News – Tuesday, February 25th 2025

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning at the courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams presented the CART taxes received by the county in February. She said the county received $88,293.83 which is up $10,520.04 from last February, and year-to-date, CART taxes are up $17,477.88 which is an 11.2% increase. Grant Wilson from Representative Jason Smith’s office was in attendance and said congress would be voting on the budget resolution bill today that would continue the Trump tax cuts from his first term; plus eliminate taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security as well as promoting manufacturing. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk presented the bid from Clearbasin for software for $5,000 for the Senate Bill 190 application with the assessor the Homestead Tax Credit available to those who qualify. The software is subscription based with an annual cost for updates and changes. The commissions approved going with Clearbasin. Curt Faigle from the 100-Acre Wood Rally was in and said the Road Rally this year would be on March 14th and 15th with the Parc Expose being held from 8:30 to 11:00 around the courthouse the morning of March 15th. The first car should leave out around 10:30 and the county roads used have all be used before. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Keith Green said crews were removing a snowplow from a truck and working on a bad cylinder on another. He also said they were doing road maintenance as well as checking roads for any remaining slick spots. District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams said crews were removing the snowplow on County Truck #122 and removing the spreader box from another truck. He also said crews were using the Ultimate Paving Materials on select chip and seal roads. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said the commissioners would be at their annual CCAM training February 26th through the 28th.  Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said excused absentee voting for the April Municipal Election will begin today, and not everyone will need to vote. Curley says elections will be held in April for the City of Salem, Dent County Fire Protection District, Rolla Rural Fire Department, Rolla Schools, Bunker R-3 School, and the Iron County R-4 School. If you vote in those taxing entities and want to vote, don’t forget to bring your photo ID with you. Curley says sample ballots are available in her office, or she can e-mail one to you. You can also keep up to date on election information on the Dent County Election/County Clerk Facebook page. Dave Cowell on Highway 119 would like to put in a family cemetery on his property. The first step is to let the commission know if it’s less than half of an acre as he has already built a road for public access. He will record it in the Recorder of Deeds of office. He also is doing a project called the Confederate Medal of Honor. The men who served in the units would pick someone for that medal and Dent County has one. His name was James Hulsey, and he survived the war. It’s a medal and certificate to be public displayed, they pay for it, no cost to the county. He feels it is one of our men from this county and is a part of history. The commission made no decision at this time. The commission updated the policy handbook for 2025. The handbook was from 2021 and with the two new commissioners, they both signed it. With no meeting Thursday, the next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Monday, March 3rd at 9:00 at the courthouse and it will be open to the public.

The Board of Directors of Salem Memorial District Hospital will conduct their regular monthly meeting this evening at 7:00. The meeting will take place in the Hospital Library and may be fully conducted and attended by telephone or other electronic means and the public may observe and attend any portion of the meeting not closed to the public pursuant to Chapter 610.021 RSMo. After the call to order, roll call, and approval of the agenda the board will hear public comments and presentations, speakers must sign-in and keep comments to 3 minutes. Then the board will hear the CEO report followed by the Hospital reports. They will discuss old and new business before going into executive session. Any person that would like to attend by telephone or electronic means should contact the SMH Administration office at 573-729-6626 ext. 4005, to obtain access information.

The City of Salem will be testing the storm sirens tomorrow at 10:00. If there is inclement weather the test will be on Wednesday, March 5th.