News – Tuesday, November 19th 2024

The Dent County Commission met Monday morning at the courthouse for their regular meeting. Newly elected commissioners Keith Green and Jimmy Williams were in attendance as were Dr Alan West and Dr. Alan Muelenberg from Private Lane 601 in Dent County about three miles west of Highway 119. They were in attendance to ask if the county could provide some professional assistance in helping to repair their private lane with the use of graders to widen the lane, adding some rock or even some engineering suggestions. They said they have the lane “passable” at this time but, but it may not be good enough for emergency personnel such as ambulance to use the lane. Both District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray and District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk said that since their lane is private, the county can’t really do anything as indicated in the state statutes. They can’t use public tax dollars on a private lane even though it feeds multiple properties, it is not a county road listed with MoDOT.. The lane is maintained by the property owners on that lane on a “cost share basis” and they would have to find a private contractor to make the repairs they need. If they wanted to make it into a county road, Commissioner Mobray said it would cost over a million dollars to have the road engineered and then properly built to the county specs. Polk and Mobray both told them to contact Dent County Emergency Management Director Derrick Marfitt as there may be some FEMA assistance available for the needed work on the road, but they would have to have plenty of documentation on the road such as before and after pictures which Dr. West said he had. In the road report, Mobray said some riprap was going to be added to Dent County Road 6300 while speed limit signs were going to be installed on Dent County Road 6490. In District 2, Polk said crews would be cleaning out debris from low-water bridges. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he attended the MRPC meeting as well as the Phelps County PHA meeting last Thursday in St. James. Dent County Clerk said the county needed to put out bids for new election equipment as the county’s equipment now is ten years old. Bids would be due in her office by 10:00 on December 9th and will be opened that morning. All the specs are available in the county clerk’s office. Curley said the next election will be the Municipal Election on April 8th and filing will start for the City of Salem, school boards, hospital board, fire district board, health center board, water district board s an others on December 10th. Filings will be held at the individual offices of the those public entities. The next meeting will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Police Department will be testing the storm sirens tomorrow at 10:00 in the morning. If there is inclement weather in the area that day the test will be postponed to the following Wednesday, the 27th.

Airport Board President Tyler Naramore has called for a meeting of the Board this evening at 6:00 at the Old City Hall Auditorium at 202 North Washington. Agenda items includes the approval of the minutes of the October 15th meeting,  the board hearing an update on the airport and projects, hearing an update on the CIP, plus any other business as well as public comments. The meeting tonight is open to the public.

The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Salem will hold the Christmas Parade of Lights in Salem on Saturday, December 7th starting at 6:00 with this year’s theme: “Have Your Elf a Merry Little Christmas.”  The parade will run from the corner of South Grand and Franklin at the SBU Campus, traveling east to MacArthur, then going north to 4th Street before going heading east to the Dent County Courthouse square. Entry forms are now available at the office of the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce at 1136 South Main in Salem. Forms need to be returned by December 2nd to the chamber office. You can mail them, fax them at 573-729-6741 or e-mail them at chamber@salemmo.com, or drop them off in person. A full list of the parade rules are available at the chamber office. If you have any questions, call 573-729-6900.

The Missouri Department of Transportation reminds motorists to be prepared for the sudden appearance of wild animals on Missouri roadways throughout the fall months. Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Deer Biologist Jason Isabelle says that deer increase their movements during the breeding season, which began in October and peaks in mid-November and because of this, motorists should be especially cautious when driving this time of year. In 2023, Missouri drivers experienced 3,591 crashes involving deer resulting in four fatalities and 420 people being injured. One deer strike occurred approximately every 2 hours and 30 minutes in the state. Staying on guard after a close call or when you see a single deer, as there are likely more. Never swerve to avoid animals in the road, as it can cause loss of vehicle control, resulting in serious injury or death. According to Missouri Law, an individual who has struck and killed a deer with their vehicle may claim the deer carcass if written authorization to possess the deer is granted by an MDC agent. The Wildlife Disposition Form is free, but MDC must issue the permit.