Owen County 20/20

CHANGE What is one thing we could do right now to make Owen County a better place to live and work?

Change but maintain what makes Owen County special

Well, I think community-wise, Owen County - Owenton, Sparta - are quaint nice little towns. There isn’t much work and you have to drive to get to work or shopping – which I suppose some might consider an inconvenience, but its not far to drive for what you need and still have the peace and tranquility of the country life. We love it.
If I could "wave a magic wand" and 1. Make people realize what a wonderful place we live in. 2. Awareness of "we could lose it" 3. Interest in preserving but also in advancing correctly without destroying our history. I’m afraid too many people take too much that it has always been this way so why change
It is already a great place to live. Educate the citizens in the benefits of the rural lifestyle as opposed to the disadvantages of growth
Change nothing
I think it’s a great place to live if I did not I would move. I like the simple life, living in a place where you know your neighbor means a lot to us.
I’ve been in Owen County for almost 6 years, I love this county and I think to live here is wonderful. I do not think you can find a better place to live
Keep doing the same, keep county government simple

Owen County has become a place to live, rather than a place to work. I dare say that the teaching profession, outside of farming, is one of the largest portions of the work force. Diversity in farming and attracting small to medium size businesses would help economically and also maintain the small town feel
We need to grow businesses and industry without urban sprawl and losing our small town feel. We need to uniquely grow to ensure we don’t look like every other town

Continue to recruit industry and develop tourism - many say they want to work in a city but live in a small community. Those that can would like to live and work in a small community but you must have the jobs. Tourism and light industry as well as services - restaurants, retail, leisure activities, hunting and fishing would provide jobs
Good schools, decent jobs and at least some minimal zoning would certainly raise our tax base and give us a lot more options
Expansion of businesses and residential development

We need to become a place people will want to build nice homes and raise their families. We are only a short commute, people are willing to drive if we can provide a high quality of life. Excellent schools, safe drinking water, recreational opportunities and a community that respects our natural beauty will make Owen County a better place to live


Employment growth

More economic activity
More jobs (62)
Bring in more jobs (3)
More job opportunities (4)
Find new jobs
Better job opportunities
More jobs in Owenton
We need to attract good businesses to the area that provide real jobs, instead of the lousy fast food, Wal-Mart type.
Get more jobs in for people to work at
Bring in more jobs, maybe Wal-mart or Save-a-Lot
Get more jobs in Owenton for people to have work
More jobs - factory
Let more job opportunities come into the town
More places to work
More jobs to help people stay in county
More places for people to work
Increase employment by actively recruiting new employers
Bring in jobs that will enable our county to grow. We are behind 10 years when it comes to job growth
Jobs for hometown people
We need to offer more to the people - jobs
More jobs in county
More opportunities to work
We need to attract young people so the community will grow.
I would like to see more industry come to Owenton
make job opportunities
There is no work in Owen County. If we don’t do anything about this Owen County will die. I love the country but Owen County is a very expensive place to live. We give to Owen County but Owen County don’t give us nothing
For work: allow more businesses to come into Owenton, this would generate money for the county
More business opportunities. There’s not enough work
More business for work,
Offer more jobs
Encourage more job opportunities
Add new jobs
More jobs
Bring in more jobs without making Owenton too busy.
Provide more jobs for all ages
the job situation is awful in Owen County
Owenton can bring in more jobs here and in the county.
To work, better paying jobs
Bring more jobs to Owen County.
there needs to be more jobs
More places to work in Owen County.
Get more jobs in
Offer more job and more businesses
For adults, we need more companies to work for.
Realize we can support and technologically advanced work for us
We need more jobs. So many spend 2-4 hours a day going back and forth to work
Need more jobs
There is little work in Owen Co. which to me is a problem, but attracting commerce to the area could effect that hometown feel we all love
Find ways to bring more jobs to the county to help people work locally
Need to have someone to help get industry/jobs in the county
More jobs here so wouldn’t have to commute to other counties
Get more places here for jobs
Do something to get more jobs in county
We need more jobs to keep people in the county
Try to bring in more jobs or more opportunities for companies outside of Owen County to come here and maybe build their business here so we could have more jobs, for people here in our county
We need more businesses there aren’t many employment opportunities here
More companies for the adults to work
Start looking for ways to bring people and jobs here.
Make more jobs available
Better jobs (3)
More jobs (5)
Owen County is not a good place to work, there aren’t enough jobs for students; Make more working opportunities
Get more work places
Have more jobs,
bring more opportunity
Increase job options
Build some more stores or something so we can get jobs
More available jobs
First off you could make more places to work
Create more jobs
Have more job opportunities
Get more jobs
Have more opportunities
Build another factory, offer more work
More job opportunities.
Get more places to work
More job opportunities
More job opportunities
Get more jobs
make more job opportunity
Bring more jobs to Owen County.
Make jobs and better opportunities
better places to work
more work opportunities
More job opportunities
Become a little more industrialized.
More jobs.
Build or apply more businesses and jobs
and more work opportunities.
Have more businesses come in for more job opportunities.
Bring in more jobs
Bring more work into Owen County
Bring more jobs to the county
We could bring in more jobs
Get more jobs so more can work
Get more jobs (2)
To make it a better place to live we could have more opportunities as in jobs
Bring in more industry to useless building sitting around.
More jobs (3)
We need to get more company in our town
More companies to provide things to do and places to work
Have different jobs besides pizza places
Make some kind factory that will make money and provide lots of jobs.
More places to work
As far as a place to work, employment here is very limited. It would be a better place to live if you didn’t have to leave the county for work
For one thing there’s not enough businesses to work
Build places for people to work at
The county needs jobs bad
Our people have a good work ethic. They need a good clean place to work; good wages. Our people leave out every morning in record numbers and drive 40-50 miles to work. We beg off our neighbors for jobs
Keep jobs and establish more jobs
Bring in more work places
We can maybe have a few more job options but not a lot to where we have to build a lot more town
Increase the options in the job market
Find way to create more jobs in county
Get just a few more companies in here.
Get more jobs here
More jobs
more jobs and industry
We need more factories for people to work in here and not drive miles to work and gas to come down, so it won’t cost so much to get to the job
Get more jobs to come in Owen County and better paying jobs
Have more places to work
More jobs (4)
More jobs (Wal Mart, etc)
Create more job opportunities
Create more jobs
Jobs (2)
Job opportunities
Have more job opportunities
Bring in more jobs
Try to get better jobs
Add more jobs to Owen County.
Let more jobs come in the community.
We need to get more jobs in the county and places where everyone can have fun.
Job growth in Owen County
Get more jobs in here
More jobs
First off we need to have more places to work. Owen County doesn’t offer much in jobs and we need to bring in more jobs of that there is no doubt.
Create jobs and make incentive for people to stay in the community and contribute to good living conditions
Find a good company with numerous jobs to come here.
There is not work. I have to drive 50 miles to a decent living. The old county leaders have done nothing but repress the county’s people until they have had to give up their homes to the unrepressed out of town people who have had good jobs for years.
Keep the people from going out of the county to work by bringing in business and promoting training of the people
I think Owen county is a great place to live; Jobs are few, so many people have to travel but I don’t know the answer if more industry were brought here that may help
Have more jobs for people
Make more places to get a job.
More places to work,
Higher paying jobs
More jobs.
bring more jobs in the county.
We need more jobs in Owen County
We could make more places to work
Better place to work at
build more places to work
More places to work
More activities and more job opportunities
Build more places where people could work.
Make more businesses to work.
To make it a better place to work, build more factories.
Get more stores, and places to work.
Become a bigger job and food selection
Have more places to work and more places for people to live
We need more jobs and industry in Owen County, clean up the older buildings, leave outlying country, give us more work
Make better places to live and work.
Have more places for people to work
Have more places to work.

Owen Co. needs more places for women to work so they can be closer to home for their kids. There is no place here in Owen Co. for adult women to work. It is all for school kids
Find a way to attract jobs to keep families in the county

We could try to bring in more business and factories
More industry would possibly bring more opportunities for jobs to Owen County
Factories with retirement benefits
We need industry work – too many people have to drive out of town for work
We need another factory or office complex. So many of our citizens work out of town
Build more infrastructure to support a changing and expanding local economy
More industry so that we could have better shopping opportunities
Provide more industry for better paying jobs
More industry
Bring industry to Owen Co
Entice industry to Owen Co
Industry
more industry
Industry jobs for our own people
More light industry/manufacturing for employment
More industry brought into the county.
Some small industrial developments.
More business and industry
more factories to put people to work.
new industry
one new industry (2)
New industrial board
Change industrial board,
I think Owen County should stay a small town, but have more job opportunities
use the Industrial Building for flea markets or farmers market or something, anything is better than sitting there empty
More industry brought into the county to prevent so many people being employed elsewhere. We need to keep our residents here.
More industry.
Bring more jobs to Owenton. What are you going to do with the building across from Octaris?
Provide respectful jobs without downgrading our county by trying to make jobs in order to sell alcohol
By letting other factories come in
Bring more industry
More industry (4)
We need to get more industry
Bring in medium sized businesses
Get some more industry
Bring more work in for Owen County, more factory work
Build a factory so we wouldn’t have far to drive to work
We need more industry to provide new jobs
Find industry that fits to the needs of this county.
More industry so people would not have to waste all their income buying cars and gasoline just getting back and forth to work
It would be nice to work in Owenton but where? We don’t have enough industries or opportunities
I would like to see more industry in our town. More businesses mean more funds for our schools which we all know we need desperately
More factories
One or two industrial businesses to keep people in the area making a reasonable wage
Possible try to bring in some sort of manufacturing plant or factory. Something that could provide jobs locally and in return it would boost the revenue of the smaller businesses in the county. It would also save money for those traveling outside of the county searching for work
We need more factories or a big business like Wal-Mart to come to our town and our people of our county should be the first ones to get the new jobs
You might start by putting something in the expensive new factory building that stands empty to bring in some jobs for Owen Countians
Improve the working situation. Needed are more factories, stores for people to work and invest in

More work for the young people
More industry and work for the young
job opportunities for youth
Expand more jobs for our children
Get more jobs for young people to stay in county and live here in the future
Looking at the younger generation of Owen Co. and looking at what we can have in Owen Co to produce jobs for these people. They must have employment to keep these people here.
More industries for the youth and more jobs for teens
Have something (businesses) that my children can come back home from school and get a job locally. We are very limited on opportunities for our kids to stay here
Give young people a chance to work
Better paying jobs so our sons and daughters and grandchildren don’t have to leave county
Jobs, jobs, jobs - to encourage young folk to stay and/or return to county to work and raise their families
Do whatever it takes to get employment in our county. Both for the needed revenue and most certainly for our children’s future. The youth need a choice to stay in the county or leave. Right now they have to leave to find opportunity
To have places for them (kids) to find work during summer
Make more places for teens to go and work
One thing that could make Owen County a better place is to have more work places for the teenagers
Bring in more businesses so there are more available jobs and bring in things for the teenagers so they don’t have to travel so far to find something to do.
Have more jobs in the county for young people
Find more jobs and industry to keep our young people here
One problem with the community now is that many of the younger generations leave to seek further education after high school and do not return. This is because their hometown has nothing to offer them in terms of a job market and the types of simple amenities they desire when they start to raise a family (such as activities close to home, including recreational parks and services)
To encourage younger generation and to have places to work and earn a good living
We need to have some factories. Our young people have to work in surrounding counties
The one thing that needs to be done right now is to have more job opportunities for the younger generation. Owen County needs to grow and establish new jobs for these people. For this to happen we need to prosper and grow.

