During their July 6 meeting, the Dent County Commission had a full roster of commissioners for the first time since the resignation of former Presiding Commissioner Skiles. After Larson called the meeting to order, District One Commissioner Wes Mobray moved to approve the agenda, and Polk seconded, approving the agenda by a 3-0 vote. Mobray moved to approve the minutes from the June 29 meeting, and Polk seconded. The minutes were approved 3-0.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, a citizen came in to address gravel that had washed into his yard from a chip-and-seal project. “This is your new commissioner, right here,” said Larson, referring to Polk.
He said he had asked before, but nobody had come out to resolve the issue, which according to the citizen was causing problems for his mower. Larson said he had brought the issue up to a member of the road crew, and that it might have been forgotten about. After discussing the situation with the citizen, Polk took down his information and said he would get to work on solving the problem. “I’ll try to figure out a solution for this issue. Manual labor, I think,” said Polk.
Also, during public comments, The Salem News sought clarification regarding the closure of the courthouse on July 3. Larson responded with several reasons. “It’s not a regular thing. We had a lot of people that weren’t going to be available. They were taking off, so we just decided it would be better to shut it down,” said Larson.
“I was going to only have one (employee) there,” said Mobray.
“I would have had two, I think,” said Larson.
“There were other people in the courthouse that were taking off too,” replied Mobray.
“It was a normal day for the (Sheriff’s Office),” said Larson.
Stan Podorski of KSMO Media who was also present, asked for further clarification.
“So that wasn’t declared a holiday by you guys, so there’s no holiday pay?” asked Podorski.
“No,” replied Larson.
Later in the meeting, Larson offered additional reasoning.
“It was a safety issue. Right now, we’re having to go to the backdoor, but on Monday, they got to come up here and do what they want without worrying about anybody getting hit. It was a safety issue too, so we kind of decided with that, and the people that were out, it would just be better (to close),” said Larson.
Clerk Curley added that the license bureau was also closed on July 3.
During commission reports, Mobray said that District One crews would be stockpiling rock at the shed. He said crews would be grading and hauling material to County Road 2400. Crews would also be grading County Road 5440, said Mobray. He said there was some vehicle maintenance going on at the shop. He also reported that crews had hauled four loads of wood chips to the commons for the 4-H and FFA Expo. He also said all of his district’s chip-and-seal projects had been completed.
“All chip-and-seal is done everywhere. They did a great job, it seems like. I went out and drove my roads,” said Mobray.
Later in the meeting, Mobray added some information to his report about FLAP project #77 (County Road 667, Tan Vat to Montauk).
“[This is the] project at Montauk, finishing the asphalt surfacing all the way to the park. It’s a supplemental agreement. This is 100% funded, but there were about $5000 that Great Rivers is wanting to charge the county for preliminary engineering that was not going to be covered under the grant. I got them down to $2,400,” said Mobray.
“There’s a lot of paperwork before anything ever happens. A bunch of agreements, and a bunch of contracts,” he said, adding that it would hopefully be done in 2024. “We’ll have to see where the feds are at with the money for the funding. That’s the plan, and we’re working toward it, hopefully to make a big improvement.”
Polk then gave his first report for District Two. He shared that crews would be grading county roads 6160, 6130, 6140, 3040, and 3160. He also said crews would be stockpiling rock to be used if needed during grading.
During his Presiding Commissioner’s report, Larson spoke about Salem’s Independence Day Parade.
“It was a very successful parade, there were a lot of participants in it, and there were a lot of folks sitting on the streets watching. I was really amazed at the turnout, and even in the heat, there were a lot of people out there,” said Larson.
Larson then discussed the year’s budget.
“We are halfway through the year, and the county officeholders are doing well with staying within their budgets. Even Road and Bridge, we’re only at 38% I believe,” said Larson.
Larson said he would be reviewing the budget soon.
