Ashland Optimist Bulletin May 3 2025
Breakfast: May 10- John Travlos, Robert Blake
Program- Elisabeth Sobczak from the Ashland Park Board
The Ashland Board will meet on Thursday, May 8th at 7:00 p.m. These meetings are open to all members, but please let Barrett Glascock know if you have anything that needs to be added to the agenda by Tuesday.
We hosted Bingo this past Friday, with 142 players. Thank you to everyone who helped in the kitchen and provided desserts when Brenda Austin was out of town!
Bernie Bartel and Donna Wobbe served an incredible breakfast this morning, which included all Bernie's apple cake and fresh fruit to supplement our regular fare.
Our speaker this morning was Kip Kendrick, Boone County Presiding Commissioner. He started by speaking about the Senior Real Estate Property Tax Relief Program, which started in Boone County last year. If you were among the 8,500 parcels that applied last year, you should have received renewal paperwork. This year's applications will be accepted from April 1st-June 30th, 2025 for Boone County residents who were 62 years old before January 1st, 2025 and officially owned real estate in Boone County. The best way to apply is at the Boone County Government Center, which has people who can guide you through the paperwork, as well as a notary on site. Credits will show up on your property tax bill. Kip did share that the assessed valuation will continue to be adjusted. There is more information at showmeboone.com.
Kip also talked about the Boone County Master Plan, a policy guide of Boone County for future land-use decisions to balance new homes, businesses, and agriculture in the county. The previous Master Plan was adopted in 1996, so an update was long overdue, considering the significant population and employment growth that our county is experiencing (120% in Ashland) and was started in 2023 with input from communities via a countywide survey, as well as in-person open houses in several communities. Kip spoke at length about the importance of sewer, which is an expensive but essential aspect of our county's growth. The final Master Plan document, approved in April of 2025, can be viewed at ourboone.com.
Kip also talked about the Regional Law Enforcement Training Center, which broke ground in April 2024 and will include Mizzzou's Law Enforcement Training Institute (LETI) and will be available for First Responder and law Enforcement agencies training from across the state. This will also include a lightly subsidized public safety Childcare for law enforcement and joint communication employees in Boone County, which will be open from 4:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. The groundbreaking happened in April 2025 and they are currently hiring a director, with hopes to open by July 2026. This is thought to be one of the first purpose-built child care centers constructed for families of first responders in the nation and will help with hiring and retention of employees.
After Kip answered the many questions that people had for him, he drew for the Attendance drawing. Jerome Glascock, Dana Cafourek, and Traci Howard had their chance at riches, but with their absence, the pot will continue to grow.
Bruce Glascock shared that the online tickets for the Cattlemans' Day Rodeo started selling May 1st and over 500 tickets were sold the first day. Please share the Rodeo website: cattlemendaysrodeo.com with friends and family who are still looking for information and tickets for this year's rodeo.
Letitia DenHartog
ashlandoptimist.org