The county needs more working places so people do not have to travel but at the same time there needs to be a way to keep Owen County a rural community
Create a group with real vision to help guide county officials in the right direction for more jobs – the first priority

Take down old businesses and rebuild with some sort of business that can bring in more money and work for the people of Owen County
A business located near the race track or a business located near the Owen County/Franklin line on 27 would be ideal locations for a new business in Owen County

Encourage industry to provide larger tax base
Sadly farming as an occupation is declining rapidly. If quality is measured in dollars then industry is the answer; or state government must find tax dollars to enhance facilities in Owen Co. I have a high regard for Owen Co of today
We need to be able to offer jobs in this county. We lose money by people working outside the county which 90% already do
Jobs that we could have a tax base to support the county and town that will utilize local people

Jobs already in county need to pay better to keep people working in Owen County (ambulance service)
I would like low income salary’s to be raised
Have better jobs available.
First thing is to bring more jobs to Owen County. The only real factory is Actare’s and they don’t pay too much. It is hard nowadays to make it on one income. I feel if there was a better factory that paid more, then you could have your spouse stay home with the kids
Provide more jobs with a higher pay rate
Better jobs
There are quite a few people that have to drive a good distance to their jobs so it would be nice if there were more jobs available locally. Also it would be great if jobs paid more – this would help out a whole lot of people
Provide jobs - secure ones

Some people think getting another factory in town would be good. If it’s environmentally safe and it doesn’t gobble up acres and acres of good farm land, it could be good for the county
Watch for dangerous industry
Please leave the chemical plants and heavy industry to the Ohio River counties
A clean industry or two in the industrial park

Stop speculating on the speculation building in the industrial park, or at least advertise the land there for [a little] development.

There is no work. I have to drive 50 miles for a decent living. The old county leaders have done nothing but repress the county’s people until they have had to give up their homes to the unrepressed out of town people who have had good jobs for years.


New businesses for community

Bring in more businesses (3)
New businesses
Have more business opportunities
More businesses
Promote more small businesses in Owenton with more selection of products and lower prices.
Move in more businesses
More businesses (5)
Get new businesses
Need more businesses in and around town. Local merchants can’t complain about people "going out of
town" to purchase items if they can’t find most of them in Owenton.
Need retail - more jobs, keep money in our county (Wal-Mart, Target)
More small businesses to keep the money in the county, to create more jobs for hometown people
Keep money in county
More businesses/restaurants so you don’t have to spend dollars outside the county and have to drive at least 30 minutes to get to something to do
I think we need more shopping centers and restaurants. People are going out of the county to shop and eat. We are losing revenue for our community
Bring in more business.
More business opportunities
Get more businesses here
Prompt business growth within the county
maybe a department store, more restaurants, also a movie theater.
I am proud to see new establishments coming in to our town and hopefully more will follow
Have more restaurants
It would be great to have a Wal Mart
More shopping opportunities
Look for new business to move into Owen County.
We need a nice clothing store and shoe store
variety of stores
Add a women’s clothing store
We need more attractions such as businesses
have more variety in places to dine, shop, etc.

Have a variety of fast food restaurants, shopping malls
Have more than on true fast food restaurant
Put a Wal Mart up in town
Build theaters and more restaurants
We need more stores.
Build more stuff
Open the Subway
Get a Wal Mart
put a few more businesses in Owenton.
Stores, Wal Mart, etc.
Auto Zone
Put in a supermarket, Kroger maybe
Put in a supermarket
More restaurants
More restaurants.
To have more restaurants
Add more stores and restaurants
Put up more new buildings like airport or mall and bowling alley.
Build some airports, casinos, shopping malls and adult novelty stores.
Add something new.
Put more businesses in and more things for after school activities.
Add shopping mall and airport.
More restaurants for people to gather.
Get more businesses and restaurants and something to do
More restaurants, movie theater, skating rink, Chiles, Cracker Barrel, Rally’s, etc.
Get a Wal Mart and Bass pro shop.
Wal Mart.
Have more stores
An IGA
Add more things like a Wal Mart.
Get more places to go besides pizza places.

Expanding businesses. Larger companies. Instead of one or two grocery stores that over price food, a larger store like Super Wal-Mart or Meijer would be great. This way people don’t have to leave Owen Co to get to these places
Availability of necessary goods, reasonably priced. The grocery stores do that but there is no place to purchase clothing, sporting goods, few places to shop for furniture. Reasonably prices gasoline. Low interest for mortgage. Book clubs
More stores, such as a Wal-Mart Super Center where you can purchase everything that you need so we don’t have to go out of town
More stores
Improve shopping
Small mall
More shopping centers
Bring in a shopping center
Stores
Get a business in the old IGA building - a Wal-Mart (ha ha), a discount store, a Big Lots or grocery...even a used furniture/household goods store (with all the resorts around, people are always looking for furniture without spending a lot)
Make sure it doesn’t become flooded with businesses, however a few more businesses would be good for the community
More businesses (3)
Have more stores
I would like to see the county grow with new businesses coming in to create jobs and revenue
Attract new business, stores, restaurants so that everyone has option to live, work and shop in Owenton;.
More business.
restaurants, stores (dress shop
department store (2)
More retail stores
need ladies department store
store for lady clothes, movie theater, amusement
Have a movie theater.
Add more shops and restaurants.
Encourage growth of farmers/craft market.
Build super center and combine all stores into one, or build a local swim club, or public pool.
Open more businesses and entertainment.
More fast food markets
Bring in more businesses but keep the businesses in town limits and leave the country for the farmers of Owen County.
.
More activity in Owen County, a mall would help.
To have a large dept. store/grocery chain such as Wal-Mart/Meijers, etc.
More store variety such as Wal-Mart etc
Bring a Wal-Mart in
Wal-Mart (7)
More jobs (Wal-Mart)
Make a Wal Mart
Get a Wal Mart.
A Wal-Mart or K-Mart
A franchised retail store such as Wal-Mart
Get a Wal-Mart (2)
A super Wal-Mart
Put a Wal-Mart here
I would like to see a Wal-Mart or at least a women’s clothing store. We have Larry Tackett’s for the men, but it would be nice to see something for the women
Move the Dollar Store to a bigger place (too small to get around in store)
Move the Dollar General store to a bigger building
A larger Dollar Store
More stores for clothes (adults and children)
Clothing stores
A clothing store for women and children
We need to bring in a clothing store so we do not have to go out of the county to buy what we need
Need a clothing store with prices ordinary people can buy (women’s clothing)
To have more retail (such as food, clothes)
A family clothing store
To have a place where we can buy clothes
Build a coffee shop/bookstore
Addition of Owen building supply is great - no more trips to Frankfort and Florence for building supplies
Allow Dollar Store to move to empty IGA Bldg. Install gutters on Dollar Store Bldg and improve parking
Better grocery stores
Grocery stores
Another supermarket
Big Kroger grocery
Sav-a-Lot
To bring in some competition of grocery stores
A competitive grocery store such as Krogers or Meijers
A larger grocery store
Car dealership (2)
A new car dealership
Four wheeler shop
Car detailing

Growth in businesses in the community. More eating places besides pizza and Dairy Queen. It would be nice to shop in Owenton for clothes, etc. and keep that money in the county than go to Dry Ridge, Frankfort to find what you need at Wal mart, Target, etc.
We could really use a big Kroger and Wal mart, so we don’t have to go to other counties to shop. We need more dining choices
bigger stores, Wal Mart Super Center.
More restaurants and shopping centers because I always have to go to Carrollton for the things I need.
People have to shop outside of Owenton because of prices and brands also clothes. We have no selection. Instead of all these restaurants we need clothing, something we can afford

More places to eat
More restaurants (2)
to have more restaurants
Restaurants
Better restaurants
bring more than restaurants here
Put more restaurants and businesses in Owen County.
Put more restaurants and business in Owenton.
more restaurants
Making more places to eat and hang out.
more variety of places to eat
Another fast food place such as Gold Star
A quality restaurant
More dining opportunities
Another hole-in-the-wall breakfast or hamburger shop on square
New restaurant moving in
Dining (2)
Better dining
Get more restaurants in town
Need more dining (other than pizza) to keep people in the county
Somebody needs to open a restaurant that does not serve pizza
Fabulous restaurant that serves vegetables and desert
More eating facilities
Add more restaurants
More choices of eating
Better restaurants
Nice restaurants
Good place to eat or dining
We need more restaurants
More restaurants, businesses
More food places
We need more restaurants like O"Charley, Applebees and Golden Corral, Arbys, Burger King, McDonalds, Long John Silver, White Castle, KFC
Restaurants – place to take of 5 and not have to spend a small fortune to feed them
More restaurants (2)
More restaurants (not pizza)
More fast food
Put a fast food restaurant with a "drive thru" close to Actaris so employees don’t have to drive across town for a drive through
Waffle House
Put in some nicer restaurants other than fast food or pizza
Also the institution of some nicer restaurants, not a pizza place. Subway is here which is a nice health alternative, but something with a bit more class. However, that will require the ability to serve alcohol

Business in Owen County needs to change, except for the drug stores, dollar store, groceries and mini-marts they all have hours that do not meet their patrons’ needs. Many people in the community have had to go out of the county to work, they can not get back from work in time to do any banking on a week day or get something from the hardware, just as two examples
Keep places of business open until at least 5PM so workers from Actaris can get there before closing – clerk’s office, post office, Southern States
I feel the business people could rethink store hours. Banks and Court House should not close on Wed

Find ways to encourage people to do business locally (grocery, clothing, farming, support local artists). Find ways to encourage others in small business ventures.
develop community favorable to business
Stores and banks close too early, stay open later.

