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The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting at the Dent County Courthouse Thursday morning. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell reported that crews would be removing downed trees from Dent County Roads 5080 and 5600 and also checking roads in the Bunker, Jadwin and Montauk area for debris. Purcell also said that he spoke with Bunker Fire Chief Dennis Parker about the new Bunker Fire Station and said that Dent County would provide a truck and loader to haul off debris from the new fire station site. A crew will go to Bunker next week to start the debris and tree removal. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson reported that most of the crew would be checking roads for downed trees and debris. He said that District 2 had already received quite a few calls about downed trees. Larson also stated that a District 2 employee would be traveling to Crown Equipment to pick up the county’s durapatcher. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles read a letter from the Senior Citizens Board saying that Virginia Dent and Elva Schafer were coming off the board and they would like the Commission to appoint Lisa Barnitz and Charlotte Crandel to fill those positions. The Commission agreed to appoint Barnitz and Crandel to the Senior Citizens Board and would write a letter stating that. Dent County Collector Dennis Medlock stopped by the meeting to report that there will be a Tax Sale on the courthouse steps on Monday, August 24th at 10:00 am.  Richard LaBrash came by to invite the Commissioners out to the American Legion for the dedication ceremony of the T-59 Tank on Saturday morning at 10:30. LaBrash said everyone is invited to attend and a meal will immediately follow the ceremony. Sunny Gogel with the Ozarks Regional Foundation stopped by to discuss with the Commission the local industry, tourism and agriculture needs the county might have and said that the foundation is set up to help the 11 counties it serves raise money to meet those needs. At the previous meeting Sheriff Rick Stallings was in to discuss the Sheriff’s Office radio tower. Commissioner Purcell made a motion for Sheriff Stallings to put out bids for a 100-foot freestanding communication tower and Commissioner Larson seconded the motion and Commissioner Skiles agreed. The next meeting of the Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 and that meeting is open to the public and at 10:00 the Commission will hold the annual Tax Rate Hearing and that is open to the public as well.

An accident happened at 9:20 Thursday evening in Iron County on Highway 32 about a mile west of Bixby. According to the highway patrol, a 2009 Nissan driven eastbound by 22-year old Jessica L. White of Salem, failed to negotiate a curve and traveled off the left side of the roadway and overturned. White suffered minor injuries and was taken by an ambulance to the Salem Memorial District Hospital. White was not wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident. The Nissan was totaled and was removed from the scene by Whitaker’s Towing at the request of White.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital held their tax rate hearing Thursday evening at the hospital library. No one from the public was in attendance. Hospital Administrator Dennis Pryor was also not in attendance due to a death in his family. The hospital district is comprised of Dent, part of Shannon, part of Iron and part of Crawford counties, and the total real estate assessed value for the upcoming year is about $165,405,323 which is about $50,000 less than last year. In personal property, the assessed valuation for the upcoming year is about $51,375,174 and that is about eight million dollars less than last year. After adjustments for new constructions and repairs, the assessed tax valuation for the 2010 year is estimated at $220,200,631 and that is five million dollars less than last year. The hospital has budgeted $425,000 for the upcoming year and that money will only be used for equipment, major repairs or improvements. Last year, the hospital had a tax rate of 19.5 cents per $100 assessed valuation. After careful consideration and discussion, the board agreed that tax rate should remain at 19.5 cents per $100 assessed valuation. Since the board of directors meeting was postponed until next week, no further action was taken and the board will have to vote to adopt that rate at their next regular meeting or at a special meeting. The hearing was then adjourned.

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Funeral services for Carl J. “Shorty” Parker of High Ridge, MO, age 85, will be held today at 2:00 at the Boss Assembly of God Church. Interment will be in the Boss Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction the James and Gahr Mortuary in Salem.

Funeral services for Gladys Maxine Wilson of Salem, age 87, will be held Saturday at 1:00 at Wilson Mortuary. Visitation will be Saturday from 11:00 until service time. Interment will be in the Rector Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Smith Surgery Fund.

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