News – Friday, March 21st 2025

The Dent County Commission met Thursday morning at the courthouse for their regular meeting. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams gave the report on the CART taxes received by the county. She said the county received $74,778.75 this month and that is up $3,990.86 from march of 2024, and year-to-date, the CART taxes are up $21,468.74 which is an increase of 9.5%. Williams also said she was accepted to serve on the Missouri Association of Counties Trust Board which oversees workman’s comp. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Keith Green said rock will be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 6495 and 6505, while only grading will be done on county roads 6240, 6245 and 6370. Green said brush will be cut on county road 6500 and the county Mantis brush cutter will be taken to get welded. District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams said rock will be added and grading will be done on Dent County Road 3180 and on the hill of county road 4060. Williams said rock will also be added to county roads 2245 and 2250 where new driveway pipes are being installed. He went on to say brush would be cut on county roads 4270 and 4280, patching will be done on chip and seal county road 3260, and maintenance will be done on some of the equipment. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson stated he attended the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District Executive Board meeting Tuesday where new members had to be appointed. He said it appears he will again be the president of the board as he was the only one nominated for the position, but the vote has not yet been taken. He did say that an electronics waste recycling collection and tire disposal would be held at Brewer Science in Rolla on June 14th. He also said he attended the Tourism Tax Committee meeting where five reimbursements were requested and approved. Larson said he has the new pulley for the flagpole, but with the heavy winds expected to continue, the county will not be putting up flags until the part is replaced. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley indicated the excused absentee voting for the Municipal Election continues through April 7th, and non-excused absentee voting will begin on Tuesday, March 25th. The last day to have a ballot mailed out will be Wednesday, March 26th, and her office will be open for absentee voting on Saturday, April 5th from 8:00 in the morning until 12:00 noon. She also said the voters at Oak Hill R-1 will still cast their vote at the school gymnasium on April 8th for the Dent County Fire Protection District Bond Issue. With no school board election, she said there are 242 possible voters registered that will vote at R-1. Curley stated she balanced with the treasurer on all accounts for the month of February. She went on to say that the Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has reported the local election authorities have removed 18,637 deceased persons from the voter rolls in the first 60 days of his term. Curley said a canvassing will be held in the summer to update the rolls from those who have moved, changed their name, or who have not voted in the last two federal elections. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk said the issue with an altered check with Marsha Geninatti that was brought to the attention of the county commission Monday, was resolved after Geninatti met with VanKirk and the issue was investigated. It was asked if the applications for the Homestead Tax Credit would be ready by April 1st and VanKirk said they would be available in her office by Tuesday, April 1st. The applications are free and if you have any questions, please contact Collector Shannon VanKirk at 573-729-3911. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

Salem R-80 Superintendent Nathan Wills reported on an incident that occurred at William Lynch Elementary Wednesday morning at 9:45. Staff detected a suspicious smoke smell and as a precautionary measure, and the fire department was contacted immediately. Firefighters responded promptly, assessed the situation, and determined that there was no active fire or danger to students and staff. There was a blower unit within the ceiling that went out. The building was thoroughly checked, and normal school activities resumed once it was deemed safe. The safety of our students and staff is always our top priority, and we appreciate the quick response from our fire department. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Salem R-80 Central office at 573-729-6642.