Local News – Tuesday, January 4th, 2022

The Dent County Commissioners met for their first meeting of 2022 at the Dent County Courthouse. At the meeting, Salem and Dent County Economic Development Director Sally Burbridge brought in her monthly report for the month of December. She reported that she received a state lead for an economic prospect that she submitted the Certified Site parcel for their consideration. She stated the Ozark Viking Meadery now has all their licenses and permits to move forward including their city business license. She told the commissioners the Whitaker Building Supply building, the Soil and Water Conservation Building and the old Tax Masters building have now been added to the buildings for sale, while the buildings at 207, 209, 211 and 215 West 4th Street have been sold. She told the commission the city was selected as an alternate for the FHLB-Affordable Housing Grant so if there are monies still available or other winners are unable to fulfill their commitment, the city could be awarded funds. They will probably find out this week. Burbridge reported the city received three bids for the removal of timber from the Certified Site that must be done by March 31st, but clean up can continue past that date. The bids came from Mid-State Pipeline, Donald Maggi, inc. and Godi Excavating ranging from over $149,000 to around $77,000. The site clearing contract will be discussed at the January 11th Board of Aldermen meeting. Burbridge provided the November unemployment figures for Dent County and the state that showed the labor force shrunk in November from 6,315 to 6,231 while those unemployed also shrank from 189 to 174. That translates to a 2.8% local unemployment rate which is better than the statewide rate of 3.5% and national rate of 4.2%. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray and District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson both said the ground was too froze to grade so crews were out checking for any downed trees or limbs on the roads. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles wanted to remind any contractors or vendors the county will not be paying any bills until the budget is approved on January 27th. Bills can still be dropped off or mailed to the county, but payment will be delayed due to the state statute that does not allow the county to pay bills until the budget has been approved. Skiles said the county received information from Attorney Travis Elliott for the county to use in allocating the ARPA funds the county has received. This information including a conflict-of-interest policy if a person may have a direct or indirect financial interest in the funding of an entity. This must be disclosed before the decision-making process of allocating the funds. They must make their position known prior to moving further to see if the request or decision would actually be a conflict of interest. There was also a whistleblower policy regarding ARPA funds as well as a vehicle use policy. The commission approved all three policies. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she and the commissioners would be working on the budget. She also said Tuesday is also the first day that students can submit their “I Voted” art sticker design. Those submissions must be in by February 3rd. Curley also said political entities must submit their final certifications for the April election and for those non-elected candidates in the county clerk’s office by 5:00 PM, January 25th. The commission also met with Corky Stack to discuss the work to the exterior of the courthouse for 2022. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting will be open to the public.

According to the Missouri State Highway patrol, no one was killed in a traffic crash during the 78-hour counting period, which began at 6:00 Thursday, December 30th and ended at 11:59 Sunday night, January 2nd. The statistics for the 2022 counting period were 406 traffic crashes, 91 traffic crash injuries, no deaths and 94 DWI’s. Last year during the 78-hour New Year’s counting period, there were 1,247 traffic crashes statewide. In those crashes, six people were killed and another 389 people were injured. During the 2021 New Year’s holiday weekend, troopers worked 173 crashes including three fatalities and 48 injuries. Troopers arrested 94 people for driving while impaired last year. There were no boating crashes or drownings over the 2022 New Year’s holiday counting period.

Between January 10th and 14th, Dent County voters will have the opportunity to elect members to the University of Missouri Extension Council of Dent County in January. The council has two positions that need to be filled in the Northern district, five in the Central district and two in the Southern district. Voting may be done at or mailed to the Dent County Extension Center at 112 East 5th Street in Salem on the second floor of the Judicial Building or you can drop off ballots at the office on the second floor of the Judicial Building between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Candidates include Kelly Chapman and Terry Phelps in the Northern District; Darlene Dahms, Thomas Haines, Charlee Sue Jadwin, Betty Kunkel and Kolson Seay in the Central District; and Kyle Case and Jason Jones in the Southern District. Ballots will be available in the January 4th edition of the Salem News and in Your World Today as in insert on Monday, January 10th. If you have any questions, please call the Dent County Extension Office at 729-3196.