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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021
TRENTON
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Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 157th Year - No. 50
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Council Approves New Metering System TMU Hopes To Have New Infrastructure Up And Running By Aug. 1
A new advanced metering infrastructure system that was approved by the Trenton City Council during a meeting Monday evening will update the city’s metering
system from one that is becoming obsolete. On the recommendation of the city’s utility committee, which had met last week, the council approved a bid of $402,620 from Tantalus for the Anixter advanced metering infrastructure system. One of the advantages of the Anixter system versus others considered is that the city will be able to use the vast majority of its existing water meters. The current “drive-by” system is becoming obsolete, with support for it ending at the end of the year. City Administrator Ron Urton ex-
Board Won’t Release Old Lakeview Motel
The Trenton Building and Nuisance Board met Monday evening, agreeing to not release the property that housed the old Lakeview Motel and moving another property to declaration of nuisance. According to Trenton City Clerk Cindy Simpson, the council voted to not release the property at 3307 E. 10th St., owned by Jang J. Lee. Mrs. Simpson said the property, which is where Lakeview Motel was located, still has some issues that need to be addressed. The board did release property at 3400 Serendipity, owned by Albert and Meletta Hines. The property is being sold and the new owner will be required to pay a fee. The board moved the property at 401 Monroe St., owned by George and Paula Ellis, to declaration of nuisance and will keep the property at 604 Linn St., owned by Duane Lahn, in that category for another month. Property at 1000 Rural St., owned by Smartbeltz LLC, was left at “Findings of Fact” and a new roof is being put on the structure this week. It was noted that the property at 1117 Main St., owned by John Woodland, is in court. Trenton Police Chief Rex Ross said there are currently 21 nuisance cases in the municipal court system. The board is scheduled to meet again March 8.
City Meetings Scheduled
Two Trenton city committees will hold meetings on Monday afternoon. The Park Board facilities committee will meet at 4 p.m. Monday, March 1 at the park office to review park facilities. The finance committee of the Trenton City Council will also meet at 4 p.m., with the meeting to be held at city hall. The only item on the agenda is continued discussion of the 2021-22 budget. The public will not be allowed to physically attend the meeting, but it can be accessed on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86912865602.
Hoffman On CBHE
Trenton resident Phillip Hoffman has been appointed by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to serve on the Coordinating Board for Higher Education. Hoffman began working for his family’s agriculture input supply business, Hoffman and Reed, in 1976. In 2014, the business was acquired by GFG Agriservices, LLC. He and his brother, Chris, were retained to manage the business until his retirement in 2017 and are now partners in their family’s cow-calf operation in Trenton. Hoffman is active within the Trenton community as a member of the Trenton Area Chamber of Commerce, Trenton Downtown Improvement Association, North Central Missouri Fair Board and the University of Missouri Thompson Farm Advisory Board. He has also been a member of the University of Missouri Agriculture Leaders of Tomorrow (ALOT) and served on the Missouri Agribusiness Association (MO-AG) board. Hoffman holds a Bachelor of Science in agronomy from the University of Missouri-Columbia. The nine-member CBHE oversees the state’s public higher education institutions and members serve six-year terms.
Engineer Fees Discussed For Thompson River Bank
Additional details of how the county and a local development group will move forward to solve an erosion issue west of Trenton were addressed during a Tuesday meeting of the Grundy County
Commission. Grundy County Presiding Commissioner Phillip Ray said the county commission met with Chris Hoffman and Jackie Soptic of the Grundy County Industrial Development Corporation to discuss how to proceed with an agreement reached last week for the IDC to cover the cost of engineering services that will allow the county to determine the true cost of stabilizing the northwest bank of the Thomp[See RIVER, Page 3]
Vaccine Distribution Discussed With Commissioners
The Grundy County Commission re-appointed Grundy County Health Department Administrator Elizabeth Gibson as the county health officer during its meeting Tuesday morning. The annual appointment is required by Missouri state statute, which states that the director of the public health
STAR AREA FARMER Trenton FFA member Kidridge Griffin was recently named the Star Area Farmer at the Area 2 Proficiency Contest and also earned first place in Beef Production-Entrepreneurship. Other chapter members were also in action at the contest. AGRICULTURE, PAGE 3
center shall be appointed as the county health director. Ms. Gibson answered questions posed by the commission this morning, including why a mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic has not been held in Grundy County. Ms. Gibson said the State Emergency Management Agency is selecting the sites in each region. Grundy County is in Region H and any resident of Grundy County who is eligible (through age, health status, etc.) can get a vaccine at the regional clinics. She said Grundy County has 4 percent of the state’s population and receives 4 percent of the vac-
cine. She told commissioners that the county does receive some vaccine to be given locally to county residents, but noted, for instance, that the health department recently received 100 doses, with 400 people on the waiting list. GCHD staff is helping with regional vaccines in the area and conducting second dose clinics at the local health department. Ms. Gibson said that she expects that Grundy County will eventually get a mass vaccination clinic. In the meantime, Mrs. Gibson said she has received confirmation of vaccine shipments for next week and staff will continue contacting
residents from the wait list, however appointments will be available for individuals in the open tiers. Persons may call 359-4196 to schedule an appointment. As of Thursday morning, Mrs. Gibson reported that there are only four active COVID-19 cases in Grundy County, up only one from Monday, with 815 confirmed cases and 241 probable cases recorded since last March, for a total of 1,056 since the pandemic began. Grundy County has recorded 40 COVID-related deaths.