“I requested for (Treasurer Denita Williams) to get me copies of things so I can look and see where everybody is at. Just to look at it, and make sure we’re doing alright, and keep an eye on the budget,” said Larson.
During her report, Curley said there were bills to be approved. She also reported that the front doors of the courthouse would be closed through July 14 due to construction. The public is asked to enter through the Eastern side door of the building, which faces the City of Salem Administration Building.
Before the meeting adjourned, County Collector Shannon VanKirk gave a report on the county tourism tax.
“I’m going to give us a tourism turnover, how much we’ve collected for the month of June. The total that we’ve collected in the office for the lodging tax that we have, our county ordinance for lodging, the Airbnb’s, and camping of course, is $9037.47. That’s roughly about $450,000 that went through the motels, the Airbnb’s, and the lodging. That’s just a rough (estimate),” said VanKirk.
July 10 Meeting
Larson called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m., before Polk moved to approve the agenda, followed by a second by Mobray. The agenda passed by a 3-0 vote, followed by the approval of the previous minutes.
During road reports, Mobray reported that District Two crews would be grading county roads 2400, 5450, and 4080. Mobray also said rock would be hauled to County Road 2400, and brush would be cut on County Road 4220. Mobray also reported that he had received a call from Chad Keith, who according to Mobray is the acting ranger at the U.S. Forest Service’s Salem station, regarding payment for rock that will be put on County Road 5600 as part of the Title II program. Mobray said the deadline for completion of the project had been extended from September to the end of December, and the amount earmarked for the project was quoted at $43,000.
During his report for District One, Polk said grading was set to be done on county roads 3080, 3225, 3253, 3250, 3270, 3273, 3275, and 3235. He also said that rock would be hauled to county roads 3225, 3253, and 3250. Polk said that he had begun to address the issue brought to the Commission by a citizen during the last meeting. Polk said he had visited the site of the gravel intrusion onto the citizen’s property near County Road 3240, and would give an update when the problem was resolved. Finally, he reported that brush in the roadway had been taken care of on County Road 3253.
During his Presiding Commissioner’s report, Larson announced that a Special Waste Collection Day would be held on September 9 at the corner of 3rd Street and Grand in Salem. He said he was aware the date was a ways off, but that he wanted to give people time to gather items, and get the word out. He said TV’s appliances, and tires would be accepted. Some items incur a small disposal fee, and others will be accepted for free, according to discussion from the meeting.
Larson also said he had received an email from Governor Mike Parson’s office detailing the 31 pieces of legislation and one veto signed by the Governor on July 6.
Clerk Curley reported that there were bills to be approved.
Mobray presented a bid for a new trailer. According to discussion from the meeting, Mobray had found a 2015 20-ton pintle-hitch trailer to haul the county backhoe with. He said that Rodney Osborne, the owner, was asking $19,000 for the trailer, which is located in Licking. Mobray, who had reviewed comparable trailers, said they ranged in price from $35,000 to $40,000.
“It looks brand new,” said Mobray.
Mobray made a motion, and the bid was accepted by a 3-0 vote.
Representative Ron Copeland then entered the meeting, He said he was there to discuss the bills recently signed by the Governor, if the Commission had any questions. County Collector Shannon VanKirk also entered the meeting. While the discussion included a variety of topics, Copeland spent the majority of the discussion talking with Collector VanKirk about S.B. 190, which, according to the bill, authorizes counties to grant a property tax credit to eligible taxpayers, in essence freezing their property tax rate. Eligible taxpayers include residents who are eligible for Social Security retirement benefits, are the owner of record of, or have a legal or equitable interest in, a homestead, and are liable for the payment of real property taxes on such homestead. According to the law, each county would have to adopt an ordinance or a ballot measure authorizing the credit. During the discussion, Copeland and VanKirk talked about how clarification is needed for how the law may be implemented were the county to implement the credit, since it affects the assessed value of property and collection of property taxes.