Make prices in Owen County comparable for everyday things that people have to buy to survive. Lower prices elsewhere cause Owen County residents to spend their money in other places
Business owners need to lower prices to compete with stores out of our area
The Chamber needs to sponsor customer service seminars for local businesses
The small business shops are all closing up or are too high for us common folk


Small and local business development

People be willing to support the local economy – local businesses
Convince people you don’t have to shop in other places. Wal-Mart is not the answer to everything
Be more supportive of the businesses that already exist in the community
Support for small businesses – help them to cooperate with one another – Keep out corporations! Help people start co-ops
Residents to genuinely try to shop at home and not just pay it lip-service
Support businesses in downtown Owenton
Promote downtown shopping
People need to realize we have stores available to us in town and support them.

More local businesses (self owned)
More mom and pop stores
Help bring small business back to the town

More local businesses
support entrepreneurs - and stimulate more ideas
Encourage small businesses
Promote cottage industries
Cottage industries
Encourage clean businesses and cottage industries
To attract businesses to the county so people have better paying job opportunities right here at home instead of having to drive 50 miles one way to work to make a living

Support and develop small and local businesses in Owen County with tax benefits and general support
Interim program focusing on attracting business
Encourage more small affordable businesses in Owenton
Encourage small businesses instead of huge corporations
Incentives for small businesses
Incentives for small businesses to come to Owen Co
Provide low cost/low interest loans to small businesses and farmers
Develop high tech incubator program for new businesses


Support expansion of agriculture

Put more energy into our agricultural community. There is a great diversity of ag alternatives. We all eat! Food crops "could" help offset the loss of tobacco revenues. Also, organic or naturally-grown produce brings a higher price. We need more education in this area
Diversify agricultural possibilities such as many viable uses for hemp. We should begin addressing the issues of our future
continue to help farmers receive incentives from tobacco block grant.
Encourage agri-tourism.
Need a crop since tobacco buyout for farming
Maybe even different farming opportunities. Tobacco is a crop of the past. If things like the Winery will benefit our county, we need to be more open-minded to change
Diversification of farm products and markets to help fill void of tobacco as primary cash crop
Alternate crops for tobacco farmers – hemp, grapes, etc
Alternative crops for Owen Co
Produce other crops and livestock
Ag changes – allow winery - not tobacco
Extension Service and UK finding alternatives for farming
Help the farmers to have a better way to be successful
Promote truck farming
If the vision were to preserve the beauty of what is there now, into a future time - it would seem some means of preserving the land as farmland is necessary. There is a necessity to aid the farmer of yesterday’s crop, tobacco, into a crop or crops that is good for today and into the future. If the farmer is sustained then the land can remain open from housing and shopping mall development. If the farmers are sustained by new cash crops would he/she be less motivated to sell off the land as housing development – perhaps even to preserving of some road frontage - so that there isn’t housing from Frankfort to Owenton
We need to focus more on what we have and what it will be worth in the future. At the rate of development of housing in neighboring counties I’m envisioning a time in the near future when farm land will be very valuable. Even now, while we still have a lot of farm land, growing organic vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts are becoming more profitable because aging Baby boomers are coming to terms with you are what you eat." We need to preserve tillable land and support our local farmers in alternative programs to tobacco
Utilize state appropriated funds to advance the independent farmer in both current and un-realized markets, etc. Hopkinsville and their organization for marketing ethanol
Start exploration of ethanol fuel. Import or construct an ethanol refinery or factory and begin distribution to others
Micro-cheeseries have proven profitable in some KY counties for the dairy industry. Another product labeled Owen Co. The more products, the better for our agriculture. Even a large quantity of our KY bourbon is owned by foreign interests. Let’s keep it KY, Owen Co. and rural
Put the Farmers Market in a place where it is more convenient to set up and park
Rent out the industrial building or let farmers market set up there
Farmers Mkt is nice but crafts need to be updated to meet today’s styles and decor of homes
Let people realize how much the new stockyard means to the economics of OC
Care for the animals by helping them when they are having trouble with their babies
Find someone else to buy our bulls
Find a bigger market for our bulls
Organize our markets and products
Protect our farmers
Keep the tobacco program as it has always been. Let the farmer raise his quota, lease in if he over poundage. Support price should be given as always. Let the tobacco program be as it always has been. No change!


Downtown improvement and historic preservation

Improve downtowns
Try to make our "downtown" area more quaint, like Georgetown KY or Madison IN. They have older buildings, like ours, but they are all painted in the same color scheme. It would make our business area more inviting and attractive. It might encourage more small businesses to open in town
Check into renewal projects to fix-up small towns
Preservations/renovations
Sidewalks with each new development
More sidewalks
More and better sidewalks
"Main Street" program - funds available through state for "Main St" downtown
A Main Street program
Revitalized old architecture and towns to improve cash flow for owners and Owen Co
Revitalize the towns of Owen County
Restoration and upkeep of historical buildings
Destroy houses etc. that are falling down
get rid of unused buildings or use them.
There are old historic buildings there (downtown). It would be nice to see them fixed up with a federal grant program
Property owners should be encouraged to restore older homes instead of tearing them down. A lot people enjoy touring older homes
We need to restore more historical homes and tear down ones who are an eyesore
Make it mandatory for shops on square to keep them up. Keep charm of the square
Keep the older buildings painted and take care of them. They are our history
Have merchants paint store fronts in planned colors to emphasize small town appeal, potted flowers blooming in front of store
Put new paint on the water tower
Small eating park on the square
Attract businesses inside Owenton city limits to revitalize the area
Today it seems like a lot of empty buildings all over the county
Improve landscaping around the courthouse and main downtown areas
Plant flowers and decorative trees and shrubs around town in abundance
More parking/access to stores

Older homes and family cemeteries should be better protected. When cemeteries are disturbed, the laws should be enforced.
The towns of Wheatley and New Liberty have some old houses that need to be destroyed or repaired
Also, maybe restoring some of the older houses which would help the appearance but also save the heritage of Owen to a certain extent
Cemetery maintenance
Find grants for cemetery upkeep
A second concern is that there may be too many "new things" such as buildings and homes being constructed. I understand wanting something new and all your own, but I also believe in restoring homes and keeping our history alive

Update and change some of the store fronts and buildings in our town. The town just needs cleared up and taken care of
Beautify. By planting trees and flowers, give business owners incentives to keep their facilities cleaner
One thing I would change is maybe fix up some of the old buildings that are eye sores to the town. I would like to see them fix them up back to the old time, make the downtown park look like the old days and keep our heritage.
Add little extras, flower boxes in town, trees, etc.


Tourism development

Nice brochure (tourism) focusing on OC
Add more tourist activities to sign as you enter Owenton (more than Dairy Queen!)
Recreation facilities developed and marketed
More recreation – lake, golf courses
We need to find a way to attract locals and tourists. Why not have a "olden days" theme for a few weekends per month where locals wear clothing from the 1800s, restaurants could specialize food from this era, fix up some of the old buildings (at least the facade on some of them) and make it seem like Owen County is a portal to go back in time. Also have B&Bs for visitors so that they can stay in an old boarding house, etc
Have an old time court days like in days gone by
Wildlife park

Entertainment and businesses to not only bring new people in but to keep our own here
Promote local entertainment
More arts and crafts stores
Promote crafts trade
Artist colony
Support our people in developing the arts/crafts into tourism


Clean up county

Institute program for cleaner road-sides and residences. There are trash, litter, and eyesore residences everywhere
Mandatory garbage pick-up
Mandatory garbage collection
Mandatory county-wide garbage collection
Mandatory trash pick-up
Free garbage pick up (3)
garbage pick up free
Trash pick-up
County trash pick-up
County trash pick-up with recycling
Litter control, trash pick-up
County trash pick-up – recycling
We need to be a clean community
enforce current laws, remove eyesores (junk cars, dilapidated trailers).
Clean up the town
Keep our county clean
Clean it up! Clean the trash, sweep the street, point building
Garbage along roads which would make it a cleaner place to live and provide work for those in need to do the cleaning up.
Count/city cleanup regulations enforced by officials to help the beauty of our small town.
A county wide clean up would be nice. Garbage alongside the roadways makes the county look unkempt and NO Pride being taken in it.
To live in it could be a better place by making people take care of their property and how it looks, especially if they have neighbors. It makes their neighbors look trashy if their outside is.
keep garbage off our roads

Also would like to see a change at the dump such as no charge for household trash.
Mandatory garbage collection would stop bags of garbage beings dropped along our roads. I have bags of dirty diapers plus the usual garbage being dumped on my roadway

Tougher "littering" laws
Proceed with county ordinances to make landowners clean up their properties
Put stiff littering fines in place and enforce them
Have stiffer laws for roadside dumping and road-side littering such as throwing out pop cans and fast food trash
There should be restrictions so people won’t junk up their property that would be seen by others driving down the road. This would make Owen County a beautiful place to live
Clean up Owen Co. and prosecute all those that litter
Clean up some of the outer city limit areas - "ordinances"
Stiffer fine for littering

Better enforcement of nuisance laws
enforce the nuisance law, the County Attorney
Strict enforcement of current nuisance laws
Follow through with fines -- all this dumping is poor to have people with first impression
Enforce the nuisance laws so that the junk cars and litter would be removed
Crack down on the dumping and people who destroy the environment
Enforce the laws we have regarding junk and cleaning the county
Enforce current ordinances pertaining to junk cares, weeds and trash
I see no "no littering" signs or fines for littering posted on our streets. We need to enforce "no littering"
Owen Co (and specifically Owenton) needs to be make beautification and cleanliness a priority. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Why are the existing city/county ordinances being enforced?
Enforce the nuisance laws
Enforce the laws we have and keep Owen Co clean
Enforce right-of-way dumping out of car windows
Have someone to police property violations like cars parked in yards 30+ days
Enforce nuisance ordinance
Enforced county cleanup esp. within city limits (ex. East Adair, North Adams)
Clean up Owen County. I thought an ordinance was passed to get rid of junk in people’s yards. It is a disgrace to Owen County and God’s land
Try to solve the problems of blighted property and littering; This creates a negative image for visitors and potential new residents and businesses; It set a bad example for our young people; Insist on responsibility to the community by enforcing what laws and regulations we have; Strengthen those laws and regulations if necessary; There would be some who would have legitimate reasons why they cannot keep up their property; Maybe this could be helped some by creating a Spring and/or Fall Fix-Up Weekend; Volunteers, under the supervision of contractors, carpenters, painters, etc., could help the appearance of some of these properties with donated materials and materials purchased at cost from donations; Other communities do this.
Enforce the nuisance law, the County Attorney.

