Local News – Tuesday, April 13th, 2021

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning at the courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams brought in some sales tax monies received by the county on Thursday, but only in two of the five funds. The General Revenue Fund received $17,855.87 and the Law Enforcement Sales Tax received $17,853.22. Last year, each of those funds received over $80,783. Skiles did say that attorney Travis Elliott has been in touch with the general counsel of the Missouri Department of Revenue and they indicated they were not aware of the sales tax withholding situation but would investigate the matter. Williams checked with the department about monies for the other three funds but there has been no response from them. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated grading would be done on Dent County Roads 5410, 5420 and 6470. He said two men were going to Springfield to get oil for chip and seal repair. Mobray went on to say a crew would be checking the chip and seal roads to determine which ones would receive an overlay this year. Mobray also reported on the diesel fuel bids taken last week and MFA Oil was lowest bid at $1.9754 per gallon. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson reported materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 3120 and 4280 while only grading would be done on county road 4290. He also said brush would be cut on county roads 2515 and 2610. Larson also recommended and the commission unanimously approved putting out bids for prices to purchase culverts and grader blades that will be due in the clerk’s office by 10:00 on Monday, May 3rd. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said at the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting last Thursday, MoDOT announced the highway and transportation commission approved scoping for a new bridge to be built on Route TT at Sligo to replace the low water crossing. He also said the STIP plan shows the bridge on Highway 19 at Gladden is to be replaced in 2023. Overall, Skiles said there were nine projects in the Meramec Regional Planning Commission area in the STIP program. Skiles said the discussion at the MRPC Board meeting dealt with the American Rescue Plan, but everything discussed was just speculation. He wanted to congratulate the City of Salem receiving a $384,000 TAP grant to improve the sidewalks and lighting on 4th Street in downtown Salem. Skiles said he would be in Jefferson City Wednesday to testify on county commission priorities. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she balanced with the collector and assessor on all collections, add-ons and abatements for the month of March, and that she balanced with the treasurer on all accounts for March. At the last meeting, the commissioners unanimously agreed to award a proposal from Anderson and Associates to do outside work on the courthouse at a cost of $7,700 plus lift rental expenses. Commissioner Skiles said there will be no commission meeting on Monday, April 19th due to a County Commissioners meeting. The commissioners may call a special meeting that week if there is business that need to be addressed.

Missouri Department of Transportation crews will be making pavement repairs on Highway 19 in Crawford County this week. MoDOT crews will be removing the top layer of pavement in order to apply a new driving surface on Highway 19 between Highway 8 and Cuba City Limits. Work is scheduled to take place today through Thursday, April 22nd. One lane will be closed between 6:00 in the morning and 4:30 in the afternoon each day. Flaggers will be in place to guide motorist through the work area. Drivers are encouraged to slow down through work zones, obey all traffic signs and watch for workers on the road. Some delays are possible and MoDOT appreciates the patience of travelers while the work take place. This work is weather permitting and could be delayed. For more information and updates about this project or other transportation-related matters, please call 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636) or visit www.modot.org/central. You can also follow the MoDOT Central Missouri District on Facebook and Twitter for project updates.

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows that young turkey hunters in Missouri harvested 2,771 birds over the past youth weekend held April 10th and 11th. Top harvest counties were Miller with 73 birds checked, Texas with 71, and Callaway with 68. Young hunters checked 2,712 turkeys during the 2020 spring youth weekend. The regular spring turkey season runs April 19th through May 9th. For more information on spring turkey hunting in Missouri, visit huntfish.mdc.mo.gov.