Glasgow, Barren County and the surrounding area endured a difficult 2009 chock-full of controversy, closings and bad weather. As we look foward to 2010, the Glasgow Daily Times has a list of things we wish for the area in the coming year.
• JOBS! JOBS!! JOBS!! There is no higher priority for our community right now. This isn’t solely an Industrial Development and Economic Authority Board effort — it’s a community-wide effort. Every council member, every magistrate, leaders from throughout Barren County and those who make impressions on those making important decisions about where to invest millions of dollars in a hyper-competitive environment. A decrease in the unemployment rate — it’s a dire sign for any community when government, be it schools or otherwise, is the county’s dominant employer. Hopefully this year there will be change that will keep Barren County from moving down that path. To both these ends, it’s important that community and business leaders give their full support to Dan Iacconi, executive director of Glasgow-Barren County IDEA, in his efforts to recruit new companies to Barren County.
• New business opening — after the last year Barren County needs good news on the business front. Any sort of new enterprise would brighten the spirits of an area that needs an economic boost. Barren County is transitioning from its traditional manufacturing base and could use a new company to help anchor that transition. More retail development and options would benefit the local population by keeping local dollars in the local economy and providing local jobs. This should increase local tax dollars. Lowe’s, Staples, Rite Aid and Walgreen’s appear to be extremely successful given their investment in Glasgow. Finding more retailers to replace those we’ve lost along the way — ones that would complement our remaining business — would help improve our quality of life and our economy.
• Barren Fiscal Court finally getting on the same page with regards to the Barren County Correction Center — the constant infighting and struggle regarding the issue isn’t helping anyone and certainly isn’t moving the issue forward. The county has struggled for years over the decision to build a new jail or renovate. In the meantime, the current jail deteriorates and the state has threatened to remove state inmates. A decision needs to be made and funding secured before rates and construction costs increase.
• An election cycle that doesn’t become overly combative — there are critical issues facing the city and the county, issues that require vision and leadership. The community deserves to have a local race that doesn’t degenerate into name-calling, scare tactics or other political ploys. We hope our candidates keep their eyes on the opportunities to lead — not on wallowing in the mud.
• A year free of controversy — Barren County could use some time to recover from all the drama of the past years. Hopefully all of Barren County’s public officials can remain out of the pages of this paper for the wrong reasons.
• An end to the situation regarding Jailer Leland Cox — for the sake of everyone in this community, hopefully the final order later this month will end a debacle that has gone on far too long, although we are not optimistic with Cox’s lawsuit still hanging on the horizon.
A focus on quality improvements in infrastructure must be made — this includes moving toward completion of the Veterans Outer Loop, fixing Columbia Avenue, completing sewer work in and near Gorin Park and a commitment to upgrade the quantity and quality of our parks.
• Improvement on Columbia Avenue — the changes made during the resurfacing clearly aren’t working. This is one “fix” that needs to be fixed. Since the road was resurfaced this year it remains rough and slick in the rain. Hopefully the new year will come with new pavement on one of Glasgow’s busiest streets.
• Continued progress toward fixing and constructing the Veterans Outer Loop — the project has moved quickly and that has been good. This is a development that could help spur business development into new areas of Glasgow by adding new access points to the Louie B. Nunn Parkway.
• As with some of our roads, streets and sewers, our recreation infrastructure is getting a little long in the tooth. Collaborative efforts such as the soccer complex have been good models — but much more work needs to be done to provide for baseball and football fields, basketball courts, bike trails, walking trails, picnic areas and green space. We’ve fallen behind many communities our size in this important quality of life arena and we believe it’s important as we compete for jobs to have features like parks that are signature destinations.
• A continuation of the mural efforts within the downtown — this is one of several good developments occurring within the local arts community. Projects that improve the look of Glasgow and of the downtown area always benefit a community. Local art and theater groups also need to continue to increase entertainment offerings locally, something that keeps more people spending money locally.
• Finally, we hope that everyone has a safe, happy and blessed new year.