Solid waste coordinator

"Certified Clean County" - cleaning up dumps, etc
Implement an on-going program to regularly clean up litter instead of just the annual focus of commonwealth clean up week

Make owners of abandoned business and homeowners maintain property. Example: Old IGA sign out front and look at the old school!
Make owners responsible for their empty buildings which are deteriorating. Doing this will help attract businesses and homeowners
We have several vacant buildings right in town that are just running down. They make the town look bad for new people/new businesses wanting to relocate into our town/county. What steps can be enacted to sell these properties, rent, etc.? What can the county do about business property that has been just let go because they get a tax write off by it setting empty?
We need to be more proactive about cleaning up the area. Remove junked cars and trash from properties, either at the choice of the property owner or by order of the court. So many people have created illegal junk yards and dumps. It’s embarrassing
A lot of the empty buildings need to be cleaned up as well as the shopping centers and trailer parks
Clean up, funding to improve houses, many need to be painted, lots of buildings in town are vacant.
Offer all kinds of recycling sources – most people that try to do this has to take it out of county to dispose of
Clean up all abandoned properties
have some families clean up their yards
Have area beautification programs/projects for rental homes that may be funded by the state or federal government

Recycle
Recycling program
recycling center
Start a recycling program.
I would also like there to be more of a push for recycling
Start a city "Adopt a highway" or a day to clean the roadways
Clean up. The fire department will pick up old cars and farm equipment – seems not many take advantage. The last Saturday of the month you can haul your own junk and dispose of it free. Even the road work near the schools was left an ugly mess all winter. Some law or type of encouragement should be implemented
Right now I see a decline in the cleanliness of our town. Have volunteer activities throughout the year to clean up and pretty up sore spots. Have a clean up fund drive for our town/county to have money to do projects. Apply for grants for our town/county/improvements
Owen County is a great place to live, but like many other rural areas, many people do not take pride in where they live. Too much garbage is littering the roads. Not only that, but even on private property, many homes look like garbage dumps. You can be poor and clean at the same time. There needs to be a way to encourage people to keep the county cleaner.
It would also be great if communities such as Gratz didn’t look like garbage dumps. Sparking a sense of pride in such towns would be a great start to raising the standard of living all throughout Owen County.

Encourage property owners to have pride in property and to keep it looking good
Make property owners responsible for keeping their road front property litter free
We need to clean up the county. Everyone needs to be made accountable for their property
There should be some sort of limit to the amount of trash a landowner can display on his property.
Old refrigerators and cars do not belong in your front yard. Parts of Owen County are Hillbilly Haven
Not only are our country-sides being lined with trash and homes that are not cared for
Clean it up! The garbage around the county is disheartening to see. When I first moved here 13 years ago, one of the things that I loved was how clean it was
I would like to see us clean up the county. On every major highway entering the county we either have junkyards or dilapidated trailers or trailer parks. These eyesores lower the value of property and discourage investment
Every person or land owner keep their road frontage clean
Too many areas are being junked up with trashy yards, trailers, etc
Get people to take care of their property and not put junk in front yards or side yards
Clean up abandoned trailers, cars, etc.
Continue to have people clean sore-eye spots from their property
People have junkyards around their homes and no one does anything about it
Get the junk cleaned up. Right in the city limits there are a few houses with "junk" all over the place. This leave a bad impression on people passing through
Convince individuals to clean up around their homes
All the houses and farms covered in junk makes our county look bad. They should have to clean up their junk – at least out of sight
Maintain a clean, healthy environment by not trashing roadsides, and disposing of our own things properly
follow and check up on city and county ordinances, like all these unsightly lots that’s junked up with debris and garbage
Clean up trash along roads
Keep this beautiful land clean
Clean the town up of trash and junk cars
Property should be kept clean, trash pickup by owners
Get rid of the trash in front of some of the houses
clean up the county -- garbage, cars
clean up some more of the roadsides.
clean the trash off of roadways
Encouragement to home owners to clean up their property. It does not give potential residents or businesses an urge to come to Owen County
Make people clean their property of trash
Do something about abandoned buildings and trashy sites in town and county. Clean-up week is a good start
Clean up around homes
Keep our yards clean
Clean up blight and construction areas like around the school
Have work programs for school kids to do clean-up in all areas

Try to solve the problems of blighted property and littering; This creates a negative image for visitors and potential new residents and businesses; It set a bad example for our young people; Insist on responsibility to the community by enforcing what laws and regulations we have; Strengthen those laws and regulations if necessary; There would be some who would have legitimate reasons why they cannot keep up their property; Maybe this could be helped some by creating a Spring and/or Fall FixUp Weekend; Volunteers, under the supervision of contractors, carpenters, painters, etc., could help the appearance of some of these properties with donated materials and materials purchased at cost from donations; Other communities do this.

Use convicts to clean up roads
Everyone has got to get involved - get the trash pick-up along the roadways. Inmates get involved
Litter control - possible usage of inmates from regional jails

Better overall impression – improve appearance of county
Clean up the county
A crew of people need to be elected and work on nothing but piece by piece to clean up everyone’s place
Continue working to clean up the county and making it the best we can
Clean up the litter
Keep it clean – don’t litter
Clean up everywhere...we need a good image - clean - no garbage dump
Clean-up community
Provide a cleaner community
Rural clean-up projects - use class "d" program
Keep it clean
Keep our county clean
Clean up and give the county a better look
Care for the place like pick up litter and help the cows - cows could put a piece of trash in their mouth by accident and die
Old vehicles removed
Littering is also an issue, particularly between town the schools.
A way to clean up junk
Clean trash up, pick up all the junk
Clean it up, take the subway down because it’s right next to the grave yard, I hate that
Clean up the dumps
Clean it’s sides of roads
Make the town look better
keep the roadsides clean
Clean the city up
Help keep it a cleaner environment = litter control helps
Clean up the garbage
Clean up Owenton more
Continue to clean-up junk and trash
Trash – lots of litter (Glencoe Hill on 127 for example)
Clean it up
Clean up in general
Clean up
Clean it up
Keep it clean
No more litter
Have better, cleaner places in Owen County
Clean up the trash so we don’t kill the wild life around those areas
Picking up trash that people litter and making it better by doing this
Have a campaign such as "Don’t be a litter bug"
Clean and improve Owen Co area – junk cars, trash, upgrading housing areas
More county-wide cleaning
Cleaner county (2)
Pick up and clean up after ourselves
Clean up the trash that litters our county and prevent future dumping on roadsides
Try keeping the litter picked up in town
I would like to see an intensive effort devoted to improving the initial impression of Owenton, city itself, as a person enters – some of the houses are neglected and run down
Work on cleaning up the county in all aspects
Keep the community clean

Clean up the trailer park or do something with it
Get rid of all the trailer parks and build houses, it would make our community look better.
Clean up trailer parks now here
Help clean up and landscape the trailer court; installing a playground for all those children

Clean up the roads and streets
Cleaner roadsides
Keep trash off the roads and grass
Clean up work on all roads
Clean up community and roads
Clean up trash along roadsides and target dump sites along Kentucky River
Keep our highways clean
Keep right of ways cleared of weeds and junk
Keep right-of-ways clean and mowed
Clean up hwy 22 corridor
Clean up litter and trash along roadways
Have more clean-ups to keep our roadways clean
Clean up the trash strewn roadways
The roadways and people’s yards need to be neat and garbage free
Roadsides cleaned and grass mowed so you can see at intersections
People litter along highways.
Clean streets
Keep our community clean (roads)
Making an improvement would be to reduce the amount of litter that is an "eye sore" along our country roads
Clean up roads
During the summer time make sure all grounds are mowed!!
Start cleaning up the garbage along the roads
Clean up roads and property. Even with a free Saturday for garbage it isn’t getting done
Stop the dumping of trash and garbage up and down our roadways


Clean up the environment

Keep a clean environment. Keep Owen County clean and safe
Clean up the waterways and maintain them better
We need to pay attention to health care, water, and our environment
Make residents repair/pump septic systems
Preserve the natural surroundings
Clean river
Keep the lakes and ponds clean
Environmental standards to protect environment
No lagoon septic system
Clean up all our ponds and streams - quit killing our rural beauty
Maintain the beauty of the county’s geography
Stop polluting
There should be regulations on businesses to not pollute air nor water and to be quiet
I think we have to find ways to work with county, state, and federal agencies to support development to preserve the environment yet develop areas that would bring people and money to the county
I think we have to find ways to work with county, state, and federal agencies to support development to preserve the environment yet develop areas that would bring people and money to the county
Plant more trees
Practice conservation
Cleaner environment
Get more trees
Save the trees and land from roads being built
Plant more trees
Implement programs to help protect our woodlands, and privacy. Consider what may be thought of as radical ideas creating a campground/park. And other possibilities.


