Archive for 2020

The Dent County Commission met Monday morning for their regular meeting. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles was not in attendance due to a previous commitment so District 2 Commission Gary Larson acted as presiding commissioner for the meeting. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams brought in the sales tax funds that have been received by the county in November. The General Revenue Fund in received $98,235.80 and that is an increase of $29,239.31 from last November. Year-to-date, the General Revenue Fund has seen an increase of $68,906.28 over last year. The LEST Fund received the same amount as the General Revenue Fund. The Road and Bridge Fund received $47,104.59 and that was $15,104.52 more than what was received last year in November. Year-to-date, the Road and Bridge Fund is up $39,999.04 or about 9.77%. The Operation and Trust Jail Funds each brought in $94,225.44. That is up $30,761.35 over last November and year-to-date, those funds are up $79,542.36 and that comes to about 9.71%. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell reported work crews would be checking for downed limbs reported on Dent County Road 6240 as well as in the Bunker area. Purcell went on to say the extreme southern part of Dent County received about three inches of rain Saturday night and another crew would be there checking for washouts, clogged pipes or any other damages. If time permits, crews will get in some grading. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said materials would be added and grading would be done on Dent County Roads 2120 and 2160 while brush would cut on county roads 2330 and 2540. He said a crew would also be out checking for downed trees or limbs from Saturday night’s hard winds. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley reported she was working on the 2021 budget and had a letter from Darrell Decker from the county’s insurance consortium that needed to be signed regarding the deductibles the commission agreed on. She also said the date for the beginning of filing for Municipal Election positions will begin December 15th. Persons interested in running for those positions would sign up at each respective location except for those who ware interested in serving on the Dent County Health Department Board. Those people would sign up in the county clerk’s office. At the last meeting, the commissioners opened bids for a used pickup for the Road and Bridge Department and had only bidder, Chafin Auto Sales. They offered eight different vehicles from which the commissioner could select. They agreed to purchase a 2010 Dodge 4x4 pickup for $11,600. Also at the last meeting, Dent County Assessor Jamie Homeyer discussed with the commission of going with Eagleview Imagery for photography and their imagery software that came to $94,000 and that was to be paid out of CARES Act funds. The commission agreed unanimously to wait to see if the COVID-19 funds would be extended into 2021. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk brought in her monthly turnover report for October. Also at the last meeting, two CARES Act applications were approved. The first was for the Medley’s Family Restaurants, LLC for $50,000 and the second was for $50,000 that went to the I Can2 Learning Center. The Commissioners will not be meeting Monday due to virtual MAC Conference that they will attend by Zoom, however they will be meeting Tuesday, November 24th at 9:00 and it will be open to the public.

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows that deer hunters in Missouri harvested 80,525 deer during the opening weekend of the November portion of the fall firearms deer season November 14th and 15th. Numbers were way down on Saturday due to the winds and storms throughout the state, but many hunters rebounded with a good harvest on Sunday. Of the 80,525 deer harvested, 48,695 were antlered bucks, 6,867 were button bucks, and 24,963 were does. In the local area, Texas County reported the largest harvest with 1,633 deer telechecked, Dent County reported 1,074 deer harvested, Crawford County had 1,051 deer taken, Shannon County hunters harvested 994 deer, Reynolds County 845 deer telechecked, and Phleps County reported 713 deer harvested. Last year, hunters checked 88,760 deer during the opening weekend of the 2019 November portion of firearms deer season. The November portion of firearms deer season continues through November 24th.

An accident happened in Phelps County at 3:54 Monday afternoon on Phelps County Road 8070 about a mile west of Rolla. According to the highway patrol report, 27-year old Joshua Johnson of Rolla, was driving a 2010 GMC Sierra westbound when he failed to negotiate a curve. The Sierra traveled off the left side of the roadway and struck a concrete loading dock. Johnson suffered moderate injuries and taken to Phelps Health in Rolla by the state trooper. Johnson was not wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The GMC was totaled and removed from the scene by Ron Dishman’s Towing in Rolla.