason Smith’s office. Wilson said Smith was back in Washington D.C. for the next three weeks after a successful Farm Tour in the 8th District. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Road 6633 while brush would be cut on county road 4080. He said he had two men patching chip and seal on county road 4210. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said grading would be done on Dent County Roads 3233 and 3235 while materials would be added to county road 2330. Larson indicated maintenance work would be done in the garage and grader #2 would get an oil change and new tires would be put on truck #124. Other general maintenance would also be done. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he attended the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District Executive Board meeting Tuesday to review and score grant applications for recycling efforts in the region. He said there were 10 grants submitted that totaled over $310,000 while there is only about $185,000 available. They will meet again to determine how the money is to be awarded. Skiles did report on the Ozark Run Scenic By-Way public hearing held in West Plains Tuesday where about 50 people in opposition to the project voiced their opinion on the property limitations. Skiles said the county received the Re-Monumentation Contract from the Missouri Department of Agriculture that will pay the county up to $350 for each surveying corner that is re-monumented up to 10 corners. The commission took no action until talking with the county surveyor. Commissioner Mobray said he applied for and received a FLAP grant to asphalt Dent County Road 6670 from Route YY to Montauk State Park. The grant for the 1.4-mile stretch is $806,339.60 for the asphalt and guard rails where required. This work is projected to be completed by 2024. Mobray also said MoDOT wants to rebid FLAP projects 56 and 57 which are the replacement of the Cooley Bridge and the Tan Vat paving project. The bid will be advertised in the Salem News starting September 20th, then again on the 27th and finally on October 4th. The bids will be due in the Dent County Clerk’s Office at 4:30 on October 12th. The bids will be opened at 10:00 at the regular commissioner meeting on October 13th at the courthouse. The next meeting of the commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

Dent County Clerk Angie Curley wants to remind people that on August 28th, the new election law passed by the Missouri Legislature went into effect where Missouri voters will now be expected to show a Missouri issued photo ID to vote in the November election. The photo will need to be an unexpired Missouri Driver’s License, an unexpired Missouri non-driver’s license, a US Passport, or an unexpired US military ID with a photo. If you do not have a photo ID, free ID’s are available for voting from the Department of Revenue. The Missouri Secretary of State Office can help you get the required documents for free. For more information on free ID’s, contact the Dent County Clerk’s office in the courthouse or go to “showit2vote.com.” Curley also said any voter can cast a normal excused absentee ballot beginning September 27th for the November election, and any voter can cast a no excuse absentee ballot in the Dent County Clerk’s Office between October 25th and November 7th. The last day to mailout an absentee ballot will be October 26th. If you are NOT registered to vote, you will need to do so by October 12th. If you are registered to vote but do not have a valid photo ID, you can vote a provisional ballot. If you vote a provisional ballot, you can come back to your polling location on election day and show a valid photo ID and your vote will count, of if your signature matches the signature in the voter registry, your vote will count. For more information on the free photo ID, you can also call the Voter ID hotline at 866-868-3245 or visit www.sos.mo.gov.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reminds hunters that bicycles, and certain types of electric bicycles are now allowed on service roads and multi-use trails at about 300 conservation areas, including some also open for deer hunting. Approximately 30 of these areas will be closed to bicycle and electric bicycle use during all portions of the firearms deer hunting season. Bicycle use on most of MDC’s approximately 1,100 conservation areas is still restricted to roads open to public-vehicle traffic and some multi-use trails. Cyclists may not ride off-road or off-trail. Find MDC multi-use bicycle trails and service roads online through the MDC webpage — Find Places to Go — at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places. Bike trails and service roads can be searched for by using the Advanced Search feature. Learn more about cycling on MDC areas at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/activities/bicycling.