Local News – Tuesday, April 7th, 2020

The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Monday morning. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell stated materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 5630, 6410 and 6420 while only grading will be done on county road 6490. Purcell went on to say brush would be cut on county roads 6240 and 6245. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson reported materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 3200 and 4290 while only grading would be done on county roads 2200, 2370 and 3180. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he has been attending a number of COVID-19 meetings including Friday when the Governor issued the state’s “stay at home” order. Essential business need to stay open but non-essential businesses may remain open if they can adhere to the enforcement guidelines established by the CDC. For more information on what those guidelines are, contact the Dent County Health Department at 729-3106. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley reported that absentee voting continues for the June 2nd election. Call her office and someone will come to your vehicle at 729-4144. People have until May 20th to request a mail out ballot. The commissioners approved Resolution 1 that is sent to the Missouri Ethics Commission which they do every two years. Curley said she balanced with the assessor and collector on all collections, abatements and add-ons for the month of March. Dent County Sheriff Bob Wells was in to report the Dent County citizens would not need a letter of permission to be out during the “stay at home” order. He said he can only speak for Dent County and not any of the surrounding counties, but feels most sheriffs are leaning this way unless a quarantine situation would arise. The commissioners opened bids for culverts from Viebrock Sales and Service, and Metal Culverts, Inc. This was an item the commissioners had budgeted at $17,000. The low bid of $18,452 was from Viebrock. The commissioners unanimously approved the bid from Viebrock. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The City of Salem is canceling the spring community-wide yard sale typically held the first weekend in May. Lots will not be available to rent in the city administrative offices building parking lot. Individuals conducting yard sales must observe the maximum gathering of ten
(10) people and social distancing guidelines as required by the State “stay at home” order.

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows that young turkey hunters in Missouri harvested 2,712 birds over the past youth weekend, April 4th and 5th. Top harvest counties were Miller with 74 birds checked, Franklin with 62, and Callaway and Sainte Genevieve with 60 each. in the area, there were 43 birds checked in Texas County, 35 more in helps County, 32 in Dent County, 22 in Crawford County, 16 in Reynolds County and 14 more in Iron County. Young hunters checked 2,546 turkeys during the 2019 spring youth weekend. The regular spring turkey season remains open as scheduled and runs April 20th through May 10th.

Spring weather typically brings an increase in outside projects that may require digging or excavation work around your home or business. Before you start digging on any project, the Missouri Public Service Commission reminds homeowners and businesses to call 811 or 1-800-DIG-RITE (344-7483) or go online to place a locate request at www.mo1call.com so that underground utilities can be marked. Whether you are planting a tree, building a deck or completing a large project, Missouri law requires anyone digging underground to call 811 or 1-800-DIG-RITE at least three working days before excavation begins. The call will be taken by the Missouri One Call Center, which then notifies all relevant utilities in the project area. During this three day period, the utilities will mark the approximate location of their underground lines, request additional information or advise you that they do not have facilities at the excavation site. Hitting an underground line can cause serious injury, it could disrupt service to you and other customers and it could potentially result in fines and repair costs. For more information, please go to Missouri One Call at www.mo1call.com.

The Salem Board of Aldermen met Monday night at the City Hall Auditorium. Public Works Director Mark Nash talked about using Nova Chips on many city streets, but many can only be chipped and sealed as they can’t handle the machine that lays the chips. He said it may be advantageous to do the work in the next fiscal year and add the money from this year to it to get more bang for the city’s dollar. The alderman asked for a list of the streets that can be Nova Chipped and another of the chip and seal roads and then their priority. After the consent agenda, Gary Brown reported on the Planning and Zoning Meeting and they recommended to not grant a waiver to allow parking in the front 30 foot setback at a new development. This will now have to go in front of the Board of Adjustment for Planning and Zoning. City Administrator Ray Walden said the city continues to work with the Dent County Commission, health department and emergency management to take precautions necessary for the safety of city workers, staff and the citizens. He said utility bills will go out Friday and people should have them by next Wednesday. Starting in May, every electric meter and most water meters will be read by the AMI system. He said Maggi Construction who was awarded work on the city’s TAP grant has begun work at the city park by the Salem Community Center@The Armory. Walden said he is moving forward with the 4th of July Celebration at this point and will be buying fireworks. He also said people interested in the Park and Recreation summer programs should go to their Facebook page. Walden explained about the Energy Loan Program presented by the Department of Natural Resources that is a low interest loan to improve the lighting in the city to all LED lighting with a guaranteed payback in 15 years in buildings, street lamps and at the city parks The board approved Bill #3445 that lets the mayor execute an agreement with McKinstry Essention LLC to provide a detailed engineering study at a cost of $7,500 to prepare the application for the program before April 17th. The board then went into closed session.