Recreation, entertainment, "things to do" for youth and families

More places and things for kids to do
Activity/place for teenagers in pm

A multipurpose recreation center – movies - bowling - games - basketball league
Youth center
We need a community center for our children
Community center for youth
Change the old IGA into a place for children to have something to do. Maybe a skating rink
Community center for kids (entertainment)
To open a multi-purpose center for all ages that would provide all kinds of activities/services
Better places for young people to go to stay away from drugs and trouble.
A better place of recreation for the children
The industrial building used for place for children with a bowling alley, snack bar, something to keep them busy
Make the old IGA building a roller rink or movie theater for the kids
Maybe the industrial building could be fixed for bowling and tennis, skating, etc
A place for teens to hang out instead of on the streets at night. Use the old building we already have for something useful
Build more things for kids to do like a Boys and Girls Club
Sheriff’s Camp should have camping for all ages of children up till 16

A place for children to play
More places for youth to go
Places for the teens or younger adults to go instead of the streets
We need places for kids to do something besides running the streets. There’s a lot of kids out there with nothing to do but get in trouble
There is not a place for teenagers to hang out so therefore they use businesses’ parking lots. Maybe if we could designate a place for kids to park, the cops could have a better handle on what’s going on with teenagers
Helping our kids and give them things to do.
Make more places to play that are safer to be.
More things for our youth to do
More activities for the younger generation.
Provide more activities for the youth
Continue to expand things for youth.
more stuff for the children,.
More constructive activities for our community
Being new activities to the county I would love to see a central activity area. I know there is currently a fair grounds area with athletic fields, but would love to see it grow more
Make the county more appealing to the younger generations, have things for them to do and places to go.
More activities for children to do instead of walking the streets and having nothing to do because we have so many people that don’t want anything in the community.
provide more community activities other than the county fair and parks and recreational activities
Have more things for young people to do, so they do not have to travel so far out of town to find something to do.
More activities for teens, other than getting into trouble.
Some places for our kids to play in addition to what’s already here
Have more places for the young people of Owen County to enjoy
More places for the young kids to go. The young kids in Owen County have to drive around Owenton for their entertainment
The teenagers definitely need a place to hang out. Most of them occupy their time with bad habits
Find a recreation area for the youth
Make a safe place for teens to go
I feel that we should also have somewhere for our youth to go instead of having them travel to Frankfort or up north for recreation

Provide more recreational activities for young people
More recreation
More recreation for the youth would be a big issue
Youth recreation, fellowship
Goal oriented events that teach good sportsmanship and a good self esteem
Promote recreational activities for young people

Something for young people
Some activities for our youth
More activities for young people
More activities for kids
More activities for youth and teens
Some activities for young people
Things to entertain children
More things for children
Things to keep the children busy
Our young people need interesting things to do here and its not a winery to sell to them. What a place to offer them to hang out in!
More things for kids
More interest in our young people
I would like to see more activities for teenagers and young adults and more law enforcement for law violators
Better places for young people to go to stay away from drugs and trouble.
Have something for teenagers to do
We could have more activities and things for the younger teenagers
More activities and places for children
Have things for the youth to do, a place to hang out
Get something for kids to do
Work with the youth
Activities for youth
More things for kids
Entertainment for our youth
More things for young people to do
Something for our youth
Bring in things for the youth
Has more technology, lots of entertainment,.
More entertainment. (2)
Get more games
Make more things to do.
More places for teens to hang out and have fun.
Put things for the young people to do
Put more recreational areas in and places to hang out
Make more places to have fun.
Have something for teens to do after school and on weekends, skating, swimming, a place for to shop, dancing....something
Thing to do to be not bored.
Make more funner things to do.
Make something to do
Have recreation places for people to go.
More things to do (3)
More places for teenagers to hang out at.
More things for young people to do and hang out at.
We should get something for teenagers to do like a movie theater, or bowling alley.
Bring more things for kids and teens to do and more places for them to hang out
Make more opportunities for teenagers
Have a place for teens to go instead of driving around
More places to entertain ourselves
Build something for the kids.
Have more attractions, places to go and do in Owen County
Have more things to do, more stores and places for teens to hang out.
Have more fun things to do.
Make something for the teenagers or kids to do, it would also bring in jobs.
Have more places to hang out
Have things for kids to do around town
More activities to do.
More opportunity for ages 13-20
attempt to adapt to some of the youth’s ideas (bowling alley and skate rink).
and start planning more things for kids and teens cause we have to go to Frankfort or Florence.
A place for the kids
Have more places for people to hang out.
Have more things for kids to do that will keep us off drugs.
You could put something in for the teens and little kids.
Give us teens more things to do.
To have more things to do, have more places to go.
Get more stuff to do for kids.
Have more things for kids to do and go.
more places for teens.
Give it more things to do
More places to go
To have a better place to spend extra time.
Give us more things to do, there is nothing to do in Owen County.
We need more places for kids to hang out so that kids aren’t getting in to trouble; A place that has games, food and movies that stay open till 10:00 on school nights and 12:0 on weekends
Provide more recreational activities
Make a place for high schoolers to hang out
I don’t live in central Owen County but I know there could be more attractions
To have a variety of places for kids to go
Have more activities for kids in the community to participate in, somewhere for kids to go, ex: Life Center.
More areas for teens to interact.
Have something for the youth to do.
More places for teens to interact.
More things for kids to do
Put a better park in.
Bring in more stuff to do
Make a place where people can go to unwind
Get some entertainment in this place, give everybody something to do.
Build a place where kids can hang out and have fun.
Start putting things to do here for teens, skating, movies, bowling alley.
Have more activities to do.
Maybe invest in a park somewhere in town where kids could play on weekends and after school.
Put a few things (bowling alley, theater, a lot skate park) in to provide entertainment for kids in town
Have something for us to do
Put more things to do in the county
Entertainment for the kids (teens).
Entertainment for young kids and tens, adults too
Things to do in this county.
Put more places for the teens to go.
Put something here teens can do
Have something for the teens to do
Build the skate park.
A place where teens can gather.
Put places for teens to go
Have a public place for teenagers to hang out
Give more places for kids to hang out, other restaurants than just pizza places, a movie theater.
get a movie theater.
Something for teens to do
Give the youth more to do.
More stuff for kids to do
Build a bigger and better park.
Have more stuff to do
bring in more places for kids and teens
Fun things
Make a place for kids to go to hangout
Build a drag strip.
Make stuff where teenagers can have fun.
Playground and community activities.
Playgrounds for children and community activities
More things to do (movie theater).
More places for teens to hang and go to, like a shopping mall.
More places for teens to go/hang out
Have more things for people to do or a place to hang out at
Make the lakes into camps.
Have stuff for the teenagers (arcade, theater, etc.)
Have more fun things for teenagers
Make more things that the youth can enjoy
More opportunities for recreation
Bring in more things for teens and young children to do, where people won’t have to go out of town to do everything.
Bring something to Owenton that would be fun for teenagers to do and that doesn’t close when the town closes.
More places for the citizens of Owen County to go, for example, more places to hang out besides the pool hall
To make it a better place to live we could have more opportunities for entertainment or fun.
Have something to do for younger kids that cause trouble.
Maybe put in some more places, like bowling alleys or something to give some entertainment for the teens.
More places to go
More things to do
I think we could get more places to shop, stores or something else where we can go and have fun
More fun stuff for students to do
Make a place for teens to hang out like a fun places.
Make more things to do for the public.
Put in more places to hang out and have fun.
To have more things for the teenagers to do such as skating, bowling.
More recreations.

To open a multipurpose center for all ages that would provide all kinds of activities/services
Better places for young people to go to stay away from drugs and trouble.
A bike trail would be nice; Keep older adults active.
More things to do (2)
and have more activities for kids.
create something for young people to do.
Have more stuff for kids to do
Owen County needs something for the local teens
Need more activities for everyone, kids and adults alike.
Skate park
Give the kids something to do.
More recreation for our youth
Make something for young people
More things to do in Owenton
we need something for entertainment
something in here for our kids to do to keep them off the streets and out of trouble. And some new places to eat and shop. Have more things at the fair grounds and helping each other as a county.
More things for teens to do for fun (movies, skating, bowling).
a place for teenagers to hangout that would be safe for them.
They should build a bowling alley or something for the kids in the town and that would keep kids off the streets.
recreation, mainly in Owenton area or near.
More things for the young people to spend their spare time and to gather
More things for the teenagers to do.
As for to live in, I believe we need a park with swings and a basketball court renewed. I believe we could have a skating rink built for the children, have something to do. They can exercise, socialize and have fun, instead of standing on the sidewalks and gas station to hang out.
public lands, large park/preserves.

Entertainment other than skate park.
A place to have fun, it is very boring in Owenton, the only thing we do is waste gas by driving around everywhere.
Put in a bowling alley or movie theater.
Put a bowling alley in.
Put in movie theater.
Entertainment
Put place for people to have fun
there is nothing for the youth to do.
Put in an entertainment place
Put in something for people to do, something for fun.
Movie theater
Put something in Owen County such as a movie theater
More entertainment for teens
Get something for teens to do.
More attractions and restaurants. There is nothing to do.
Have more things to do for teens and more jobs for teens.
more things to do at night.
More activities for the youth in town
Have a skate park
Have more fun activities (2)
Places for teenagers to hang out.
Have more things to do

Put in like a bowing alley or something
It would be a better place to live in if we had more things to do for the young people like arcades, skate parks, motor cross tracks
We need to provide something for the kids to do. Whether it is a skateboarding park, movie theater, roller skating rink, etc.
We need activities for our youth to do. Idle hands are the devils playground. Our youth have to go out of town to do anything fun. With youth having limited funds and with soaring gas prices that leave a lot of youth with no options but to just hang out and more chances for trouble
Need recreation activity for youth and adults such as movie theater, nice bowling alley, etc
A swimming pool (2)
Community pool
Public pools and activities for children
Have something for youth - maybe have a pool at fairgrounds and more activity like we had today
Put in a public swimming pool at the park
Put-put golf course
Build a bowling alley/skating rink for the kids to have something to do around here and keep them out of trouble. If not that, something
More things for the children to do without having to travel so far, such as movie theater, bowling alley, etc
I really don’t know how, but a few more things for our children would be great - things like a skate park
Bowling alley/outdoor movie – keep people home for entertainment
The kids need something to do (skating, movies, etc)
Put in some extra activity places, like bowling and etc.
Build more things for people to do like a movie theater or bowling alley.
Move theater (2)
More county activities, music on the court house lawn during warm weather
I feel that we need things for the young people. More park areas for those who don’t live in Owenton
For children more activities such as park, recreation, skating rinks, movies
More things for children and teenagers to do like a skating ring, bowling alley or a go cart track, mini golf course
Turn the old IGA into a skating rink or something for the kids.
We need a skating rink and swimming pool for the kids
Children need places to go to hang out, dance, listen to music, bowl, swim and be a kid.
Live: Mainly the children need a place to enjoy themselves without hinging on streets, roller skate, bowling, etc.
Children need something to do. Our county park should have a swimming pool and more activities
county pool (2)
A public pool for our children.
More activities for children such as parks and game rooms
We need a better park for children
keep parks and recreation
spruce up the county park
I feel we should make it better to live in. Parks, recreation, etc., do not necessarily want any jobs (factories, etc.).

