News – Friday, September 13th 2024

The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Thursday morning in the courthouse. In the road report, District One Commissioner Wes Mobray said a culvert was being installed on Dent County Road 5690 as well as rock being added and grading done on that road. He said brush would be cut on county roads 5150 and 5170. District Two Commissioner Gary Polk reported that grading would be done on Dent County Roads 2210 and 5280, while rock will be added and grading done on county road 5300. Polk said brush would be cut on county road 4380. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he was signing the Department of Agriculture Grant for the remonumentation of corners that allows for eight corners to be remonumented by the surveyor, and the county will receive $350 for each corner with a maximum amount returned to the county of $2,800. Larson also said tickets for the MRPC Annual Dinner, that will be held in Linn, Missouri on October 24th are now available for $40 each. Contact the MRPC at 573-265-2993 for more information. Commissioner Larson reported the commission would be discussing getting Coroner Ben Pursiful a different truck for the coroner’s office. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said the last day to register to vote for the General Election will be on October 9th, absentee voting with an excuse begins September 24th, while “no excuse” absentee voting will begin on October 22nd. The last day to mail a ballot will be October 23rd and if anyone needs to update their voter registration, such as an address change or name change, the sooner that can be done the better, at the County Clerk’s office. Curley also said she balanced with the collector and assessor for the month of August on all abatements, add-ons, and collections. Shawn McGonigle from the MAC Trust stopped by to let the commission know the county will see a reduction between 25 and 30% in their workman compensation premiums for the next year. He said there is still one open claim, and that is about to be wrapped up. He also said MAC will be deciding during a Zoom call meeting to build an office and training center in Jefferson City for meetings and more. The next meeting of the commission will be Monday morning in the courthouse at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Utility Committee held their regular meeting last night at 6:15 in the Auditorium. The board approved the agenda and the minutes from the last meeting. The Financial Report, was given by Stacy Houston. As of August 31st, the ending fund balance in all three electric funds is $2.9 million; the ending balance on all three water funds is $1.6 million; and the ending balance on all sewer funds is $872,000. During the building updates, City Administrator Sally Burbridge stated she reached out to BHNG, The company doing the unit rate study and audit on the utilities billing system, and they are expecting a presentation anytime between November and December. Utility director Steve Payne gave an update on water and sewer. During the discussion about water meter fees, Board Member John Hambacker asked for clarification about the consumption total with the new service availability fees. Burbridge and Board member Kyle Williams explained how those numbers are calculated. John talked about the fees he proposed at the last meeting that would be applied only to motels and hotels in the city only, not other businesses. Sally explained that they have to be careful about implementing changes that single out specific individuals and businesses. Kyle stated that overall meter rate based on size would be appropriate, but not to include any additional verbiage that singles out hotels and motels specifically. John then made a motion that the base rates be changed to service availability fees for sewer only where meters less than 3 inches is $12, 3 inches is $60, 4 inches is $120, 5 inches is $150, and 6 inches is $190 per month. The fee for meters outside the city would remain the same. The motion carried. During the Sewer Adjustment Policy portion, a motion was made to amend the policy to state the utilities department will adjust the most recent three months. Motion passed. During the question portion of the meeting, There was a question about postage. Sally stated they are in the process of trying to get a quote for outsourcing the printing and mailing of the bills, though there is no timeline on when that will be. The next utility meeting will be Wednesday October 9th.