Local News – Tuesday, August 31st, 2021

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse for their regular meeting. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated grading would be done on Dent County Road 5630 and spot grading would be done in the Montauk area to fix washouts from the Sunday morning rain. Mobray said a man would be hauling brown rock and a crew would be preparing an area where a bridge on Dent County Road 4210 will be tore out next week. The road will be closed starting Tuesday and is expected to be closed until the bridge is replaced which should be around two weeks. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson reported grading would be done on county roads 2530, 2540, 2550, 3330 and 3340. He said a crew would be cleaning out ditches on Dent County Road 4330 while materials will be added, brush will be cut, and grading will be done on county road 4260. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles indicated he attended the CCAM meeting at Echo Bluff State Park last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to discuss the commissioner training to be held in February at Columbia. He said the commissioners heard from Representative Ron Copeland that the legislature is considering doing away with the April elections and consolidate all elections until the November General Election. This would create a huge burden on county clerks to get out the number of different ballots that would cover municipal elections, school board elections, bond issues and more in addition to the General Election list of candidates and issues. The costs may become exorbitant. Skiles said county commissioners are not in favor of this and he felt that the clerk’s association would not be in favor of it as well. Skiles reported the courthouse will be closed for Labor Day and the commissioners agreed to meet on Tuesday at 9:00 for their regular meeting. Skiles also wanted to remind everyone to get your tickets for the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce Rodeo this Saturday and Sunday at The Commons. Advance tickets are available at all the local banks and the Salem Chamber office and are $8.00 for adults and $4.00 for children 5-11 years of age. The cost at the gate Saturday and Sunday will be $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for youngsters from 5 to 11 years of age. The gate opens at 5:00 with a carnival in the barn with the rodeo starting at 7:30 each evening. Bonnie Prigge and Kelly Sink from the MRPC attended the meeting and discussed with the commissioners some information about the ARPA funds that are becoming available. Sink brought in a sample investment proposal form for the ARPA eligible activities that include supporting public health expenditures, addressing negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, replacing lost public sector revenue, providing premium pay for essential workers, and allowing for the investment in sewer, water and broadband infrastructure. This form would document the project submitted for funds. Prigge said the CARES Act funds were for events that were in the past while the ARPA funds are basically looking at events still to come, although some historical data will need to be used. The county talked after adding a much needed bathroom to the courthouse which Sink said would qualify for the funds, and they would also be able to replace some of the income lost due to the sales tax debacle by the Department of Revenue, but that would not occur until next year. The deadline for submission of projects is January 1st, 2023. Any project that would be funded through ARPA must be obligated by December 31st, 2024 and spent by December 31st of 2026. The commissioners also talked with Corky Stack of Stack Design and Consulting Group about improvements to be done to the exterior of the courthouse. Stack and the commissioners signed the agreement for Stack to proceed with work on the project. The next meeting of the county commission will be Tuesday at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will hold a tax levy hearing and special meeting today at the hospital library starting at noon. The special meeting will follow the tax levy public hearing at about 12:15 to provide a summary of the tax rate hearing. In new business, the board will set the tax rate for the year 2021 before adjourning. The hearing and the special meeting are both open to the public via zoom. Contact Tonya Akers to get information to Zoom the meeting by calling at 573-729-6626, Extension 4005.