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Friday, August 23, 2019
TRENTON
REPUBLICAN-TIMES
75¢ per copy Check out the Republican-Times on the Internet: www.republican-times.com ©W.B. Rogers Printing Co., Inc.
Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 155th Year - No. 98
Trenton, MO 64683
Briefs...
TRENTON R-9 BOARD OF EDUCATION
Commission Moves Meeting The Grundy County Commission will meet in regular session on Monday, rather thanon Tuesday, next week. Items on the announced agenda include the regular weekly meeting with Ambulance Director Steve Tracy at 10 a.m., followed by a meeting with Grundy County Sheriff Rodney Herring at 11 a.m.
93 Properties On Tax List The Grundy County Delinquent Tax Sale will be held on Monday, Aug. 26 at the courthouse. As of Thursday, Aug. 22, there were 93 properties to be sold during the sale, which will get under way at 10 a.m. Of those 93 properties, 26 are located in Trenton Township, 17 are in Franklin Township, eight are in Liberty Township, seven are in Wilson Township and 35 are located at Leisure Lake. Grundy County Collector/Treasurer Barbara Harris is requesting that persons who are interested in being a possible bidder for the tax sale come to her office on the second floor of the courthouse today (Friday, Aug. 23) or first thing on Monday, Aug. 26. At that time persons can provide their name, address and phone number to office staff and be assigned a bidding number.
NCMC Board Meeting The North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees will meet in regular session on Tuesday, Aug. 27 in the president’s office in the Frey Administrative Building. The tax levy hearing will be held at 5:25 p.m., followed by the board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Items on the announced agenda include approval of the tax levy, Head Start business, consideration of surplus property, consideration of a naming opportunity, personnel (the annual summary report, employments and Head Start) and reports from the Head Start directors, the development office, the vice president for academic affairs, the vice president for student services and the president. An executive session for personnel, legal matters and real estate is also scheduled.
Twelve Pages & 1 Insert
Construction Project Bonds Sold
R-9 Levy Stays At Original Rate The Trenton R-9 Board of Education has voted not to adjust the 2019-20 tax levy, leaving it at the original approved rate of $4.127 on the $100 assessed valuation. During a special meeting on Wednesday, board members discussed the possibility of increasing the levy rate after it was learned that assessed valuation numbers used to calculate the tax rate approved on Aug. 13 were not accurate. A new rate of $4.1966 was being considered, which would be the maximum levy the district could set. The assessed valuation used in the original calculation did not take into account the removal of Nestle from the district personal property assessment, a condition of Chapter 100 bonds used to finance efforts by Nestle to pay for costs associated with the company’s plan to have a plant in Trenton. Under the Chapter 100 bonds, Nestle makes a payment in lieu of taxes to the city which, in turn, pays that money to all taxing entities within the city, including the R-9 School District. Payments are made to the taxing entities over a 10-year period, after which time Nestle would be put back onto the tax rolls. Board President Doug Franklin said the district would be receiving around $137,000 in December, which represents
a greater amount than what the district would be receiving in taxes by readjusting the levy. The amount taxing districts receive from Nestle goes down after five years. It was noted that not setting the levy at the maximum allowed by the state would affect what the board could set the levy at for next year. By leaving the rate at what was approved on Aug. 13, the district would not be able to use the additional 5 cents to calculate its 2020-21 levy. Members discussed concerns about how leaving the tax rate at $4.145 might affect district finances in the future, however, it was the general concensus that the effect should be minimal, particularly if assessed valuation figures were to increase. Franklin said he wanted the district to be as transparent as possible with patrons in helping them understand the situation regarding the tax levy. The vote was unanimous in not readjusting the levy, which is anticipated to generate $3,342,424 in local revenue. All seven board members were present at the meeting. The board also approved a resolution for the sale of $7 million in bonds for construction of a new performing arts center and a concession stand/bathrooms at C.F. Russell Stadium as well as renovation of
the TMS/THS Media Center and the entrance to the Rissler Elementary School. Brent Blevins, senior vice president of George K. Baum and Co. said the district will be paying an interest rate of 2.8 percent on the bonds for the first eight years, which is the highest rate the district will pay over the 20-year life of the bonds. After eight years, Blevins said he anticipates rates to be at the 1.89 percent level. If that holds true, the district fund balances would allow for the district to consider another $2 to $3 million no-tax increase bond issue, if it so desired. The bonds were taken to market on Tuesday and, according to Blevins, “Trenton had an unbelievable sale.” He said the R-9 District’s bonding history and strong financial position (an A+ bond rating) helped get the district a good rate. In selling the bonds, Trenton was able to realize an additional $794,640 that will be added to the $7 million project fund. Blevins noted that the extra money should allow the district to do some additional projects that were listed as alternatives in the construction bid specifications. Bids for the construction project are to be opened on Thursday, with the board to take action at a special meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 28.
BACK TO SCHOOL R-6, Laredo R-7 Up
Area Student Numbers Down
Museum To Show Movie The movie “Scramble the Seawolves” will be showing at the Grundy County Museum on Aug. 24 through Sept. 29. The movie documents the action and missions of HA(L)-3, a legendary Vietnam Navy light helicopter attack squadron. Two Grundy County soldiers, pilot Eric Alexander and mechanic Larry Huffstutter, served in this volunteer squadron. The movie will start at 2 p.m. This year’s feature exhibit is “Chairs, the Stories They Could Tell,” a display of novel, unique and historic chairs associated with Grundy County’s families and businesses. Persons can “perch” themselves on a stool from the Maid-Rite restaurant as well as see a unique and ornate piano stool from the Hubbell Theater. All three buildings of the museum campus are open from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. on weekends and holidays. Admission is $2 for adults. Children under 12 and active service members and their families are admitted free.
