News – Friday, July 11th, 2024

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday for their regular meeting at the courthouse. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson was not in attendance due to prior commitments. First District Commissioner Wes Mobray was appointed as acting presiding commissioner. Philip Karr and Rich Green attended with their concerns still about the truck traffic from Royal Oak Charcoal as it has now returned after the county put up their road signs. Royal Oak, after a discussion with the commission, stated they would be putting up their own truck signs on their property but they have not been installed yet There are still issues on Route JJ at the end of state maintenance where there is no sign by the county or Royal Oak, and the highway patrol has told residents they can’t do anything unless a sign is posted, and county deputies can’t write citations without an ordinance which the commission has yet to finalize as they are trying to make sure the ordinance doesn’t impede local truck traffic from using the roads to do their jobs. Karr would like to see the sign prohibiting trucks over ten tons placed at that location. Denver Ellis brought in a sample initiative petition that would allow the public to place the questions on the ballot of “Shall the County of Dent exempt senior citizens from increases in the property tax liability due on such senior citizen’s primary residence? Yes or No.” County Clerk Angie Curley took the petition from Ellis but said she only certifies signatures. Ellis said a petition similar to this was passed by a county in southwest Missouri and Curley asked him which one, but Ellis did not have the information with him. He will provide that to Curley so she can follow up the petition to she what steps need to be taken. Curley did say that Ellis would need to collect 362 signatures for the initiative to be put on the ballot. The petition when completed would have to be delivered to the commission. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said three grader drivers are busy patch grading numerous roads with the damage from the rain with two men hauling materials to a number of those roads. Mobray said brush cutting is being done to county road 6660. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk said materials are being added and grading done on Dent County Road 2160, while only grading would be done on county roads 2165, 2170 and 4290. He said brush was being cut on county roads 3260 and 3290, and a crew was fixing a tire on grader #37. Gary Fritzinger came in to talk about getting the culverts cleaned out on county road 4030 as well as possibly getting the bent parts cut off. Commissioner Polk said he would check into it. County Clerk Curley said excused absentee voting continues at the courthouse until August 5th and no-excuse absentee voting will begin July 23rd. She also said the last day to mail out a ballot will be July 24th. The treasurer received a check from Terry Baker in the amount of $7,000 for chip and seal of 2/10ths of a mile on county road 2370. He will maintain the road for five years and the commission will have the prosecutor draw up an agreement. The next commissioner meeting will be Monday morning at the courthouse at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

The City of Salem Utilities Committee meeting was called to order at 6:15 Wednesday evening at the City Auditorium. Finance Director Houston presented first with her finance report. During which she highlighted several utility line items, in summary the Electric Fund, Electric D&R Fund, and Electric Reserved Fund totaled a little over 2.5 million dollars, this is an increase of about 1.3 million dollars from the same time last year. The Water Fund, corresponding D&R, and Reserve Fund totaled nearly 1.7 million dollars, the difference compared to the beginning balance is an increase of $34,524. The Sewer Fund, corresponding D&R, and Reserve Funds had a beginning balance of $471,454 and an ending balance of $834,696. An attending citizen asked for clarification about the expenses on chemical supplies for sludge and sewer tools, including a hydrovac truck. Director Houston elaborated on the amounts spent, clarifying the expenditures. Utility Director Paine then arrived at the podium to report on work updates. He stated the water department has been focused on water service line repairs, a major sewer repair off Hickory and 11th street among their routine responsibilities. The Electric department focused on reported outages mostly caused by local wildlife, streetlight replacement, and provided assistance to other departments for infrastructure repairs. City Administrator Sally Burbridge reported that the approved electric and trash rates will go into effect on the September Billing cycle, while the approved sewer rates will go into effect on the October billing cycle. On the topic of the MPUA Mutual Aid Agreement, which for context, is a multi-community agreement designed to be utilized under conditions when time is of the essence to save lives, prevent human suffering, and/or mitigate property damage following an emergency. Director Paine informed the committee that the city’s current agreement expires August 1st, and would need to be renewed by an authorized signature should the city decide to continue to participate in the program for the 18th consecutive year. Discussions regarding liabilities, updated insurance requirements, commitments to other communities including those out of the state of Missouri, logistics of communications during a disaster, the presentation of time sensitive documents, overall expenses, the city’s emergency action plans and personnel were all raised by committee members and citizens in attendance. A motion was then made by Kyle Williams to amend a prior motion, and moved to recommend continuation of the city’s participation in the mutual aid program provided the necessary updates with current administration and a legal review. John Hambacher seconded the motion and stated that the city needs to be sure that they are meeting all requirements of the agreement. The motion was approved unanimously. Catherine Dent asked to obtain an updated disaster manual from the city. Director Paine stated he will provide that. The committee also discussed water meter size fees, with John Hambacker presenting documents and Kyle Williams providing comparative information from nearby towns. Two options were considered for metering fees: one based on account and the other on service line size. It was agreed that this would be discussed further in future meetings. At 7:18 PM a motion to adjourn was made and approved by all members present.