News – Friday, July 25th 2025

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the courthouse. Citizens Deloris Gray Wood, Dr. Leigh Ann Price, and Cindy Jones were in attendance. Deloris presented two requests for activities on the courthouse lawn. The first, on September 6th, would be a “Birthday Party” celebrating the 155th anniversary for the Dent County Courthouse. The plans are tentative at this point, but might include speaker(s), music, a picnic, etc., and would begin at 4:00 in the afternoon. The second event would be Friday, September 4th, 2026, and would be a WWII Remembrance of events on September 4th, 1943, in Meramec Township. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said the events would be fine based on what the Commission learns from Jeff Banderet of Great Rivers Engineering about timing of the sidewalk project. The Commissioners gave tentative approval to the two activities. In the road report District One Commissioner Keith Green said brush would be cut on Dent County Roads 5015 and 5080, plus his crew had spent two days on 5080, the Swartz Road, preparing for the chip and seal repair project. He went on to report that grading would be done on county roads 5590 and 5600 and another pipe would be installed on county road 4210, the Maledy Ford road. Green also said he had a man going to Lebanon for a load of cold mix asphalt. District Two Commissioner Jimmy Williams reported that grading would be done on Dent County Roads 2200, 2340, and 4340, plus rock would be added and grading done on county road 3233. Presiding Commissioner Larson reported that he attended a Tourism Tax Committee meeting on Monday where they had 3 requests for reimbursement. Two were approved, while one was denied. Larson also said that committee received a thank you letter from John Hambacker for their approval of the Frisco Trail signage. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said bills were being approved by the commissioners for payment, and that she wanted to remind all tax entities such as cities, schools, hospital, health center, unbalance, fire, etc., that their ProForma Tax Rate forms are headed their way and they need to publish their tax rate hearings asap. The commission set their tax rate hearing for August 18th at 10:00. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams was in to report CART receipts and Sales Tax receipts. The road and bridge CART receipts for the month were $89,339.41, which is up $6,272.78. Year-to-date CART receipts are up $47,339.04, or about 8.7%, when compared to 2024. She also reported that the General Revenue and Law Enforcement each received $84,102.40, and those are up year-to-date $26,968.84 or about 4.2%. Road and Bridge was up year-to-date $15,247.49 with this month’s receipt of $38,855.32. That was about a 5.1% increase. The jail funds each received $78,132.45, which is an increase year-to-date of $30,573.11, also a 5.1% increase. Banderet presented engineering agreements for road and bridge improvements. Two smaller projects were proposed on Dent County Roads 5150 and 3210 at a cost of $25,500 each for a total of $51,000. A larger bridge replacement on county road 4210 was proposed at $145,000. The commissioners voted 3-0 to approve the agreements for the three FEMA related bridges, but due to the fact that the county is waiting on FEMA reimbursement Banderet will not begin any work until the commission tells him to. Derrick Marfitt, Emergency Management Director, shared his frustration with FEMA and outlined what he has done supplying reports and documentation, some multiple times to the same department since FEMA lost the information or a personnel change had occurred. It was suggested that the commissioners should contact Congressman Jason Smith and Senator Josh Hawley about the FEMA situation. Banderet also addressed the sidewalk project and the courthouse lighting options. He recommended an alternative that potentially would save $40,000 on the project. Banderet addressed the FLAP Project #077, which is the back road into Montauk. There were some archaeological findings so he recommended going to the Phase I project, which would involve curve widening and would save enough money to stay within the $800,000 fully funded project budget. Economic Development Director Carrie Sutterfield was in to visit about the MRPC Waste Collection September 13th and requested volunteer help. Commissioner Larson said he would follow up on the request. Noah Gates with Tri-State Truck Center visited with the commissioners on the state bid pricing for 2026 Mach dual-axle and tri-axle dump trucks. The commissioners decided to wait on a decision pending FEMA funding. Chris Holliday, IDA President, was in to recommend the reappointment of Lori Plank, Dean Jones and Camron Erway to the Industrial Development Authority Board. Their reappointment was approved 3-0. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Monday morning in the courthouse at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the National Deer Association (NDA) invite landowners to a Wildflowers and Whitetails webinar on August 26th at 6:00 in the evening as well as a Utilizing Prescribed Fire for Deer Management on September 9th at 6:00 in the evening. If you’d like to learn more about deer management at you can visit mdc.mo.gov.

With summer activities, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reminds everyone to be careful with all sources of fire that could cause a wildfire. If you are building a campfire clear a generous zone around fire rings. Store unused firewood a good distance from a campfire. Never use gasoline, kerosene, or other flammable liquid to start a fire. Keep campfires small and controllable. Keep fire-extinguishing materials, such as a rake, shovel, and bucket of water, close. Extinguish campfires each night and before leaving camp, even if it’s just for a few moments. Learn more about camping on MDC areas at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/activities/camping. Call 911 at the first sign of a fire getting out of control.