Aldermen approve bid for new airport hangar

A quorum of Dexter Aldermen met at the municipal building Monday night to handle a piece of routine business, while also deciding to move forward with a new project at the Dexter Municipal Airport.

The meeting started with Dexter City Administrator Mark Stidham explaining that they needed to do their annual evaluation of the tax rate in the city.

"This is something we have to do regularly," Stidham said.

The Dexter City Auditor Ed Cato then explained that the city would need to adjust their rates on property taxes in order to maintain the current level of revenue.

"It's a small adjustment," Cato remarked. "Basically, if you paid $100, then you'll pay $102 or $103."

Cato explained the reason for the adjustment is because the city's assessed valuation for the last year went down by approximately 2.85 precent.

"State law allows for municipalities to only adjust the rate enough to maintain the current level of collected revenue," Cato explained. "The only way the city would be allowed to collect more would be because of any new construction, and the taxes that are paid on them."

The board voted to approve the adjustment.

The board also voted to accept the bid from Walker Construction for the new six-unit hangar at the municipal airport.

The Dexter Airport Board had been looking into the possibility of a new hangar since obtaining approval of a MoDOT Aviation grant, which will fund the project 90/10, with the city covering 10 percent of the cost from the airport fund.

Based on the study done by the airport board, the cost of the new hangar was estimated to cost more than $600,000. Stidham reported that Walker Construction placed a bid of $488,808.40 -- well under the projected amount.

"Walker is a local company," Stidham explained. "So, not only are we spending the money locally, but there aren't additional travel or lodging costs like we would have to pay if an outside company did the work. I'm not sure how much more that would cost, but I'm sure it would make a difference."

Stidham said he anticipates the ground work for the new hangar will begin soon.

"I know they're going to have to remove the top layer of soil and bring in gravel," Stidham explained. "From there, it shouldn't be long before they start construction."

Stidham said the board hopes the new hangar might attract an aviation mechanic who would be able to do some part-time work at the airport.

"It's not unusual for the pilots here to fly to Sikeston or Marion, Ill., to get their oil changed," Stidham remarked. "It would be an asset to us if we had someone here that could do that maintenance work locally."

In other news, the board also voted to change the name of Jane Street -- from the area north of Stoddard Street -- to "Zone Drive."

Stidham explained that the drive had been abandoned for several years, and that Zone Products had purchased the property.

"It's already been renamed to Zone Drive by 911 (county services)," Stidham said. "It will be like that on all the maps, so we just need to change the name."

The Dexter Board of Aldermen are scheduled to meet next on Tuesday, Sept. 8.