Labor Day Publishing Schedule With the Labor Day holiday falling on Monday, Sept. 2, the Republican-Times will be moving forward its publication date by one day. Instead of being published on its normal day of Tuesday, Sept. 3, the newspaper will be published on Wednesday, Sept. 4. News to be included in the Sept. 4 edition must be submitted to the R-T office no later than 9 a.m. on Tuesday. The Friday, Sept. 6 newspaper will be published as scheduled.
AREA SCHOOL BOARDS
Photo Courtesy of North Central Missouri College
North Central Missouri College’s fall semester began Monday, Aug. 19 with four new members of the faculty/staff since the spring semester. New to the academic year are, from left, Katherine Tabbert, TRiO administrative assistant; Jennifer Triplett, chief information officer; Ashley Lamma, nursing instructor; and Brandon Gossett, residence life coordinator/assistant men’s basketball coach. Current employees transferring to new positions are Janet Gott, Head Start co-director: centers and administration; Sue Ewigman-Head Start co-director: home-based and early childhood; and Kadi Gamble, campus store associate-retail operations.
Princeton R-5, Spickard R-2
2019-20 Tax Rate Levies Are Approved Tax levies were approved during meetings on Monday night of the Princeton R-5 and Spickard R-2 boards of education. Princeton R-5 The Princeton R-5 Board of Education approved its 2019-20 tax levy during a meeting on Monday night. According to information provided by Board Secretary Christy Stockman, the Princeton R-5 board set its levy at $5.0974 on the $100 assessed valuation, which is the same tax rate as a year ago. The incidental fund rate would be $3.9641 while debt service was set at $.9532 and capital projects was set at $.1800. Superintendent Jerry Girdner noted the board voluntarily rolled back the
debt service levy to maintain its promise of a no tax increase bond issue that was passed in April 2018. The state auditor’s computation of the debt service tax rate was $1.7126 and the board reduced the rate to $.9532. The board approved a request from the senior class for an open lunch period during the 2019-20 school year as well as implementation of the MoBeef for MoKids program, which is a joint program of the Missouri Department of Agriculture and the Missouri Beef Industry Council to increase the amount of Missouri-raised beef on school lunch menus. The program will double the amount of beef in Princeton school lunches, with the beef raised and provided by cattle producers in Mercer
County. Educational programs will also be brought into the school district to teach students at various age levels about beef production and the health benefits of eating beef. Beef items added to the menu are meatball subs, beef cheddar melts, salisbury steak, beef tacos, cheeseburger macaroni and beef quesadillas. Approval was given to purchase a new lawnmower and the board heard an update regarding progress of the new maintenance and locker room facility. Concrete floors were finished this week and construction should start within the next two weeks. Following an executive session, the board approved the resignation of Debi Place Nordyke as a paraprofessional.
National Weather Service Cooler temperatures with rain possible each day over the weekend; the highs in the upper 70s and lows around 60. The best chance of rain will be on Monday. The high at Trenton on Monday, Aug. 19 was 93, Tuesday’s high was 88 with .35 of an inch of rain and Wednesday’s high was 81 with a low of 69 and .30 of an inch of rain. Wednesday’s high at the Government Weather Station near Spickard was 80, the low was 65 with .06 of an inch of rain.
The next meeting of the board will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 9. Spickard R-2 The Spickard R-2 Board of Education approved $4.6116 on the $100 assessed valuation as its 2019-20 levy. Superintendent Jonnie Beavers said this is a 19.12 cent-increase from a year ago, when the levy was set at $4.4204. The board swore in a new member, Shelby Griffin, who will serve an unexpired term until the election in April 2020. The board also voted to make Mrs. Beavers the official spokesperson for the board. The next meeting of the board will be on Monday, Sept. 16.
What’s Inside... The THS football team makes its debut tonight (Friday) as the Bulldogs travel to Knob Noster for a jamboree. See page 2 of today’s R-T for information about the event, which also includes teams from Windsor and Summit Christian.
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Summer break is officially over in north Missouri as students in area schools have returned to class as of Wednesday morning. Enrollments were mostly down over last year, with only Pleasant View R-6 and Laredo R-7 showing increases while Spickard R-2, Gilman City, Princeton R-5 and NewtownHarris all saw their enrollments decrease. Pleasant View R-6 Enrollment at the Pleasant View R-6 School on Wednesday was 107 in grades kindergarten through eight, an increase of 10 students over the first day of last year. There were another 20 students enrolled in the preschool classes. The largest class was the kindergarten, which has 15 students, while the smallest class is the eighth grade with three. Enrollment, by grade, was kindergarten, 15; first grade, 14; second grade, 14; third grade, 13; fourth grade, 15; fifth grade, 14; sixth grade, 13; seventh grade, 6; and eighth grade, 3. Spickard R-2 At Spickard, enrollment on the first day of class on Wednesday was 23, down four students over the first day last year. The school included students in grades kindergarten through six, with the fourth and sixth grades having the largest classes with five each and the smallest class being the third grade with only one student. Enrollment, See Enrollment, Page 3
What’s Inside Sports.............................page 2 Area News .....................page 3 Op/Ed ............................page 4 Community ...................page 5 Agriculture....................page 6 Business .........................page 7 Comics ...........................page 8 Dear Annie ....................page 9 Crosswords....................page 9