Dexter Board of Alderman met on Monday, August 1, 2022 to discuss naming an engineer for the city street project as well discuss two ordinances.

Dexter Board of Aldermen name engineer for city street project

The Dexter Board of of Aldermen worked through two meetings Monday evening. The first was a special meeting in which they named Waters Engineering the engineers for a street improvement project. The city has applied for a $500,000 grant for the project. A public hearing was also held; however, no members of the public were in attendance to comment on the project.

During the special meeting, city administrator Trevor Pulley said the city has received a $109,000 grant to pay for the man hours and machinery used in the cleanup following a tornado that struck the city last summer.

The board passed a resolution and two ordinances in the regular monthly meeting. The resolution approved a move by the Dexter Airport Board. The airport board named Hanson Professional Services Inc. the engineer and consulting firm for upcoming airport projects.

The first ordinance presented by city attorney Yewell “Bud” Lawrence Jr., made it illegal to remove, damage - or cause the removal due to damage - a tree from public property in the city. The ordinance also makes it unlawful to top a tree on public property. Lawrence said this ordinance is required due to the city’s membership on the tree council. This ordinance does not apply to private property.

The second ordinance is the annual abatement of outstanding refund checks, certain taxes, fines or costs from the years 1997 through 2021. Lawrence said this is done each year to get unclaimed refund checks and taxes, fines that are at least 10 years old and/or cannot for a variety of reasons be collected.

Economic Development

Dexter Chamber Executive Director Alisha Trammell informed the board about some upcoming events. She said next week is National Farmers Market week. She said the vendors will donate items that will be given away at the next Farmers Market at East Park as gift baskets.

Other upcoming events are the Homecoming Tailgate on Sept. 16th, the Stoddard County Fair Sept. 20th through Sept. 24th. She also said Fall Fest will be held on Oct. 8th.

Other Business

Dexter Police Chief Hank Trout said the department will participate in the Drive Sober or get Pulled Over Program Aug. 19 through Sept. 5. Trout also said the department will participate in active shooter training at Dexter High School Friday, Aug. 5th.

Pulley informed the board that a special meeting will be held on Aug. 25. One of the topics at this meeting will be an ordinance to put an item on the November ballot. If voters pass this item the city collector position in Dexter will no longer be an elected position and become an appointed position. Pulley said this is due to the job being much more technical than it used to be. He said the job used to entail collecting a tax payment and stamping a receipt. The job now involves multiple computer programs and other responsibilities. Pulley said if this becomes an appointed position, the city can appoint a qualified candidate and continue its high quality of service to residents.

Mayor Jason Banken appointed Marissa Mills to the Parks and Recreation Board. The board of aldermen approved the appointment.   

Article submitted by Josh Ayers, editor of the Dexter Statesman.