During the Aug. 10 of the Dent County Commission, Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson reported that he had attended a meeting between himself and Salem City Administrator Sally Burbridge and Mayor Greg Parker about the glass-only recycling bin he mentioned during the previous commission meeting. Larson had recently attended a meeting of the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District Advisory Committee on Aug. 3. After the meeting, Larson had said he could get a glass-only recycling container for the county but needed a place to put it. He said he is in talks with the city about a possible location.
“We’re working on all the details for that, and then people can bring their glass to town, and dump it in there. Glass is a big thing for landfills, and to get rid of,” said Larson.
Larson also said they were in preliminary talks about a trash transfer site.
“People can bring their trash in. That’s still a long way off, but this last deal [the glass receptacle] is probably going to come to fruition quick,” said Larson.
Also during his report, Larson said he would be attending a meeting of the Healthy Dent County board later in the day, would be attending a Transportation Advisory Committee meeting at 4 p.m., and a meetings of the MRPC Board and External Relations Committee.
District One Commissioner Wes Mobray was not present at the meeting. Larson said he was attending the State Fair. Mobray sent in a road report, which stated that crews would be cutting brush on County Road 6150, and would be hauling rock to county roads 5015 and 5170.
For District Two, Commissioner Gary Polk reported that the day before, his crews had graded County Road 2330. For Thursday, he said crews would be cutting brush on county roads 2240 and 2245, and would be performing a tire rotation on a road grader.
A citizen came in to talk to the commissioners about County Road 5070, which he said was like a washboard.
“It’ll rattle your false teeth loose,” he said.
The citizen questioned the commissioners, all three of whom were present at the meeting, about why some roads are chosen for chip-and-seal asphalt, and others aren’t. He said he pays the same taxes as everyone else, and asked how the determination was made to apply asphalt. Mobray, who manages the district that County Road 5070 is in, told the citizen that traffic is the main determining factor when deciding to pave a road. He said that while it was generally cheaper to grade dirt roads than maintain asphalt, high-traffic dirt roads cost the county more in maintenance, since they need to be graded more often. Then, it makes sense to pave the road, since asphalt will allow the speed limit to be raised, helping with traffic; and will reduce the man-hours spend grading, actually saving money. Mobray also explained that if the commission were to pave every road in the county, it would cost millions of each year’s budget to maintain them all.
Later, Larson extended his sympathies to the owners of Dewayne’s Tire Services in Salem, which was caught fire Friday night, resulting in a total loss of the building and contents.
“It was a sad event. We appreciate all the first responders and people that helped out the other night. I just can’t imagine what he’s going through. I had a business at one time, and I was worried about that thing happening like that. We do want to express our thoughts to him that we sure hate it,” said Larson. “I’ve known Dewayne for a lot of years.”
For District One, Mobray reported that crews would be out checking the roadways following high winds, lightning, and rain that occurred the night before. Mobray also reported that he was sending some workers to County Road 5520 to fix washouts and a culvert.
“Probably going to be cutting some trees out of the road, I’m sure,” said Mobray.
For District Two, Polk reported that crews would be cutting brush on County Road 2240, checking roads for washouts, and patching where needed.
During his report, Larson said he had attended a meeting of the Transportation Advisory Committee and the MRPC. He said he would be attending the MRPC annual dinner, held in Hermann, Oct. 26. He said Salem residents Easton May and Delores Gray Wood had been nominated for awards.
County Clerk Angie Curley reported that there were bills due to be approved, and that she would be attending a meeting of the Missouri Association of Counties on Thursday. Curley is a District Director on the MAC board.
At 10 a.m., the commission opened bids for some surplus property that the county was selling.
The high bids were Rodney Atkinson, who bid $1601.02 for a 2003 Chevy truck, Jarod Givens, who bid $307.81 for a wire welder, Billy Shepherd, who bid $52 on a hydraulic cylinder, Lonnie Lundy, who bid $40 on some grates, $100 for a snowplow, and $65 for a tailgate spreader; and Jim Privett, who bit $65.95 on a power washer.
Corky Stack of AEA Stack Engineering came to visit with the commission about the ongoing courthouse repairs and a change order. Jared Barnard with MidMo Trim Lights out of Columbia came in with Stack to discuss the decorative lighting on the courthouse, and to give a demonstration of the Trim Light products. The lights have a five-year labor warranty, and a lifetime warranty on the lights themselves.
The commission chose to go with the less expensive package, opting for lights with a 9-inch spacing at a cost of $37,000. The commission voted 3-0 to accept the change order.
