Local News – Tuesday, May 19th, 2020

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning for their regular meeting. Dwight Ramsburg from Septagone was in to request a change order to add a magnetic lock from Meyer Electric to the jail project for $2,321.08. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell indicated that southern Dent County received about three inches of rain over the weekend which caused some road damage. All crews will be out repairing and patch grading numerous damaged roads while brush will be cut on Dent County Road 6220. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson reported that in the Dent County Road 5330 area, the county received about three inches of rain in less than an hour and half on Thursday last week, then received about three inches in other locations over the weekend. He said materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Road 5330 and 5260 while only grading would be done on county road 5300. He did state that other county roads were going to be checked for damages and repaired if needed. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported on the MRPC board meeting held Thursday night that dealt mostly with the CARES Act money that was sent to the counties to distribute to businesses and to cover costs associated with the COVID-19 virus. Skiles said the MRPC would be putting together a proposal to administer the funds for the CARES Act for each county that would be interested in that service. He said there are still some vague points that need to be clarified and felt the MRPC could stay on top of that better with their staff who will be better equipped to handle the applications, phone calls and more. He said a budget hearing would be held on Tuesday, May 26th at 9:30 at the County Courthouse to add the CARES Act money to the county budget. Skiles also said the MRPC Annual Awards banquet and dinner will be held on October 22nd at the Linn State Technical College. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said absentee voting for the Municipal Election on June 2nd is still going on and the last day to mail out an absentee ballot will be this Wednesday, May 20th. On Monday, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and members of his staff were at the Dent County Courthouse to deliver safety supplies for the poll workers. Curley wanted to remind everyone the last day to register to vote for the August 4th Primary would be July 8th. The board heard a request from Prosecutor Andrew Curley to waive late fees and penalties of his real estate and property tax bill. Curley said the payment was mailed before December 31st, but the collector never received the payment. The commissioners waited to talk with Curley directly before making a decision. According to unapproved meeting minutes, following a discussion with Prosecutor Curley, the commissioners initially agreed to waive the penalties and interest back to January. The commissioners and Prosecutor Curley heard an update on the opiod legislation in closed session that started at 11:00, before coming back into open session at 11:20. After closed session, Collector Shannon VanKirk discussed the issue of waiving fees with the commission and recommended following the state statute that says unless it was a county error, the penalties and interest fees need to be paid. The Commission then rescinded their early decision and will not waive the fees. The courthouse will be closed on Monday, May 25th for Memorial Day so the next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Tuesday morning, may 26th at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting will be open to the public.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will conduct their May meeting tonight in the hospital library beginning at 6:00. After approval of the agenda and minutes of the April 21st regular meeting, Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas will report on the summary of the operations for the month of April, give the Home Health report and the hospital auxiliary report. The Chief of Nursing Report will then be given by Debbie Hines. A report on the hospital foundation, plus the marketing and community perception report will be given by Chief Operating Officer Jason Edwards. Lucas will also go over the Patient Satisfaction Survey results for the period of January through March for the Emergency Department and SMDH Family Medicine. In old business the Board will hear the Fiscal Year ’21 Finance Committee Report, receive a COVID-19 update and also be updated on the Hospital Expansion and Renovation. New business will include a time critical diagnosis resolution as well as purchases since the last meeting. The board may vote to go into closed session. Due to COVID-19, social distancing guidelines for the May meeting of the Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will be held by telephone/video conference. The meeting is open to anyone to join. For information on how to access the meeting, please email Karen Brown at kbrown@smdh.net or call (573) 729-5917, extension 4005.

A free University of Missouri Extension webinar series on home gardening continues at 6:30 tonight. MU Extension specialists developed the eight-part series to help people who want to grow healthy foods, according to Juan Cabrera-Garcia, MU Extension horticulturist. The eight-part evening series includes an hour of instruction and 30 minutes for questions and answers. Registrants may attend individual sessions or the entire series. Classes cover the basics of cool- and warm-season gardening, including container gardening, from fertility to food preservation. Topics and specialists teaching the webinar include “Insects in Your Garden” tonight with Tamra Reall; then “Disease Prevention and Management” on May 26th with Debi Kelly followed by “Cool Season Crops” on June 2nd with David Trinklein. Also the “Warm Season Crops” can be seen on June 9th with Katie Kammler, with “Container Gardening” on June 16th with David Trinklein. The sessions will conclude with “Preserving the Harvest” on June 23rd with Leslie Bertsch. You can register at extension2.missouri.edu/events and click on the home gardening webinar series or call Juan Cabrera-Garcia at 573-686-8064 to learn more.