Local News – Tuesday, June 8th, 2021

Mayor Brad Nash and Board of Aldermen President Kim Steelman postponed Monday night’s Board of Aldermen meeting due to the passing of Alderman Kenny Nash this past Sunday, June 6th in what Dent County Coroner Ben Pursifull described as a lawnmower accident. Nash was a dedicated servant to the City of Salem and dedicated many years to serving our community through the City Electric Department, the Board of Aldermen, and several other community organizations. He loved Salem and he will be greatly missed by those that worked and served with him. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers during this time.

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning for their regular meeting. Leann Kahn was in to speak with First District Commissioner Wes Mobray about the gate across Dent County Road 4128. According to Mobray, the Rushing’s said the gate was to be removed by June 7th and Kahn was in to show pictures that the gate was still there and was closed over the weekend. Mobray said he would speak with the Rushing’s about the removal by phone to see what the issue was. In the road report, Mobray said materials would be added and grading done to Dent County Road 5510, while only grading would be done on county road 5220. Mobray reported brush would be cut on county road 5600 and that Grader #38 was down with a transmission problem and the county was waiting on John Deere to send someone down to repair the problem. He went on to say work crews replaced a crossover pipe in the Union Hills Subdivision and a man would be going to Springfield to get oil for chip and seal repair. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson stated grading would be done on county roads 2580 and 2613, and work was going to be done on dump truck #124. He went on to report work crews would be removing materials from the ditches on the Golf Course Road to help with drainage. This project was started last week and should be completed this week. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported on May 25th he attended a broadband meeting at the Salem Community Center@The Armory hosted by the MRPC. They discussed the service maps which are outdated, and they need better mapping so improvements can be made. Skiles said he attended an insurance consortium meeting where they discussed the United Health Care current coverage and that the insurance claims were doing well. Skiles went on to say he attended the Northeast Regional Commissioners Association meeting and the hot topic at the meeting was Senate Bill 53 dealing with the increase in county sheriff’s pay being associated with a federal judge’s salary. Skiles suggested putting a letter together from the Dent County Commissioners to ask Governor Parson to veto the bill and the commissioners approved the request. He also said the general public can comment on SB 53 and how it will affect their own county’s budget as the increase to local sheriff’s pay would come directly from the counties funds and no funds will be coming from the state. People interested on commenting on SB 53 should go to https://governor.mo.gov and respond in the “Contact Us” section. Skiles said this week he will be attending a Central Regional Workforce Caucus meeting on Thursday as well an MRPC meeting in St. James. Regional Workforce Caucus meeting on Thursday as well an MRPC meeting in St. James. Skiles said he would like to discuss with Commissioner Mobray and Larson about the commissioners meeting on Mondays and Thursday again in the near future. Also during the meeting, Commissioner Mobray reported County Fuels had the low bid on 1,000 gallons of gas at $2.445 per gallon. He also said the county will let bids for 7,000 gallons of diesel fuel as well as for chip and sealing of 12 miles of overlay and another two miles of a new double coat overlay. The bids for the chip and seal work will be due in the clerk’s office at 10:00 on Monday, June 28th. The next meeting of the Commissioners will be Monday at 9:00 at the courthouse and it is open to the public.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is hosting a virtual open house on passenger rail as part of the development of the 2021 State Freight and Rail Plan. The content will be live and accessible via the MoDOT webpage. The virtual open house format allows members of the public to access the materials at any time through June 16th. The public is invited to view the information about Missouri’s passenger rail network, ask questions of MoDOT and the project team and leave comments on how passenger rail service can better service the citizens of Missouri. The passenger rail component of the State Freight and Rail Plan examines each of the three Amtrak service options in Missouri that include Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner, Southwest Chief and Texas Eagle as well as the economic impact of the Missouri River Runner state-sponsored route. Open house participants are also encouraged to complete a survey designed to solicit feedback on recommendations for Missouri’s passenger rail system. The State Freight and Rail Plan identifies current and future trends to help make informed decisions on future investments in the freight and passenger rail industries in Missouri. Freight and rail plans are required documents for the state to receive federal funding for future transportation projects. There are no dedicated federal funding sources for passenger rail, so these funds are vital to the Missouri River Runner’s long-term viability. For additional information on the Missouri Freight and Rail Plan please contact Cheryl Ball, at 573.526.5578.

Governor Mike Parson signed SB 63 into law, which creates a statewide prescription drug monitoring program in the state of Missouri. SB 63 establishes the Joint Oversight Task Force of Prescription Drug Monitoring, responsible for collecting and maintaining the prescription and dispensation of prescribed controlled substances to patients within the state. This legislation will assist health care professionals in better monitoring the dispensation of opioids and other prescribed controlled substances to their patients. Similar statewide prescription drug monitoring programs have been adopted in every other state in the country. SB 63 also extends the expiration date of the RX Cares for Missouri Program to August 28, 2026.