Dent County Commission met at the courthouse Monday for a budget hearing after the regular meeting. The commission discussed and approved the 2021 budget. “We’re in very good financial shape,” said Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles. “The auditors that have looked at our books say that our audits, when compared to most counties of our size, we’re in very good financial shape,” said Skiles. “I think we’ve got a conservative budget prepared for us, we’ve put a lot of work into it.”
Also at Monday’s meeting:
• Treasurer Denita Williams reported on revenue from January. "We received $55,028.29," said Williams. "We are down from last January by $1,021.86."
• District One Commissioner Wes Mobray reported that crews will be out checking for trees, clogged pipes and missing signs, and weather permitting they will be hauling rock to county road 6220. Mobray also said that he was set to attend the County Extension Council meeting Monday night.
• District Two Commissioner Gary Larson reported crews will be servicing grader number 37 and that he attended the Jan. 18 tourism board meeting.
• Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported that he went to the MRPC board meeting Jan. 14. The annual recognition banquet has been canceled this year due to COVID-19 concerns. He also reported that the MAC held its first ever zoom meeting. He will be presiding over the County Commissioners Association of Missouri Jan. 27.
• County Clerk Angie Curley reported that it is time to pay bills as soon as the county budget is approved. Curley reported that she and the Treasurer balanced the December 2020 budget. Filings for the April 6 election have closed and the last day to register to vote is March 10.
• The board accepted applications from potential architecture firms to hire in order to assess the necessary improvements that need to be made to the courthouse. Among those were, Nform Architecture, Springfield; Anderson and Associates, Rolla; Buddy Webb and Co., Springfield; AEA-Stack, St. James; and TreanorHL, Lawrence, Kansas. The board has not yet reviewed those proposals, but Skiles said that they plan to study them and select which ones they think might be best for the job.
