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The Meramec Regional Planning Commission will conduct their January meeting tonight at the MRPC office located at #4 Industrial Drive in St. James at 7:30. After approval of the agenda and several contracts, time has been set aside for an exchange of ideas between Board members and Federal legislators representing the Meramec Region. Luci Flaim will then update the Board on the Energy Missouri program, which was rolled out November 15, 2010, and some $8,000,000 has been obligated in the 16-county area administered by the MRPC. Bonnie Prigge will then updated the Board on the PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) program that would allow private property owners to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements on their buildings through an additional assessment of their property bill, rather than bearing the cost upfront. Legislation enables the creation of a board that can issue bonds for financing these improvements and manages the program locally. Prigge will provide more detail on the program and discuss hosting an information meeting of local governments to discuss the formation of a regional PACE board. Tammy Snodgrass will then report on solid waste activities, Kraig Bone will report on MREPC activities, Tom Klebba will report on business loan activity and T.R. Dudley will report on workforce development activities. Chairman Russell Scheulen and Director Richard Cavender will then report on issues of interest. The meeting tonight is open to the public.

Hunters age 6 through 15 checked 1,292 deer during the late youth hunt Jan. 1 and 2, bringing the total harvest for the 2010-2011 firearms deer season to 231,513. The combined early and late youth season harvests total 14,555, or 6.2 percent of the firearms deer harvest. Top counties during the late youth hunt were Osage with 27 deer checked, Macon with 26 and Adair with 24. This year’s firearms deer harvest was down 6.5 percent from the 2009-2010 figure. Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) deer specialist, attributed the decline to an abundant acorn crop in southern Missouri and reduced deer numbers in parts of northern Missouri.

The Jumpin’ Java Friday Chamber Membership January Meeting will be held on Friday, January 14^th from 7:30 to 8:30 AM at the Chamber Office/Visitor Center, located at 200 South Main.  Stop by for this networking opportunity tell the chamber crowd what’s new with you and chat with your chamber board of directors and chamber members. Also if you have new marketing materials or information about your business, please bring it along.  We like to keep it available in the Visitor Center.

Mark Twain National Forest encourages visitors to get and use free motor vehicle use maps. The free maps show what roads are open to motorized vehicles including all-terrain vehicles, utility all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, cars, and other motorized vehicles. Mark Twain National Forest visitors are asked to follow rules that govern motor vehicle use on National Forest System lands.  Some of these rules include: it is NEVER okay to ride cross-country on Mark Twain National Forest (even to retrieve down game); persons less than 16 years of age are prohibited from operating off-road vehicles on any road unless accompanied and under the direct supervision of an adult 18 years of age or older, and no passengers are allowed unless the vehicle is manufactured to carry passengers. Motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and utility all-terrain vehicles must meet Missouri State motor vehicle regulations to be allowed on open Forest Service system roads. Since state law prohibits use of unlicensed motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and utility all-terrain vehicles on all public roads unless they meet an exemption, most riders must obtain a county permit to ride all-terrain vehicles and utility terrain vehicles on county or Forest Service roads. Markings on the ground make it easier for the public to identify open roads and their lengths. The beginning of open National Forest system roads have a brown fiberglass post denoting the road’s route number and authorized length of road open to public use.  Roads or trails that are not numbered or signed are not open to motorized vehicles.  The Motor Vehicle Use Map can be obtained from any Mark Twain National Forest office including the Salem Ranger Office on Highway 19 South.

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