A lot, bring places for the kids in.
Get a place in town and build a skating rink or a movie theater, a mall.
Make a theater or some place fun to go
A movie place
Movie theater
Movies
A place for kids to go like a movie theater
Theater - not many options in the entertainment industry
Skate park, more places, an arcade maybe
Put an arcade for kids
Put in an arcade, video games store.
Movie.
Add more places to hang out at like an arcade
I believe that the youth of Owen County needs more activities to participate in, such as bowling alley, theater.
Have bowling lanes put here
have some place where teens can go to have fun like a bowling alley or ice rink, possibly a movie theater.
Activities for youth, i.e., bowling
Activities for kids - skating, bowling
Bowling
Bowling alley (2)
Youth activities - bowling alley, etc
Activities like bowling and skating
Have things for our kids like a bowling alley or skating rink
Someplace for the teenagers to hang out at like a skating rink or a game room. Some place besides cowboys
Skating rink (2)
A bike trail would be nice; Keep older adults active.

Build ATV track to keep them off private property and county roads
4-wheeler trail
I love the new walking track at the county park but would like to see a skating park for youth
Provide more programs out in communities for youth. Not programs centered in Owenton or the schools. Transportation makes it difficult for students in these outer communities to participate
More walking trails
Decentralization of services (such as after-school and recreational activities/programs) from Owenton to the rest of county
Community-provided transportation to after school and recreational programs and activities
Let’s have more competitions between the communities – sports

Better park for our children to play and grow. Baseball equipment and more things to do in our county park
Continue expanding the Parks and Recreation Dept, skate park, etc
Add more playgrounds for kids in town and country
Continue to expand the county parks program. This will help to improve quality of life
Parks and recreation - spend money on the park (ball field, etc)
Spend more money on parks. Have a place for kids to be able to come together and not be running the streets
Keep the fairgrounds as an ongoing project with maintenance as well. The new track that people walk on is a nice project but do not totally focus on new things but also maintenance on other things such as the tennis courts. Facilities such as that could use same work. But more projects on the fairgrounds is very important
The best thing we could do right now is improve our parks. We need more parks and should take better care of what we have. The joke is that Owen Co has Rec but no Parks. There are plenty of activities for youth and adults but no place to do them. Our Little League fields are a joke. I’ve had kids tell me they would be embarrassed for other schools to see them
Improve county parks
Improve park area
Changes in Owen County needs to happen right now. It is 2005. Certain things like a big park with a playground picnic area and a place for the young kids and teenagers could go and just hang out. There is no place for them to go unless they go out of Owen County. A nice pool and refreshment stand would also be nice in the park. Also inside this park there would be enough room to have a softball and soccer field. Also a place to pitch horseshoes. Family gatherings could be held here. Bevaders, picnic tables, outside grills would also be nice to have. Rest rooms for the handicap and ourselves

More things for families to do together
Make the county more family friendly by bringing things in that families can do together
more things for families
Find and bring in activities for families so they do not have to travel to other places to do things, movie theater
Some type of recreation for the community on weekends (bowling, movie theater, putt putt golf, etc)
Recreational facilities for teenagers and families (park, lake, etc)
More activities for young adults/teens
Tables, benches, trees for the elderly to enjoy placed around the county
Something for young adults to get involved in with their children
More ways for communities to get together to have fun
The only thing that I can think of is more attractions or stuff to do. There is nothing to do in Owen County. There is nowhere for families to go to enjoy being together, there is no safe hang out spot for teenager and there is nothing that keeps people in the county during the weekends
Recreation for all ages
To have more gatherings for community involvement
Having more recreation for families in the area – more options and cost being free for families
To input family recreation activities
More things to do, like movies (rental places, theaters)
Golf course
River activities
More recreation facilities for families
More activities for people in this town
Keep friendliness by enforcing laws and promoting community activities
Activities/entertainment for youth and elders
Recreation facilities for young and old
State park
More horse parks and places for retired horses.
More horse parks.
A water park
fairgrounds

Have more activities available in smaller communities instead of everything in Owenton
More community activities for the people of Owen County
Parks in other areas besides the one in town

Create a network of walking and biking trails throughout town with greenway corridors throughout the county for hiking, biking, bird watching and horseback riding. This would be a great tourist attraction and be healthy for residents


Access to public water

Water is important
Provide water to every residence in Owen Co
To provide the whole county with city water. There are several businesses who cannot "open" until they get city water. Its 2005!
Get water to all residents
We need city water available to everyone in the county!
Get water to people
County wide clean/quality water
Water county-wide
Community-wide water
More access to public water
Get water
Getting water to more residents
County-wide clean/quality water – plenty of it, cheaper rates
County-wide clean, quality water
County wide clean water (2)
Try to get water county-wide
Clean, quality and quantity of water
County-wide water (3)
Supply the entire county with water. I live 3 miles from town and the water line stops within a mile an half from my house
Make water available to EVERYONE
To have city water pipes available through out Owen County
Provide water to the entire county
Complete the water system throughout the county large enough for fire hydrants
City water (3)
Water at my house (2)
We need water put in one every road. This should be a priority
I would like to have the opportunity to have city water in rural areas of Owen County
I would love to have access to water on my road. It’s only 6 miles out of town and we still have to use a cistern to support our water needs
County-wide water
Water
Get water lines in on back roads
Water for all Owen Co
City water throughout county (2)
City water in all areas
City water for all of county
Improve water in county
Make water lines go farther
A water system that produces drinkable H20
Water lines for all people
Water line on my road
City water (2)
Broader water supply
Water system updated – clean drinking water
Provide city water to all areas of county
Increased access to public water
Water must be available to everyone. There is water on my road except for one mile in the middle. Why isn’t that part finished before water lines are put on another road close by?
Everyone should be on a city water and better grade of water
Upgrade equipment at water station. Until then make sure that water stations are working and price is right for people who haul water. The one at the end of Rt 36 Long Ridge is always broke and cost way too much
Water supply throughout county
Water in rural area of Owen County
Provide water or better water service
We could improve our drinking water
Improve water quality
Better water (3)
Better water supply
You might upgrade on the water standards to bring safer water to Owen Countians
Our drinking water is not so good
Improve the quality of water
Improve the water
Cleaner water
Clean water
Better, cleaner water
Good clean water
Clean water - fix the water line going through Owenton
Clean healthy water
County-wide clean water (2)
Improve water conditions
Upgrade the water
Improve water quality (pay high $$ and can’t drink)
The main thing I think would make Owen County a better place to live is provide us with clean water
Improving the quality of living for all those that live in Owen County would be a great start. Basic services such as water and electric should be in every home
Better quality and quantity of water
Quality water – purer cleaner water
Clean abundant water is also a concern
Better water, quality and quantity not just more lines
Better water supply
Better water system
Better quality and better reserve (of water)
better water
water system
progressive adequate water system
Better water system with county hydrants
Public water to all Owen County residents and less contamination of water
Expand water to places that still doesn’t have city water
Make sure everyone in county has the opportunity to have clean safe water, not just people in town residents outside of town also need clean water/city water.
There is no real water pressure
We need a better water system with better quality of water and better water pressure
Improvement to water quality/price
Control water price - Gratz and Perry Park have good cheap water from Carrollton
Supply clean water (city water) to every resident

city water and sewage for everyone.
Get the water and sewer for all of Owen County
Water and sewer for all people in the county
Updated water and sewer system available in rural parts of the county
Enforcement of sewer (2)
Expand municipal sewer system - take advantage of grant funding
No lagoons – use alternative septic systems
Get rid of lagoons
We don’t need a skate park, we need water, industry and zoning


Build a lake

Creation of a large water reservoir for recreation and drinking water
New lake water source - with recreation area
Water is a must so build the dam
Lake - water source and recreation
Recreation lake
I would like to see them build a lake that you could have a bigger engine than a 10 hp and could swim and ski on and also for better drinking water
Build a lake in Owen County that would help improve the water situation and also provide for recreational activities. This would address the issues of more businesses, youth-related activities, and more jobs for the people of Owen County have more jobs that people in Owen County can fill not people brought into to fill
Research, promote, cooperate, develop large water reservoir for current future and present water supply and encouragement of tourism and small business development which would not severely change natural rural character of areas
Build a large lake on Eagle Creek
Recreation - build lake


Road improvements

Keep roads in better shape
Better roads and bridges - like the one on New Liberty-Sparta Rd (bad shape) – many calls but never fixed
Build up bridges on Tersita Rd

Better maintained roads (8)
Our roads are falling apart
The #1 thing to make it a safe environment in the fixing of the roads that are in horrible shape – accidents have been awful – fix roads now!
No snow or ice on roads in the winter
Better maintenance and clearing
Better maintenance of county roads
Better maintained state roads
More maintenance to road
One thing to make a better place to live in Owen County is that we need better maintained highways. The roads are full of potholes that seem to never get fixed the right way
Better care of roads

