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The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning for their regular meeting at the Dent County Courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell stated that grading would be done on Dent County Roads 5610, 5620, and 5670, while materials would be added and grading would be done on Dent County Roads 6020 and 6040. He said that brush would be cut on Dent County Road 6280, that county road 4180 is being prepared for chip and seal this week, and that a worker would be screening brown rock. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said that grading was going to be done on Dent County Roads 2360, 2370 and 5330; while brush would be cut on Dent County Road 2405. Larson reported that workers are preparing Dent County Road 2250 for chip and seal, and that a worker would be going to Springfield for a load of oil for chip and seal repair. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles stated that at the MAC Conference last week, a hot topic was the 31^st Supreme Court decision that ruled that local entities that do not have a local use tax in place cannot collect local sales tax on the personal sale of a vehicle to another person or on those purchases made out of state. For example, in 2011, there was $204,030 in local sales tax revenues from car sales and with the latest ruling, Dent County would lose about $40,000 in sales taxes since they do not have a local use tax in place. As a matter of fact, only 39 counties in Missouri have passed a local use tax, which covers these types of transactions. The legislature is looking to correct this issue. Commissioner Purcell also reported that he participated in a Region I Homeland Security Oversight phone conference call on Friday and the Jadwin Volunteer Fire Department was awarded a grant of $7,500 for a radio repeater. The money came from cost savings from state bids back in 2009. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be held Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and that meeting is open to the public.

Attorney General Chris Koster announced that he has filed a consent decree to resolve environmental violations at Doe Run’s Sweetwater Mine and Mill in Reynolds County.  The decree outlines environmental actions to clean up and contain lead contamination that Doe Run must take, and requires the company to pay $80,000. The agreement sets out a series of steps to help assure Doe Run protects the environment from lead contamination at the Sweetwater mine. Preventing lead contamination is critical not only to the environment, but to the health of rural Missouri residents who live near mines, mills, and smelters. The consent decree addresses a 450-acre waste pile at Sweetwater that contains sandy material that can be picked up by the wind and blown off-site.  Doe Run agreed to immediately implement a wind erosion plan to keep material from blowing off-site and to cover the mine waste with dirt and native plants when mining ends in order to prevent future erosion. The settlement also requires Doe Run to: upgrade a sewage lagoon; implement a cleanup of soil contamination; assess pollution in Sweetwater Creek; develop a program to improve compliance and staff training; pay the state about $45,000 for litigation costs and oversight of work at the Sweetwater mine; and fund $35,000 in environmental education projects for K through 12 students. Koster appreciated the work of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in reviewing and commenting on the many technical environmental aspects of the decree. The consent decree expands the work at Sweetwater beyond what is required in the state’s December 2011 settlement with Doe Run.  In the earlier settlement, filed jointly with the federal government, Doe Run agreed to pay a $7 million civil penalty for violations at several Doe Run sites, including Sweetwater.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has released their arrest reports for Dent County. On Tuesday, April 17^th at 1:05 in the early morning, 28-year old Ricky Reeves of Salem was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, failure to drive on the right half of the roadway resulting in an accident, and failure to display valid plates. He was taken to the Salem Memorial District Hospital and later released. On Wednesday, April 18^th at 12:05 in the early morning, 29-year old Clarence Artip of Salem was arrested and charged with a violation of adult protection order. He was taken to the Dent County Jail and put on a 24-hour hold. Later that night at 10:48, 23-year old Michael Burgdorf of Salem was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and second degree endangering the welfare of a child. He was taken to the Dent County Jail and later released.

The City of Salem Board of Aldermen and the Planning & Zoning Board of Commissioners will be conducting a Workshop, called by City Administrator Clayton Lucas and Chairman Jerry Craig, on Monday, April 30^th in the City Hall Council Chambers located at 202 North Washington, beginning at 6:00 pm. The Workshop will be discussing the occupancy inspections for rental properties and resolving map issues. The Workshop is open to the public.

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