News – Tuesday, July 30th, 2024

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. The commission said the county would be participating in the “Back to School” sales tax holiday this weekend where people will not pay local, county and state sales taxes on items such as clothing, school supplies, computers, and other items as defined by the statute. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said grading would be done on Dent County Roads 4080, 5600 and 6020 while brush would be cut on county road 4110. Mobray said a man would also be going to Springfield to get oil for chip and seal repair. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk said rock would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 2185 and 3020 while only grading would be done on county roads 3040, 3165 and 5225. He also said rock would be added to county roads 3030 and 3160 while brush would be cut on county roads 3250, 3260, 3280 and 5340. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said a petition has been received from Denver Ellis to allow voters the chance to vote on the issue for taxpayers who may be eligible for a property tax credit if they are eligible for Social Security retirement benefits and are the “owner of record of or have a legal or equitable interest in a homestead” and are liable for real property tax payments on the property. Larson said the county’s legal counsel will verify the petition. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said absentee voting continues through Monday, August 5th at 5:00, and that voters should make sure their personal information is on file in the clerk’s office is up to date. Voters can also contact her office to see where they will be voting in the Primary on Tuesday, August 6th where the polls will be open from 6:00 in the morning until 7:00 in the evening. Her office phone number is 729-4144. Curley said her office in the courthouse will be open Saturday, August 3rd from 8:00 in the morning until noon for absentee voting. Dent County Recorder Cindy Ard spoke to the commission about three instances recently on fraudulent deeds. Ard said property owners out of state who own their property outright with no Deed of Trust have been most vulnerable. She said these attempts were caught in time, but said she will be sending out three to four hundred letters to out-of-state property owners to let them know this occurred.  She is still recommending property owners use a new website where you can sign up to find out if someone is recording a document or changing a recorded document with your name on it. The website is www.deedwatch.com and once signed up, you would receive an e-mail letting you know if a document is recorded with your name on it. There is no charge for this service. Just go to the website, and in the drop-down box, select Dent County, Missouri. In the second box, enter your e-mail that you want the notification to come to. From that point, just follow the simple directions to finish signing up. You could include the name that should be on your deed, or any other form of your name the deed may have been recorded. This service is provided by the Dent County Recorder’s Office to prevent anyone from being scammed out of their property or having someone attached their name to your deed without your knowledge. If you have questions about this service, contact Cindy Ard at the Dent County Recorder’s Office at 573-729-2198. You can also e-mail her at dcrecorder07@gmail.com. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Thursday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors will hold their regular meeting at 6:00 in the hospital library this evening. After the call to order and roll call the minutes of the June 18th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, and July 10th will be reviewed and approved followed by the Administrator’s Report. The board will hear the summary of operations for the month of June as well as statistics for the month. The board will hear about the 340B program, receive the Chief Nursing Officer report, the QAPI report, and be updated on Human Resources, plus the Chief of Staff Report. In old business the Board will hear a Strategic Planning update and discuss a tax levy increase. In new business, the Board will discuss meeting date and time, Conflict of Interest Resolution, and set the August Public Tax meeting.  The Board may vote to go into closed session. The Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors meeting Tuesday night is open to the public. To attend the meeting electronically, contact the hospital administration office at (573) 729-6626, extension 4005.