The Dent County Commission held a regular meeting on May 4 at the Dent County Courthouse. After the agenda and minutes were approved by a 2-0 vote, Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson shared that the Salem Library is accepting regular household batteries for recycling. Batteries may be deposited into the receptacle on the left side of the front desk at the library during their regular business hours. The library will not accept lithium batteries (such as those found in cell phones and other rechargeable devices), car batteries, or any battery larger than nine volts.
During road reports, District One Commissioner Wes Mobray addressed a recent road hazard issue. On the afternoon of May 2, it was reported that a large amount of glass had been lost from a vehicle and had scattered over several area roadways.
The Salem News investigated on May 3 and confirmed the reports. Glass was in Salem on Fourth Street, Hickory Street, East 10th Street, Dent Ford Road, Oaks, and outside of city limits for at least a mile on County Road 4110. Out of all roadways listed, County Road 4110 was found to contain the most glass. Mobray told The Salem News on May 3 that glass had also been spread down Highway 19. The glass pieces ranged in size from small chips to large shards. The largest shard found by The Salem News measured two inches by one and a half inches, and all pieces appeared to be flat-pane window glass.
City crews in Salem began using street sweepers to remove the glass from town, according to Salem Police Chief Joe Chase. The county, however, doesn’t own a street sweeper. Mobray said on May 3 that he asked MoDOT to come out and sweep the affected county roadways, since MoDOT had swept Highway 19 on May 2.
During the May 4 meeting, Mobray said he was grateful for MoDOT’s help.
“MoDOT went to sweep our county roads for us. We really appreciate them for helping out, because we don’t have a (street sweeper),” said Mobray. “4110, they went and swept all of it for me.”
“I heard about it, but I don’t know where it came from,” said Larson.
“Unknown source. I don’t know where it all came from. It was down 19, it was in town on streets, it was everywhere,” said Mobray.
“That’s strange that somebody would be losing glass like that,” said Larson.
“It had to have been glass out of a window,” said Mobray. “That’s a lot of glass.”
“Tuesday evening, I saw MoDOT sweeping the highway, and I thought ‘what are they doing?’” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on. But we did get (the county roads) taken care of, thanks to our good friends at MoDOT.”
Mobray concluded his report by saying that crews would be working on vehicle maintenance that day, unless an urgent road repair came up. He also said a major project was being completed on County Road 4235, where crews had installed a new culvert and had completely redone a section of roadway.
Larson, who is temporarily acting as district two commissioner regarding road maintenance until the seat’s vacancy is filled, reported that grading was to be done on County Road 2380, and material would be hauled to county roads 3180, 2380, and 4380. Larson also reported that culverts would be installed on County Road 3180, and County Road 6160 would be patched with UPM asphalt patch.
During his Presiding Commissioner’s report, Larson said he would be attending a meeting of the Solid Waste Council on May 9 at the Meramec Regional Planning Commission. He also said he plans to attend a tourism meeting on May 8.
County Clerk Angie Curley reported that she would be mailing Voter ID cards that day. According to Curley, the county is bound by statute to issue a voter canvass every two years. Curley said she would be mailing out over 9000 cards to area voters. If the info on the card is correct and current, voters are instructed to keep the cards. If any info on the card is incorrect, voters are instructed to fill out the back of the card and mail it back to Curley’s office. According to Curley, voters who miss two federal elections without updating their voter registration will be placed on an inactive list. If a voter has moved, fails to update their voter registration information, and misses two federal elections, Curley said the voter will be deleted from the system. Voters who do not receive their ID card within two weeks of May 4 are encouraged to call Curley’s office. Curley also said that voters may use their ID cards at the license bureau as proof of address, and that she made sure to include a date on the cards for that purpose. The Salem License Bureau confirmed via a phone call that voter ID cards that include a date may be used as proof of address.
Curley also reported that she had met with Amy Forsyth with the Department of Agriculture, about a letter and invoice requesting reimbursement for the re-monumentation of eight property corners within the county.
The commission also said that the courthouse would be closed at 2:00 p.m. that day so that county employees could attend a funeral.
It was also announced that all county offices will be closed May 8 in observance of the birthday of former President Harry S. Truman. The commission had previously announced that there would be no commission meeting on May 11, but that Larson would be in the commission office during the regular time to address any business that comes up.
