New Development leads list of top Southern Boone stories for 2016

2016 saw the City of Ashland grow, and grow….and grow.

From a contract with Columbia businessman Larry Potterfield to develop property in northern Ashland near the Columbia Regional Airport to houses being built at Liberty Lading near the Primary School to….building new classrooms at the Primary School.

There were many construction and building projects in Southern Boone…and the promise of more to come in 2017.

While growth led our top stories in the past year, there were also stories of an important election and a very special girls basketball team.

1. Hummingbird Properties Development – The City of Ashland signed a $3,270,800 contract with businessman Larry Potterfield which would connect the city’s future wastewater treatment plant to the area up to and including the airport.  1228-NewHouse

Throughout the year, the project included installing sewer lines from the airport area south to the area west behind Salter Lawn Care and west to the future Ashland Baptist Home. However, the City of Ashland and the City of Columbia have yet to come to terms and it is unknown if the airport will be a part of the new sewer district.

But Potterfield wasted little time. Dirt began to move in the summer at the 478-acre complex and initial plans for light industrial, commercial were approved by planning and zoning and tons of dirt has been moved in preparation for construction in 2017.

2. SoBoCo Bond Issue – Southern Boone School District voters approved a $7.5 million bond issue in April which mostly dealt with growth, but also providing improved facilities for high school students.

The bond issue raised property and personal property tax 15-cents per hundred dollars of valuation, or $28.50 per $100,000 of valuation.

No matter, voters approved the measure by a nearly two-thirds majority.

The vote approved eight additional classrooms at the Primary School, a new gym for the Primary building, four additional classrooms at the Elementary building and a new P.E./weight training facility at the high school. The more recently built weight room is to be converted into lorckerrooms for soccer, football and track. Construction began in the summer and superintendent Chris Felmlee says they are on track to open the Primary classrooms in the fall of 2017.

3. School District Growth…

~ Get more 2016 top stories in today’s Journal ~

By Bruce Wallace