Boone County Policy Makers Breakfast

Folgers got it all wrong. The best park of waking up isn’t coffee. It’s a Policy Makers Breakfast at the Boone County Commission Chambers.

Dan Atwill, Presiding Commissioner of Boone County, opened the meeting by explaining the purpose of this breakfast is to have a dialogue to work smoothly between the different officials in Boone County and Columbia.

The three commissioners of Boone County were in attendance. Including Skip Elkin, Boone County’s District II Commissioner, who is back from serving on active duty with the National Guard.  The breakfast club also included Columbia council members, the mayor, and school board members.

Most of the communication at the meeting involved the construction of infrastructure surrounding Battle High School. The property is in the county but the city is heavily involved. A current issue is the stoplight, now installed but not functioning, at St. Charles Rd. and Battle Ave. The stop light, which is in the county, falls under their control but the county does not have any equipment to maintain a traffic light. No decision was reached how maintenance for the light will be paid for.

Other infrastructure projects include the intersection of Highway Z and St. Charles Rd. where there are plans for the construction of a roundabout with the help of state funds. There was talk of an eventual bridge over I-70 at Olivette. A lot of this presents peculiar problems for Boone County, which never builds roads but just maintains them.

The search for property for a new elementary school in Southwest Columbia continues. Due to storm water regulations the parcel of land would need to be about 30 acres.

City Manager Mike Matthes spoke of how all the parking spaces are now leased in the 5^th and Walnut parking garage. He mentioned that since there is a demand it’s possible to raise prices. He also made a comment about the Columbia Regional Airport and how they are very close to some very exciting announcements. The members at the meeting concluded it would be a good idea to come try to make these meetings a quarterly occurrence.