News – Tuesday, January 14th 2025
The Dent County Fire Protection District Board of Directors will hold their meeting this evening at 6:00 in the fire station located at #2 South Main Street. After call to order the oath of office will be taken by new board members, then roll call. After approval of the consent agenda they will review the minutes, go over the financial report, approve bills, then review the budget, and hear the monthly reimbursement report. In old business they will discuss the bond issue and tower lease. In new business they will hear the Chief’s report and set a date for the next meeting. The Board will go into closed session, if necessary, before adjourning.
The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Monday morning at the courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Keith Green said workers will be doing maintenance on a number of vehicles. District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams said workers are spreading salt and sand on county roads 2140 and 2150 as well as on other roads where they find slick spots. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he attended the MRPC and Phelps County Housing Authority meetings by zoom Thursday. He wants to remind Dent County citizens that the Phelps County Housing Authority is not taking any applications at this time for housing assistance. Larson said he and the other commissioners along with Dent County Emergency Director Derrick Marfitt would be attending a FEMA meeting in Waynesville today. Larson announced bids for diesel fuel were taken and Phil-Mart had the lowest bid at $2.45 per gallon. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said the preliminary county budget will be available to the public after 10:00 this morning. You can pick up a copy at the clerk’s office or you can contact them, and they can e-mail you the budget. Call 729-4144 for more information. She also said tax entity certifications are due by January 28th in her office. Curley went on to say the courthouse would be closed on Monday, January 20th for Martin Luther King’s birthday. At the last meeting, Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk brought in her monthly totals for December and said the county collected $6,216,646.95. The commission approved and signed the contract for the maintenance of the ownership map and land transfers for the County Assessor’s office. This contract is from January 1st through December 31st for $700 per month to Justin Basham. The commissioners discussed the budget with numerous office holders and discussed putting
out for bid the lawn care service as well as emergency snow and ice removal on sidewalks sometime this spring. The next meeting of the commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting will be open to the public.
The Dent County Sheriff’s office released these reports for the first week of January. On Wednesday January 1st deputies took a report for a theft that occurred in the 400 block of County Road 5070. The victim, a 65-year-old Salem man, stated money had been taken from his wallet.
The investigation is ongoing. The next day Thursday January 2nd deputies responded to the 20000 block of E. Highway 32 for a reported burglary. The victim, a 50-year-old Boss man, advised suspect(s) had broken into his residence and stolen numerous items. The investigation is ongoing. On the following day Friday January 3rd deputies responded to the 100 block of County Road 6680 for a wanted subject. The suspect, a 53-year-old Salem man, was arrested on a warrant and transported to the Dent County Jail. Then on Sunday January 5th deputies responded to the 600 block of County Road 2480 for a reported burglary. The victim, a 61-year-old Iowa man, advised suspect(s) had broken into his residence and stolen multiple items. Additional suspect information was gathered, and the investigation is ongoing. If you have any information on an ongoing investigation please contact the Sheriff’s office at 573-729-3241.