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The Dent County Commissioners held their regular meeting at the Dent County Courthouse Thursday. In the road report, District One Commissioner Dennis Purcell said that grading was going to be done and rock was going to be added to Dent County Roads 5650, 6010 and 6420. District Two Commissioner Gary Larson said that grading was going to be done and rock was going to be added to Dent County Roads 2120, 2240, 2270 and 4330. Commissioner Purcell said that he and Commissioner Larson attended the National Forest Service special meeting Wednesday morning for those interested in logging the downed timber on forest service lands 300 feet to each side of the county roads. He said that there were 38 interested individuals in attendance to find out what needed to be done to bid. Purcell went on to say that no start date was given, it was just that the winning bid would have a year to get their bid area completed. If others are interested in bidding on these areas, they need to contact the National Forest Service at 729-6656. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said that he attended an Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District Executive Committee meeting Tuesday and the household hazardous waste collection at the Rolla Recycling Center has been temporarily suspended for the next 60 to 90 days as the firm that removed the waste from the Rolla Recycling Center out of Arkansas has filed for bankruptcy. He will let us know when a new vendor has been selected. He also said that a new EPA rule says that any appliances that contain refrigerant in the future that are brought in to be recycled would have to be drained of all refrigerants or there would be an additional charge to the person dropping off the item. He also attended a Top of the Ozarks RC & D meeting Wednesday in Houston where they discussed Title 3 funds and how they can be used. He said that some rules have changed as to what those funds can be used for. He also said that MoDOT cancelled all their February bids for projects because of the lack of available funds in the state. Joe Weber and Larry Goldberg from GS & M Architects and Planners Were in attendance to discuss some options for a new jail and governmental center. They presented two plans: one that was a two-level facility and another that was two distinct buildings. Their recommendation was that the new facility would need to be a 77-bed facility to accommodate the growth and needs in the next ten years. Goldberg said that there are three ways to look at paying for the project: Revenue bonds, structured lease and USDA Stimulus Money. The most affordable way would be to use the stimulus money through the USDA who he said is looking for projects. Goldberg said that right now building costs are the lowest in many years where savings can be realized as much as 8 to 12 percent, and numerous companies are bidding competitively on projects which also lowers the cost. He said that this would be the best route to go where the county would not have to try to pass any sales tax increase, or increase other taxes to pay for the complex. The total cost of the project presented was about 7.6 million dollars. The figures presented did not include the cost to purchase the land for the project. The commissioners will look over all the numbers and get back with them if they would like to take the second step which would include public hearings. Jerry Craig from the Sesquicentennial Committee asked the commissioners if vendors and crafters could set up on the courthouse lawn on July 3^rd for a downtown street event and they agreed to the request. At the last meeting, Circuit Clerk Ruth Ann Williams presented bids for a new phone system for the first floor of the Judicial Building. One was from Embarq for $11,496.51 and the other was from Fidelity for $14,670.21. The commission made no decision on the system and Williams will review the bids and get back with the commission. Steve Morton from Morton Construction came in and discussed putting in seven more lights in the Annex for an additional cost of $750 and the commissioners agreed. The commissioners also awarded the bid on culverts to Metal Culverts, and the grader blade bid went to Fabick and Company. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

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