Local News – Friday, February 9th, 2024

The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams gave the sales tax figures the county received from the state this month. In the General Revenue Fund and the Law Enforcement Sales Tax Fund, the county received $84,554.26 which is down around $6,677.56 dollars from the February 2023 receipts of $91,226.82. Year-to-date, those funds are down $11,514.45. For the Road and Bridge Fund, the county received $39,154.40 and that is down $2,446.32 from the 2023 February figure of $41,600.72 received. Year-to-date, that fund is down $5,055.00. The Jail Operating and Trust Funds each received $78,730.38 this February and that was down $4,471.17 than the February 2023 receipt of $83,201.55. Year-to-date, those funds are each down $9,226.93. The amount received in January and February in 2023 was before the agreement was reached between the commissioners and Missouri Department of Revenue on how Dent County was to pay back the money received from the Department of Revenue by mistake. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated Dent County Road 5510 had been fixed. He also said rock would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 6350 and 6370 while only grading would be done on county road 6320. Mobray also reported a loader would be moving the chips at the county road and bridge department. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk said rock would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 2160, 5300 and 5305 while rock only would be added to county road 2150. Polk said grading would be done on county roads 2165 and 2170 while brush would be cut on county road 4060. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he attended the TAC and MRPC meeting Thursday evening in St. James and that the courthouse would be closed on Monday, February 12th for Lincoln’s Birthday; and on Monday, February 19th for President’s Day. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she balanced with the collector and assessor on all collections, add-ons and abatements for the month of January. At the last meeting, the commission agreed to put out a construction bid request to build a new salt shed with dimensions of 45 feet by 30 feet with 16 foot high walls. The commission also put out a notice to submit bids to provide the county road and bridge department with eighty 15-inch by 20- foot polypropylene culverts, and thirty 18-inch by 20-foot polypropylene culverts, as well as 30 heat treated grader blades for the Cat graders and 60 grader blades for John Deere graders, delivered to the Road and Bridge Department. The specs for all the bid notices are available at the Dent County Clerk’s office in the courthouse. Bids for the salt shed construction will be due by 10:00 in the morning on Monday, March 11th; bids for the culverts will be due by 10:30 that same morning, and finally bids for the grader blades will be due by 11:00 Monday morning, March 11th in the commissioner’s office. For questions on the grader blade or culvert specs, call 729-4144, and for questions on the salt shed construction, call Commissioner Wes Mobray at 729-7770 or 573-247-2788. The bids will be opened in the offices of the Dent County Commission on Monday, March 11th at the time due as established by the commission. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

Have you been dialing 573 before your local numbers? Most people haven’t but beginning February 24th, you will have to dial the 573 area code as well as your local seven digit number to complete a call. This is because a new area code of 235 is being added in our area as an “overlay” of the existing 573 area code and not replacing it. The overlay does not require customers to change their existing area code, but it will require them to dial the area code to complete local calls. The six-month permissive dialing period began back in August to give consumers adequate time to adjust to the dialing changes from seven to 10 digits. So starting Saturday, February 24th, all local calls made within the 573 area code must be placed using 10 digits (area code + the 7-digit telephone number). Calls placed using just seven digits will not be completed. Starting on March 24th, new telephone services may be assigned numbers using the new 235 area code as well as the old 573 area code.