FLIP PAGES FOR WEBSITE.qxp_Trenton Republican-Times 11/24/21 1:51 PM Page 1
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2021
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TRENTON
REPUBLICAN-TIMES ©Honeycutt Media, LLC
Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 158th Year - No. 24
10 PAGES
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BRIEFS Grundy R-5 Senior Dinner
The Galt Lions Club will hold its annual senior citizens Christmas dinner on Saturday, Dec. 4. The dinner will be held at noon at the Galt Lions Club, located on the town square. All senior citizens living within the borders of the school district or former residents of the district are invited to join in the meal.
Letters To Santa
R-T Photo/Ronda Lickteig
HISTORICAL FIND The late Tom Brown always suspected that the house he used as an office on West Fourth Terrace was hiding a log cabin underneath it’s “modern” interior and that’s exactly what crews found when they began deconstructing the house on Tuesday. While the house had been expanded over the years, the original main log structure can easily be seen. Brown, a well-known historian and long-time instructor at North Central Missouri College who died in 2018, had said the structure was the first log house constructed in Trenton. Phyllis Jackson, speaking on behalf of the Brown family, said the house will now be stabilized and she will be in contact with the Missouri State Historical Society to determine what the next step will be to attempt to preserve the historic house.
City, Rapid Removal To Team On Educational Letter Council Looks Further Into Breed Ban, But No Action Taken Yet Two issues that have been the topic of discussion more than once were on the agenda again for Monday night’s meeting of the Trenton City Council. Council members met with Jim Watje, owner of the city’s waste hauler, Rapid Removal, and his attorney, Brad Grill, during the meeting. Grill had been contacted by Trenton City Attorney Tara Walker after council members said at the Nov. 8 meeting that they wished to look into options for getting out of the city’s contract with the company. The current contract runs through Dec. 31, 2023 but contains a 60-day “out” if either side wishes to end the contract early. The issue has been customers complaining that bulky items were not picked up and that sometimes their regular trash was not picked up, even if all the other trash on their street was taken. Grill told the council that when you compare the number of households served versus the number of complaints, it is actually very small. While no one on the council disagreed with that, several said the company’s customer service when
WEATHER ALMANAC Day: High/Low Rain Monday 45/30 — Tuesday 60/30 — Barton Campus Tuesday 60/27 —
they have to interact with the public is a problem as is the fact that Watje promised in July that he would provide a customer “education” letter to be placed in utility bills and that letter has yet to be provided. The need for customers to be “educated” in what can and cannot be picked up was the topic of a meeting with Watje in July 2020 as well as in July 2021. When asked why he has not provided the letter he said he would have to list every single item that could not be picked up, such as each size board. Council members said that’s not the case and that it doesn’t have to be that specific. Ultimately, the council asked that Watje work with the city to cooperatively come up with a letter that will be placed in the utility bills that will give customers a better idea of what constitutes a “bulky” item and some of the things that cannot be picked up, such as yard waste (per the Department of Natural Resources), items containing springs, etc. That letter is to be placed in the December utility bill. The other issue that has been a mainstay of conversation recently is the city’s breed-specific dog ordinance which prohibits citizens from having certain dog breeds within the city limits. First Ward Councilman Lance Otto has taken the lead on looking into how the city can ensure it’s animal ordinance is strong enough if the breed-specific ordinance is repealed. Otto, who said he has been “getting it” from both sides of the issue, believes one focus needs to be on tethering laws (ensuring that dogs are not left tethered for hours at a time) something that he cannot find in the current city code. He said he wants to be sure that any possible loopholes in the current animal ordinances would be addressed before repealing the breed-specific ordinance and noted that while the “dangerous
