Around Town: Sep. 4, 2024

By: Ernie Wren
September is here! With that comes the reminder that the Ashland Fall Festival is just around the corner, Sat. Sep. 14th at the city park.

There is still time to get signed up for the Ag Day 5K “Race to the Trough”, with check in at 7:30am at 305 N. Main Street. The cost is $20 which includes a T-shirt, and the money goes toward FFA grants. There will be an Ag Farmers Market following the race in the Ag parking lot.

The annual car and bike show goes from 9am-1pm. It’s always fun to walk through and remember or wish about the cars. There are new activities as well, such as the 9am to 3pm “GAGA Ball Tournament”. What is GAGA Ball? According to wikihow.com “Gaga ball, or Octo-ball, is an exciting variation of dodgeball where players stand inside an octagonal pit and try hitting each other with a ball. If a player gets hit below the waist or knees, they are out of the game and the last person standing wins.” This could also be fun to watch or participate in!

At 10:30am there is a “Best Dressed Dog Contest” at the doggie park, followed by the 12-1pm pumpkin decorating for kids at the large shelter. All of this and more, so mark your calendars!

Speaking of the city, it’s good to see they kept the property tax rate for 2024 the same as it was, 0.1803%. With increases in property valuations, this will still increase the tax revenue. Judging by the new paving going on around town, it’s money going to good use. With the continuing renovations at the former Ashland Health Care located at 300 S. Henry Clay, the city approved its rezoning from R1, single family to R3 multifamily.

Looks like the city is on a roll with one-way streets the way they were with roundabouts, once you get started it is hard to quit! Now that Redbud has been changed to a one-way street (which was long overdue in my opinion), more are on the way. According to unofficial city minutes, James Creel, Ashland Public Works Director says that the findings of the traffic study indicate the 100-200 block range of Burnam Ave should be re-designated as a one-way street, with West-bound traffic only, and the 100 block of S. College St. be re-designated as a one-way street, with South-bound traffic only. He stated they would begin the process of converting these streets to one-way traffic as we did Redbud Lane. A public hearing will be scheduled and the city will order the required street signage. Much needed changes, happy to see the city looking at all of these. I hope they examine Johnson St. between Henry Clay and Main.

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend, fun and safe. Now on to fall and pumpkin spice season!