News – Tuesday, October 8th 2024

The Dent County Fire Protection District Board of Directors will be meeting this evening at 6:00 at the fire station at #2 South Main Street. After the roll call will be the approval of the consent agenda which includes the review of minutes, the financial report and bills, the checking account, and budget. The monthly reimbursement report will be reviewed followed by old business. The board will discuss the AFG grant status for radios before new business. The board will review the audit results and conduct the signing of the management representation letter (MRL). A representative of LJ Hart and Company will be in attendance to discuss bonds with the department. Chief Floyd will then give his report to the board. The date will be set for the November meeting before the board adjourns. The meeting this evening is open to the public.

The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Monday morning in the courthouse. In the road report, District One Commissioner Wes Mobray stated rock would be added and grading done on Dent County Road 5440 while only grading would be done on county roads 2460 and 5115. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk was not in attendance and road supervisor Travis Turner reported rock will be added and grading done on Dent County Road 2340 while only grading would be done on county roads 2200, 2560 and 4290. He also said brush would be cut on county roads 2070 and 5240. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he will be attending the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District Executive Board meeting today to discuss the grant applications that had been scored a couple weeks ago. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said this Wednesday is the last day to register to vote for the November election. She said so far 142 people have voted absentee during the “Excused” portion of that voting and the “No Excuse” absentee voting will begin October 22nd. This Friday, Curley said she will be at Dent-Phelps R-3 to educate 4th graders on the election and hold a “mock” election. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk reported her September turnover report showed she collected $36.608.63 which has been distributed to the taxing entities. VanKirk said for the fiscal year, county collections are up 24% over 2023 and that comes to $125,971.85. VanKirk said she received the tax book for 2024 and she balanced with the assessor and clerk. She said tax bills will be mailed out November 5th and people will be able to view their tax bill online on the Dent County Portal beginning today. She said online payments of your tax bills will begin November 1st. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams gave her sales tax report for the money collected this month. She said the General Revenue Fund and Law Enforcement Sales Tax Fund each received $94,263.96 which is $15,831.44 more than for October of 2023. Year-to-date, the General Revenue Fund and the LEST funds are up about $57,408.64 which is about a 6.5% increase. The Road and Bridge Fund received $44,013.24 this month, and that is up $7,101.33 more than October of 2023. Year-to-date, that fund is up $25,698.63 which is close to a 6.3% increase. The Dent County Jail Operating and Trust funds each received $88,447.19 in October and that is up $14,195.28 from the October 2023 receipts. Year-to-date, those funds are up $52,580.72 which is about a 6.4% increase. Jeff Bandaret with Great Rivers Engineering was in to discuss the Flap 077 project for the back way into Montauk State Park. He said the county should have received a supplemental agreement that will extend the submission of the project from March of 2024 to September of 2025. This is partially due to a required Cultural Resource Study which must be done and will cost about $10,000. Great Rivers is currently getting bids from archaeologists to do the work. If they find extensive cultural artifacts, it could kill the project, but Bandaret didn’t think this would be a problem for this project. He also discussed TAP Grant 9901 for the courthouse sidewalks. He had some questions like the size of the dumpster cut out that will be needed, the color of the retaining wall and more. Bandaret said he would get the measurements of the dumpster area while he was here. Bandaret also said BRO funds are available, and the county would need to apply for them by November 15th. There would be no more than a 20% maximum match for the county. They could be used for the low water crossings. He also said the bridge in the city on 2nd Street that is currently closed would also qualify for BRO funds. The commission also received the annual contribution election from CERF. This is for the employees’ portion of 4% of retirement funds to be paid by county funds or through payroll deductions. The commission voted 2-0 for the employees to pay their own retirement through payroll deductions. Sheriff Bob Wells and Sergeant Len Pabin presented an ordinance to the commission regarding the welfare of the citizens of the County of Dent that would prohibit vicious threatening animals being allowed to run at large, and the penalties for violation of the ordinance. No decision was made since all three commissioners were not at the meeting. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.