Local News – Tuesday, August 15th, 2017
The Dent County Commission met for their regular meeting Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said the Montauk area received between 3 to 5 inches of rain last Thursday night that closed the river on Friday. Because of the heavy rains, crews will be working in the Montauk area on Dent County Roads 6460 and 6040 as well as the other small roads around the park. They will also be adding materials and repairing county roads 6575 and 6665. Purcell will be attending a South Central Missouri Community Action Agency meeting in Winona tonight. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Road 3240. He went on to report brush would be cut on county roads 2313 and 2315, and another man would be going to Springfield to get oil for chip and seal repair. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported on the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting from last week that showed fatalities were down 4% from last year. He also said MoDOT said the work on Highway 32-72 East at Dry Valley is on schedule. At the External Relations Committee meeting, Skiles indicated he was re-elected as the Chairman of the External Relations Committee and the group continued working on the Annual Dinner and Volunteer Awards presentation that will be held October 26th in Salem at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. He said at the MRPC meeting, they are establishing their priorities for state and federal legislative issues to be addressed. The commissioners did go into closed session at the meeting to discuss real estate in accordance with state statutes where the commission voted unanimously to purchase property owned by Tom White. The property in question is located at 200 E. Rolla Road in Salem. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse and the meeting is open to the public starting at 9:00 in the morning.
Save the Date! Volunteers are needed! I Heart Salem will host a fall clean-up volunteer night on Wednesday, September 6th from 6:00-7:30 p.m. The location and additional details will be announced next week. September is a busy month for special events like the Chamber Rodeo, the Blue Oval Rally as well as the Alumni Weekend and we can help our town look great for our residents and visitors! If you have any questions, just call 453-2500 or watch the GroSalem.MO Facebook page for more details!
The Dent County Commissioners held their tax rate hearing Monday morning at 10:00 at the courthouse. The General Revenue rate is currently at $.0350. The State Auditor approved a rate of $.0561 as the maximum allowable tax rate the county could take in General Revenue. The Commission approved leaving the rate at $.0350 by a vote of 3-0. The Senate Bill 40 Fund has a current rate of $.1350 but after re-assessment, the maximum allowed this year is $.1338. The SB 40 board asked to take the maximum allowed this year at $.1338. The Commissioners voted 3-0 to take the maximum allowable rate of $.1338. The Road and Bridge Fund current tax rate is $.2550, but after re-assessment, the maximum allowable rate by the State Auditor is $.2527. The Commission approved unanimously to take the maximum allowable rate of $.2527. The Senior Citizen Fund rate for 2016 was $.0480 and the State Auditor approved a rate of $.0476 as the maximum allowable tax rate for 2017. Their board requested to take the maximum allowable rate this year of $.0476. The request was approved by the commissioners by a 3-0. All the rates presented are per $100 assessed valuation. The hearing was adjourned.
The Ozark National Scenic Riverways will host a solar eclipse viewing event at Alley Spring on August 21 beginning at 11:30 a.m. and ending at 2:45 p.m. A partial solar eclipse will be visible during the entire event, with the peak eclipse occurring at approximately 1:00 p.m. Park Rangers will be on hand to discuss the eclipse. Solar eclipse viewing glasses will be provided to visitors free of charge, as even a partial eclipse can be dangerous if viewed directly without proper eye protection. Kids will also receive special Eclipse Explorer Junior Ranger stickers as part of the event. The 2017 solar eclipse will be visible in some form throughout the entire United States, making it a truly American event that hasn’t happened since 1979. Ozark Riverways should experience approximately 97.97% blockage of the sun as the moon passes between earth and the sun during the peak of the eclipse. The sky will darken and temperatures will fall as the sun almost completely disappears behind the moon briefly. Don’t miss your opportunity to see one of nature’s best shows in your national park. Bring lawn chairs or blankets and stay for the entire event. Alley Spring is located 6 miles west of Eminence on State Hwy 106. For more information, call (573) 226-3945; visit the park’s Facebook page, or website at www.nps.gov/ozar.
A concert by local musicians will be held Aug. 18-19 at Echo Bluff State Park south of Salem. The free concert will be held at 7 p.m. in the park’s amphitheater and the public is invited. The concert will feature Hunter Hathcoat a country songwriter/singer originally from Ellington. It will also feature Collin Nash, a singer/songwriter originally from Salem, who will play Southern rock favorites. Hathcoat will begin the concert both nights at 7 p.m. and Nash will begin playing at 8:30 p.m. Missouri State Parks is celebrating 100 years in 2017. Echo Bluff State Park is located on Hwy. 19 25 miles south of Salem and 14 miles north of Eminence. For more information about the concert, call the park at 573-751-1224. For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.