dog” ordinance is used to rid the city of dogs that have been deemed vicious or dangerous, that action is reactive, coming after an incident has occurred. The various penalties for violating the city’s current laws were discussed and as has been the case in previous conversations at council meetings, it was noted that the breed-specific ordinance is nearly impossible to enforce because it basically takes a DNA test to prove a dog is one of the breeds that are prohibited, something that is cost-prohibitive. Otto said he would like to see the issue sent back to the administrative committee, which in September voted 2-1 to not recommend the repeal of the ordinance, for further investigation and consideration. In the end, that’s what happened and it will certainly come back up for discussion at a future council meeting. Out of the discussion concerning dogs came a suggestion from Third Ward Councilman Robert Romesburg, who said the city might want to consider forming an “Animal Welfare Committee.” He said such a committee would not just work with the Green Hills Animal Shelter board but would also have input on any issue that involves the welfare of animals. The council would have the final word on any ordinances, but the committee could do the legwork such as other committees do for the park system, utilities, etc. Mrs. Walker said the formation of such a committee would require an ordinance to be passed by the council. Council members approved the employment of three new police officers, Faith Fliflet, Bryan Roberts and Trever Ratliff. All three have experience, with Ratliff currently serving as a deputy with the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department. They will begin their duties after giving no[See COUNCIL, Page 5]
The Trenton Republican-Times will be publishing Letters to Santa in a special section that will be included in the newspaper on Tuesday, Dec. 21. Children who are not submitting letters through their class at school are encouraged to write letters to Santa, telling him of their gift wishes for Christmas. Letters must include the child’s name, age, address (town) and a telephone number in order to be published. Only the child’s name, age and town will be included in the letter. Because of space constraints, letters should be kept to a minimum and the R-T reserves the right to edit letters, if necessary. The deadline to submit letters is 4 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 8. Letters should be emailed to the Republican-Times at rtimes@lyn.net or if that is not possible, letters can be mailed to P.O. Box 548, Trenton, MO 64683 or brought to the office at 122 E. Eighth St. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to noon on Friday.
‘A Christmas Carol’ Tickets
Tickets for the Art’s Alive production of “A Christmas Carol” have sold out for the Sunday, Dec. 5 performance, but there are still tickets available for both performances on Saturday, Dec. 4 at the Hoover Community Theater. Tickets are on sale at the customer service desk at Trenton Hy-Vee. Tickets are $5 and must be paid for with cash or check (no credit or debit cards). Performance times are 2 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4. Those purchasing tickets must indicate which performance they will attend. Doors open 30 minutes prior to the performances and seats are first come, first serve.
NCMC Legislative Forum
North Central Missouri College will host a Legislative Forum in Trenton in Cross Hall Lobby on Monday, Nov. 29. Legislators and officials will be in attendance representing area counties, regions, the state of Missouri, and federal representation. There will be a meet and greet from 10 to10:30 a.m., followed by a semi-structured forum from 10:30-11:30 a.m. with each attendee having opportunity to present the key items on their respective agendas. Legislators and officials will also have an opportunity to take questions from the audience and respond to current issues facing our region. All members of the public are invited to attend. In attendance will be Representatives J. Eggleston, Danny Busick, Rusty Black, Randy Railsback and Dean VanSchoiack, Senator Dan Hegeman and Thomas Riggs, representing U.S. Representative Sam Graves. Also in attendance will be Brian Millner, President/CEO of the Missouri Community College Association. Other representation may attend once all RSVP’s are in. For more information about the legislative forum, please visit https://www.ncmissouri.edu/ or contact Kristi Harris, Chief of Staff, at 660-357-6203.
Board Addresses Sale Of Lakeview Walden Apartments Needing Repairs Trenton’s Building and Nuisance Board met Monday evening, with the sale of the Lakeview Restaurant and Motel being one of the topics of discussion. The building, located at 3307 E. 10th St., was recently sold by John Lee purportedly to the owners of Dino’s restaurant, who will not utilize the old restaurant portion but plan to fix the remaining motel area for living quarters for some of their employees. The parking lot has deep holes that will need to be filled and code enforcement officer Wes Barone said the sale of the property doesn’t change the need for it to be fixed and a letter
will be mailed to the new owner. Under declaration of nuisance, property at 1514 Mable St., owned by Jon and Barbara Phillips, was given 60 more days for work to be complete and property at 601 E. 19th St. was discussed. The owners, John and the late Charlotte Berry, have made progress on the original issues but the tin on the windows is a concern. It was noted that no one is living in the house at this time. Under public hearing, property at 513 E. Ninth Ct., owned by Erma Newton, was moved to Findings of Fact as there has been no contact from the owner and no progress made on the property. Kathy Reeder and William Earl Gott appeared at the meeting to discuss property they own at 1614 [See PROPERTY, Page 5]