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TRENTON
THURS., MAY 2, 2024
REPUBLICAN-TIMES “GOD BLESS AMERICA”
Old Glory flying at Five Points
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Grundy Assessor “Not Doing the Job” According to State Auditor’s Office by Mark McLaughlin R-T Staff Writer The circumstances surrounding Grundy County Assessor Nathan Curtis and his failure to complete the 2023 property tax reassessment have been under investigation with State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s office. In contact received from the Auditor’s Communications Director Trevor Fox, the issue has been reviewed by an internal investigator and by Fitzpatrick himself, and as of April 29, has been passed along to the Mis-
souri Attorney General’s office for action. “The Auditor’s Office has reviewed the matter, and determined that the best course is to refer it to the Attorney General for further action,” Fox said. “While the Auditor’s Office has the ability to conduct an audit of the County Office, the consequences the Attorney General can hand down are the next appropriate step.” Fox reported that Fitzpatricks conclusion is that Curtis’ failure to complete [See Assessor Page 2
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Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 160th Year - No. 35
Thompson River Rising
R-T Photo/Jamey Honeycutt
The Thompson River just west of Trenton has risen quite a bit with the recent rains in the area, rising near flood stage. Much of the area received over three inches over the past weekend.
A Conversation with County Ambulance Director Matt Walker by Mark McLaughlin R-T Staff Writer The Grundy County Ambulance service has been in existence in its current iteration since 1988, and is distinctive for being one of only two in the State of Missouri that are functioning county departments, rather than their own “ambulance district”, or privately contracted EMS service. There have been many contro-
versies and turmoils that embroiled the ambulance service over the last 35-years, and an attempt a few years ago to rejigger the service into an ambulance “district” never made it to the ballot. The Ambulance Service is funded by a one-half cent sales tax first passed in 1988, then repassed in 1992, and has remained steadily in place since that time.
The “Ambulance Tax”, as it is referred to, has been the source of funding budgets since that time, shepherded by the County Commission. Over the years, the County found that the fund generated significantly more than was anticipated at its inception and a “gentlemen’s agreement” set aside 15 percent of the collections under the ambulance service “line
item”, with the rest going to County General Revenue. The service is the only county entity that generates revenue, based on emergency calls and patient transfers from Wright Memorial Hospital, a “critical access” hospital in Trenton, to city “hub” hospitals like St. Luke’s, Children’s Mercy, Mosaic, Boone, VA facilities and others.
Ambulance Director Matt Walker spent twenty years at the Green Hills Regional Planning Commission, began his transition to public safety as a part-time firefighter with the Trenton Fire Department, then to Grundy County Ambulance, and in a pivotal moment, became Director of the Service. Over the last six years, Walker [See Walker, Page 2]
NCMC 2024 Commencement Is May 4 North Central Missouri College 2024 Commencement will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2024, with two ceremonies. The morning ceremony, beginning at 9:00 a.m. will honor all associate degrees and certificates that are non-nursing and the afternoon ceremony, beginning at 1:00 p.m., will honor nursing certificates, degrees and pinnings. Both commencement ceremonies
will be held at the Ketcham Community Center on the Main Campus in Trenton. Commencement will also be live-streamed at piratesdigitialmedia.com. This year marks the 97th NCMC commencement ceremony, with 502 degrees and certificates awarded to 449 individual graduates, including 109 associate in arts, 36 associate in arts in teach-
Briefs... NCMC Street Closings
On Saturday, May 4, 2024, Main Street at Crowder Road and Mabel Street at 12th Street will be closed from 8:40 a.m. until 9:00 a.m. and again from 12:40 p.m. until 1:00 p.m. to allow graduates to march from Geyer Hall to the Ketcham Center for the morning and afternoon NCMC commencement ceremonies. Mabel Street at 12th will again be blocked after each ceremony to allow the crowd to disperse safely out of the building. Mabel will reopen when the street is clear of pedestrians.
THS FFA Banquet
The Trenton FFA Chapter will hold its annual awards banquet on Friday, May 3, at 6:00 pm. at Trenton High School. A meal will be served, with awards to follow in the PAC. All members, parents, honorary members and FFA supporters are welcome to attend.
ing, 198 associate in applied science, three associate in general studies, 11 associate in science and 145 certificates. The average age is 24, with the oldest graduate being 59 and the youngest 17. Graduates come from California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas and the countries of Canada, the Dominican Repub-
lic, Kenya, Panama, the United States and Venezuela. North Central Missouri College Distinguished Alumna and former President of State Fair Community College Dr. Joanna Anderson and Mike Poore, Chief Executive Officer of Mosaic Life Care, will give the commencement addresses. Dr. Anderson will speak at the 9:00 am [See NCMC, Page 2]
Finance Committee Discusses Wage/Years of Service Schedule by Mark McLaughlin R-T Staff Writer The Finance Committee of the Trenton City Council met at the Council chamber on Monday, April 29. In attendance were Mayor Jackie Soptic, City Administrator Ron Urton, Committee chairperson Tim Meinecke and council members Duane Urich, John Dolan and Marvin Humphreys. Visitors to the Commit-
tee meeting included nearly twenty city employees from the Utility, Water, Fire, Police and Parks Departments. Up for discussion was the post-mortem on the City’s proposed Wage/Merit/Years of Service Pay scale, which went down to defeat in the last City Council meeting, with discussion between committee members, the Mayor, department heads
and employees. Stipulated between all parties was an agreement that insufficient communication, particularly late notice to a number of different city departments, led to hard feelings and confusion about how the pay scale was supposed to work. A point of contention centered around how a person transferring from one department or job to [See Finance, Page 2]
911 System Update The 911 Repeater sites at the Grundy County Law Enforcement Center and the Mockingbird Hill Tower site will be completed and fully operational by this weekend, according to Grundy County EMS Director Glenn Briggs. Command One services will have the Mockingbird Hill container unit fully operational, lacking only climate control equipment. Electrical services have been run to the unit and cables have been connected from the tower to the unit. Briggs said that the County had officially notified the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the intent to obtain an official radio frequency for the two operational units [See 911, Page 2]