NCMC Board Tackles Personnel Matters Cross And Richman Resign From Their Positions With The School
Personnel matters topped the list of action items at a Tuesday evening meeting of the North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees. Board members accepted the resignation of Kristie Cross, director of admissions and marketing. Mrs. Cross, who has been with the college for 5 1/2 years, is relocating from the area. Her last day on campus will be March 19. Also submitting his letterof retirement was Steve Richman, who has been with the college for 21 years, most recently serving as athletic director and women’s softball coach. His last day with the college will be June 30. With the resignations of Mrs. Cross and Richman, the board approved revised job descriptions for their positions as well as
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE Mostly sunny skies will hover over Trenton this weekend with highs of 57 on Saturday and 47 on Sunday. Monday features temperatures back in the 50’s. The high in Trenton on Monday was 51 with temperatures reaching 60 on Tuesday and 48 on Wednesday. Wednesday’s low was 31. The high at the Government Weather Station near Spickard was 44 on Wednesday while the low sat at 23.
[See COUNCIL, Page 3]
Submitted Photo
Gibson Re-Appointed Health Officer
BRIEFS
Commission Will Appoint Interim Administrator
plained that the industry as a whole is moving toward the AMI systems. Several surrounding communities, including Chillicothe, Gallatin, Bethany and Cameron are going to this type of system. Among the advantages discussed concerning the system is the ability to pinpoint the exact location of an outage. With the new system, the outage would show up on a computer screen and crews could go directly to the cause, as opposed to the way it is now, where the utility departments take the calls from a general area and determine where the exact issue might be. Urton also said the system would have the ability to alert a water customer if, for instance, they are using a large amount of water at a time when they normally do not use that much. The homeowner could then check for a leak or broken pipe, etc. The system can also alert Trenton Municipal Utilities if an electric or water meter has been tampered with. Trenton Municipal Utilities Comptroller Rosetta Marsh praised the system and said it is hoped that it will be up and running by Aug. 1. The council adopted the Grundy County Hazard Mitigation Plan, which will allow the city to be eligible for federal disaster assistance, if needed. The group tabled an ordinance accepting the right-of-
for a new nursing faculty position for the Maryville program. Advertising for those positions, as well as for a part-time mental health counselor, will begin immediately. A third employee, Kevin Hutchison, also submitted his resignation, effective Feb. 26. He worked in the maintenance department. Several instructors were approved for tenure status, including Jeffrey Grell, physical science instructor; Lindsay Oram, psychology instructor; and December Noel Staddie, early childhood development instructor. Administrative reports were given, with NCMC President Dr. Lenny Klaver giving an update on the construction of the two new residence halls and discussing ideas for use of the CARES Act funding that the college will receive. Among the ideas are funding of the mental health counselor position, a transportation possibility, HVAC filtering and additional IT upgrades. Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Tristan Londre discussed a program being implemented by library employee Ronna Owens and English instructor Linda
Cowling designed to give students more individualized reading opportunities. He also updated the board on the Higher Learning Commission Comprehensive visit, which will be held in September. Dr. Kristen Alley, vice president of student affairs, reported that the college has received its Military Friendly designation again and announced that Alyssa Olson of Cainsville has been named the recipient of the Newman Civic Fellowship. She also updated the board on the upcoming Homecoming events, including the recognition of the Family of the Year. She announced that there are currently no students with active COVID-19 cases and none who are isolated or quarantined on campus. She said $353,600 in COVID funding was distributed to students. Green Hills Head Start directors Janet Gott and Susan Ewigman reported that there has only been one child quarantined in the past two or three weeks and noted that the Unionville site was closed part of last week due to the school district being asked to conserve energy during the cold temperatures. They also reported there [See NCMC, Page 3]
CLOSING TIME... The 2020-2021 basketball season came to a close this week for the Trenton High School basketball teams. Trenton’s squads were defeated by South Harrison in the opening round of the Class 3, District 16 Tournament. SPORTS, PAGE 2
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SPORTS ..........................PAGE 2 AGRICULTURE ................PAGE 3 OP/ED ...........................PAGE 4 COUNTY FINANCIAL ....PAGE 5 & 6 NASCAR ......................PAGE 7 COMICS ..........................PAGE 8 CROSSWORDS ................PAGE 9 CLASSIFIEDS.........PAGE 10 & 11 AREA .............................PAGE 12