Better roads are desperately needed
Better roads (7)
Better outlying roads
Improve roads (2)
Better maintenance of roads
Road improvements and repairs
Road improvements
Keep roads in better shape
The roads need to be fixed, there are a lot of pot holes in the roads which is very damaging to vehicles
Clean up roadways
Fix roads)
Clean roads in winter
Continue to improve the roads
Fix pot holes that are damaging cars and tires
Connect I75 and I71 Interstate, open up county.
roads
repair roads
pave the roads
fix the roads
Better roads (2)
fix all roads
Finish hwy 22 and any road improvements to provide easier access to and from Owenton.
Fix some more of the roads
Improve the quality of existing roads
Less hilly back roads
Improvements to roads
Roads improvement
Improve roads and road sign
Roadway maintenance esp snow removal
Keep roadways clean, clear and passable
Fix the roads in Owen County!! They are awful!! Very unsafe!!
Improve roads and their maintenance
Complete road work
Better transportation access
Road improvement
Roads and bridges need maintenance and building
Do road improvements, not half-assed patch jobs. You will waste less money in the long run
Straighten roads
Road repair
Better roads (4)
Better roads to bring visitors thru county
Just check a bridge on NL/Sparta Rd
Improve the roads (2)
Improve our roads

Better roads
Improve secondary roads
Improve the roads
Repair roads
Fix the roads (15)
Fix all the roads
Repave some of the roads
better roads,
Better road conditions
Better roads (2)
And our roads are all in awful shape
Road work, Squiresville very dangerous
Make back roads wider
Road work
Fix the roads through town and to the schools.
Maybe some of the roads could be improved in Owen County and gong into other counties for people that travel to work.
make the back roads like Squiresville, wider and safer because it is very dangerous, so narrow
Without interstates or rails we will never be a center for industry.
Pave the old roads which need attention and its obvious
Fix many bad roads in county.
Pave the main roads
Repair the roads
Better roads
clean back roads.
Blacktop back roads
Finish the road and
Clean up the road project mess
Work on the new road.
Finish the interstate.
Black top back roads and streets.
Fix the roads throughout Owen County.
Road improvement
Roads in Owen County are horrible. In the 3 years I’ve been driving to school my truck is literally falling apart due to the bumps and potholes.

Something definitely needs to be done about the roads; Many smaller roads such as Squiresville are major traffic areas but are in terrible condition
Not have construction work right after school
Fix the roads right; Instead of lightly dabbing a little, asphalt at a time.
Get the road done
hurry up in the construction because it is getting annoying having to wait 3 years for something to be finished.
Get all the construction done because it looks really bad
Make Owenton nicer, fix some of the roads like down Beck St by the trailer parks
Fix the roads (5)
Complete the highway work!
Improve roads and access to the county
Improve roads (straighten and widen) throughout the county
Fix pot holes that are damaging cars and tires
Continue to improve the roads
I think the road should be fixed because it is so bumpy and curving and things like that
Clean up the roads,, hurry up making the new road
To have good roads
Finish the roads
Finish the contract work on the new road.

The new road from the race track around Owenton to Maysville
Improve roads - especially Hwy 607. Many people travel this road to work and it is terrible. Also Hwy 330
Road improvement on 330 and 127 (4)
Maintain Indian Creek Road - especially crossing at 368 – for emergency access
Repair the roads. The state road 227 towards Georgetown is falling apart in places. There are pot holes right on Main Street US 127/22
Maintain and improve Indian Creek Road and creek crossing near HWY 368 to facilitate work, school and emergency access during inclement weather
The 227 highway from 127 to New Liberty and from Bethel Ridge to Worthville needs resurfacing
Pressure the powers-that-be to complete highway construction on Hwy 22 in the school neighborhood
Improve roads to I75 to reduce access time
Improve access to Owen County so business would be more interested in coming here
Need an interstate through Owen Co. so that we can get more factories in the co. and save a lot of money on people that drive 45 to 50 miles a day

I would like to see the roads be in better and safer condition. Hwy 330 and 227 are very dangerous. My children and I travel these roads many times a day
Intersections are dangerous because of trees/vehicles blocking view
Add a stop light between Actaris and 127 This is a very dangerous intersection, and the light would make it safer
Safer roads and intersections
We need to improve the roads for safety purposes

Road signage improved

ROADS. As a resident on one of the county’s worst roads, I feel that the improvement of these roads is vital to the survival of our community. Many people wish to come and reside in Owen Co. to take their family out of the fast paced Northern Kentucky/Ohio area and choose to commute back to NKY for their career. I believe more people would choose to settle here and become active in our community if there were improvements made on our county’s roads other than those three major ones that run through town. I think sometimes elected officials forget that this county comprises several sq miles, not just those in the city limits, around the schools, etc. The majority of people who populate Owen Co. do not reside in the actual city of Owenton.

We need our road depts to spend valuable time doing their jobs rather than avoiding doing anything
While maintaining use and expanding the three modes of transportation now available although limited - rail system, river systems, and possible addition of aviation coming to the area as well as promote the implementation of the 2 interstates surrounding the county now – I-71 and I-75


General infrastructure

Infrastructure is necessary!
Improve the infrastructure. We need to be sure to keep up with the world around us so our community and its members don’t get left behind.
Build up the infrastructure
Up-to-date utilities (water, gas, sewage)
Reliable infrastructure. Water. Sewage. Gas
Infrastructure, roads, bridges, water, etc
Infrastructure improvements - natural gas, water, sewer for residents and to encourage new industry to locate in county
More development of human habitat requires more reservoirs, for water supply, - new road and maintenance - new schools, traffic, shopping area, waste facilities, etc.

Public transportation – shuttles to Frankfort?
Put in taxi and bus services
Taxi service

Local phone service within all of Owen County

Bigger health care facility
Affordable health care
Clean hospital
Better hospital - more up-to-date technology
Hospital for family
Provide local health care for all residents
Hospital needs more equipment, better seasoned trained staff
Better hospital and doctors where people don’t have to go 300 miles to see a specialist and have surgery.

Find the $ for the gas line. Take the risk to make it happen
Bring in natural gas
Natural gas and railroad to entice factories to locate here
Get the gas line in the county
Gas live to Actaris and business district. This will not only maintain current businesses but also help to bring new business and growth
Bring in natural gas line
Get natural gas here to have factory jobs
Get natural gas – Grant Co has it and Gallatin Co has it. Can’t we get it from one of those counties?
Build natural gas pipeline – find alternative funds and possibly private investors

Improve technology ability in county - DSL, etc
Also explore more technological communication (check Barbourville KY on this)
High speed Internet
High speed Internet, a cable type or DSL would be nice
High speed Internet.
Cable to with E as notification, interrupt and community channel and toping of county and city government, sports, events, etc.

Well the suggestion in this week’s newspaper is a good one: high speed Internet service increases employment opportunities as well as all the rest the Internet offers. I teach in a distance learning program and better Internet access would greatly improve my working conditions
Bring in a T1 or Wi-Fi Internet connectivity and encourage home computer use. All citizens, not just a few should be encouraged to keep up with local agency programs and current finding via Internet on a routine basis
High speed Internet
Get high speed Internet please
Satellite Internet
Broadband Internet access
High speed internet, a cable type or DSL would be nice.

Better library would be very nice. Give them some money to do more with the library. Currently it is in rough shape

All our families should have medical care available to them

Bathroom at Monterey Park

Maintain public electric co-operative. Do not sell to private entity or conglomerate

Have wider sidewalks
sidewalks
Make better sidewalks,

Make better accessible pedestrian paths on our streets and highways, kids can’t ride bikes or walk safely, there should be bigger shoulders, also if a car breaks down there isn’t much room to move over without getting stuck in someone’s yard.

We need good parking in Owenton in the courthouse square. Many customers get discouraged shopping and doing business in the square because of poor parking. There are many people employed around the square and there are several apartments over the stores, all need daytime parking. I think the county should purchase Gerald Kesser, Marcus Carey and First Farmer’s lot and make a great parking lot.

Pave the hospital parking lot!!!

Provide compensation for Meals on Wheels workers
More support for Meals on Wheels. Help pay for their gas


Public safety (police, fire, EMTs)

Public safety improvements (more staffing police and fire)
Public safety – paramedics, officers, etc
Make community safer
No more violence of other things that could make us have more.
More security and tighter laws.
Public safety in general
more police officers

Fire EMS and Police
fire department
Have all fire departments work together
ambulances,

full time paid firefighters
Quicker response from state police officers

Build ATV park and prosecute ATV trespass and vehicle violations on private property and private and public roads
ATV trespassing is a problem and will grow in Owen Co

I would also like to see more police coverage
More law enforcement (county)
More police to patrol at night
Need more law officers (county)
County wide patrol
County patrolmen
More better cops
Increase police numbers

Neighborhood watch program
I would like to see more neighborhood watches
Neighborhood watch to reinforce police dept

Enforce ordinances we already have in place
Enforce the laws that are on book
We need to slow the teenagers down. They are in or are causing way too many wrecks! Start out by making our community safe
The laws need to be enforced more
The law enforcement could improve. Some police officials worry about expired car tags and loud cars, than people breaking more serious laws
Keep Owen Co. safe for our children (family friendly)
Press bigger or more charges against people that do things they’re not supposed to do. We need a safe county and we don’t want people hunting other people or their animals
Keep it safe

Enforce laws, don’t let repeated DUI offenders off. We’re doing these young people an njustice and we’ll soon have a drunk driving tragedy
Check for drugs
Get the drug dealers out of the county
First of all to make it better to live, crack down on drugs and alcohol use by teenagers
Put people in jail faster for doing drugs and killing people, then you do people for not paying child support on time.

Improve safety
Safer streets
Catching all the people who are breaking the laws
make everyone obey the laws
Protect our families more than anything.
Enforce the law a little more
Better fund public safety.
The one thing I believe that could be done to make Owen County a better place to live is more law enforcement. I would like to see officers patrolling on a regular basis throughout all the communities.
We need to be a safe community
The kids needs to be protected more
The police should get rid of all the lawbreakers.

Get rid of drugs, dope, violence
Cut the drugs and crimes out.
Make our children more aware of drugs.
Eliminate under age smoking. Eliminate under age drinking. Eliminate illegal drug use
Crack down on the drugs, have more searches in the schools
Cut down on drug use
Get rid of the dope heads
Take care of the drug problem, which is there, just not recognized enough
Police need to get on the ball
Crackdown on drugs
get rid of the drugs
keep kids away from drugs
take drugs away from kids
Keep drugs away from kids
And please get rid of the drug and alcohol problem, teach the young people to take better control of their life, the only way it can be done is ask God to come into your life, and he will help if you let him.
Larger police force
Less drugs in schools.
Be tough on drug use and alcohol use
Get rid of illegal drugs.
Get rid of the drugs
Continue fighting the drug problem
Start up programs to drive the drugs out of this county
Owen County has a problem with drugs also, we need to find a way to solve this problem
Have law enforcement to get a better handle on the drug use in our town with the young people. I work in a place where I see these kids everyday and it breaks my heart
Crack down on the drugs (2)
Zero tolerance for drugs – keep them out of our community
Get rid of the drugs in our county
Get rid of drugs/alcohol
I think the children should be protected against drugs and violence
Stiffer penalties for drugs and alcohol violations
We need to work harder to get the drugs off the streets and out of the county. Teenagers are roaming town all hours of the night. I think it would be good if children under age of 18 had a curfew. Maybe there would not be so much vandalism.
We need to take the drug and alcohol abuse more seriously
Stop pushing the drug problem under the rug. Owen County has a huge drug problem and it seems everyone is scared to address it
Stop bringing the alcohol into the community
Enhance Sheriff’s Office and Police Department so more officers could deal with the drug problems.
I feel that like a lot of areas, drugs are becoming a bigger problem here. I know law enforcement is trying to crack down on this and there is only so much they can do
Try to stop the drugs that are in the school. The children are the future of Owen County. Maybe someone that was on drugs, but are no longer could come to the schools and tell of their bad experience
Strive to keep drugs out of the community
Work on the drug problems in our city and schools
Stricter laws and confinement of prosecuted criminals

Need a jail in the county
Need a jail in Owen County
Put a jail in Owen County so the county isn’t helping run Carroll County jail system
Change spec building into a jail so we won’t be out all those transportation costs

At nighttime, at least, have stop lights in OC be on flash – would save fuel
A law enforcement agency that can be depended on to investigate and solve problems
I am very concerned about the youth of our county who’s parents are blinded to the seriousness of their child’s problems
This include most importantly noise pollution. Peace and quiet is our wealth
I feel that those who are committing the crimes should be held accountable
We need everyone to be made accountable for their actions. If you continually get DUIs you need to be off the roads. Does someone have to die before people have to pay the price? Police are trying to do their job and everyone gets off. What’s the point?
I think the Sheriff is doing a good job. However, as our county grows, they as well as all other dept (fire, ambulance and rescue) will be called to do more
Maintain what we got - Louisville sex and crime are close by
Set a curfew for kids on the street
Address issues that have to do with increasing crime taking place in county
More police knowing how to do their job

Fire department in this end of county
Taxing for fire departments
Paid firefighters


Educational issues

Support more economic and educational opportunity
Better school system (3)
Set the educational standard for KY

Education system improvements
Improve education system
Expand school things, lack of different classes
Lower the credits to graduate.
Lower credits to graduate (2)
Lower high school credits,
Offer more training for kids and adults to get a better education
Improve education
Improve educational system - our scores are currently very low compared to other systems in state
Extra emphasis on educational standards
Expand education
Enhance its educational circumstances
Educate our children - lower drop out rate and increase graduation rate
Promote the importance of education, staying in school and graduating with college or training after high school.
Better fund schools
Improve our school systems
Promote the importance of education, starting in school and graduating with college or advances training after high school
.

We need to start right now with our children to make them behave. I think teachers should start spanking in schools, and also have more for kids to do to keep them out of trouble

Better quality educational system. Recruit and retain educators who are qualified to teach their particular subject
hire more teachers and offer better classes
Make the commitment to hire enough administrative help at the schools so the teachers can teach
Do something with the old high school.
better the education
More intervention at middle school and elementary
Provide better education with qualified teachers
Better schools and teachers
Better teachers in schools
Better quality of teachers in our schools
Just keep up what the county has been doing. Updating schools and teaching our children
Make the commitment to hire enough administrative help at the schools - so the teachers can teach
More teachers
More money for teachers
Get rid of the teachers that do
More teachers truly concerned about the student and teaching so that more students will graduate and be able to go on to teach our children with respect and expectations of higher goals
Quit spending money on sports, need special ed teachers and aides
Teachers in our school system should also encourage learning more

Have enough money for our children’s education
Schools need to be much better funded to make this a more desirable place to live

Better educational opportunities (2)
Better educational opportunities - more certified teacher, better leaders in administration
Get new leaders of our school system

Upgrade schools
Improve the elementary school
I would like to see some work done to the elementary school.
Fix our high school so we can use our high school for GED, community college programs
Our schools need work, esp the elementary
Better air conditioning in the high school.
Tear down the old high school
Remove old high school – terrible!
Put to use the old high school and other abandoned buildings

Better education programs
A vocational school for our students
Our classrooms and test scores are being affected (by growth). We have many transient students who move in and out of our classrooms. They are behind academically due to the numerous school they have attended.

Make safety in schools a major priority
Make our schools safer and have a lot of security (metal detectors),
Educate children on how to resist drugs
Alcohol and drug free schools and work places
Tougher drug/alcohol rules in the school system
I think the schools need to have security. Knowing that our children are safe is the absolute most important and would make it better
Drugs becoming a major problem in schools and in the general area
Make more safety for our children at school
Maybe have more police involvement with the middle school like (drug searches) and have the court system work closer with the school system

Help in the education of kids. Making sure that everyone is on the same page and having parent involvement and support
Foster more support for the school system by developing alternate programs for continual discipline offenders. Parenting classes to instruct parents who have problems with their kids on how to better implement a nurturing relationship. Parents would be recommended or mandated to attend depending on their offenses
I would like to find ways to get parents involved with their child’s education. We are always looking for ways to make the school-home connection
More support of the educational system by all parents. By this I mean that the goal of each parent in this county is that their son or daughter graduates and has the skills necessary to succeed in post secondary life.
I would like the business leaders in the community to support this effort more by stressing that work is secondary to school
Be supportive and involved with school system, sports programs and our children because they are the future
We need a well educated work force, therefore we need to do a good job educating our children so that businesses will be attracted here. There are many of our children that don’t have text books in their classes. This must be changed and we must have teachers that are excellent teachers

Discipline in schools
Corporal punishment
Work on the school system. Teach our kids respect for authority
Have children remember to respect older residents
To show love of children, have News-Herald emphasize the children, teens by highlighting more on their accomplishments on the front page – not so many "bleak" news so much
Education for pregnant teens - Don’t tell a pregnant girl she doesn’t need to be in school

We are in desperate need of a better school system, especially the administration
We need to get a new principal at Owen Co High School and start a PTO there
A new Board of Education would be nice

Keep homosexual teachings out of our schools
Bring prayer back into our schools
Bring God and the Bible back into our schools
We should be able to teach children about God and the Bible in school.
everyone to work to connect Owen County to Jesus.

Promote adult education programs
We must have better educated people with the ability to get above average pay
Offer technical courses at a community college extension
Community college (3)
Better adult education facilities
Develop a vocational school or technical school
A permanent adult learning center
I would love see a University built in Owen County.
College
See about getting a university satellite class with a professor in person, not video cameras
Make little towns into learning communities using churches, schools
More adult education opportunities
Build a Community Learning Center to serve as a one-stop for the citizens of Owen Co. In this building there would be a voc school, adult ed, unemployment office, as well as a temp service
Need to have a place where we can have vocational training so people can be trained to get good jobs
Adding a building that would be a place for the adults to come and get instruction in child-rearing, GED option, etc. Maybe this same building could be a laundry facility as well

Support the farmers, churches, and schools. They are the ones who made this county what it is. They raised and taught God-fearing, law-abiding families by showing them the value of hard work and education. Let’s keep that tradition.



Managing growth, planning, and zoning

If we continue to let small subdivision and uncontrolled growth continue, we will soon be without the beauty of green grass and rolling hills
I want Owen Co. to stay as much the same as possible
We definitely need to grow but somehow maintain the feel of a small hometown
I like the small town. People to come through but not to live
Do not make more room for everyone else because of wild life.
Have less people
I wish the county would stop tearing up the roads and building by trying to make Owenton bigger. I like it the way it is
If there is to be development, we would want it very well coordinated and regulated so that homes or businesses have to preserve as much of the natural land as possible
Stop selling off all the farm land and bringing in all the people from large cities
Develop zoning plans to keep wild areas wild
Start preserving farm land
Protect farm land
Stop so much development and people coming into the county just to get away from the city and using up the best land to build on
Place easements on property to protect the farmland.
Work to protect it as a rural area and keep the urban sprawl from infecting the county. I’d prefer to have to drive to Frankfort, Carrollton, or Dry Ridge to see a Sprawl-Mart
Our county needs a plan for our town/county so that it doesn’t become another Florence. If we want our county to be a planned out place – there has to be planning/thought before growth. Just like you don’t just build onto your house – you think about how it will look with different changes and different options and then you make your plans
We have to find a way to keep it the unique place that it is. You do not want it to turn into an area like Florence. It would bring in more crime, etc.
Protect farm land
Place easements on property to protect the farmland
Take better care of the better land
Build a little more but not enough to effect the farm land and because it is peaceful.
Protect the farms we have
My number one concern is preservation. Preserving our lands and environment is essential in living anywhere. Owen County is too beautiful of a place to let the trash take over our roads and farms

Sensible, realistic planning and zoning
Planning and zoning (10)
Establish planning and zoning and regulations to control the direction of the people of Owen County.
Better planning and zoning
Enact planning and zoning
Implement planning and zoning to control what type of growth we have.
Planning and zoning
Explore zoning options
Zoning and building restrictions.
Put into effect a planning and zoning commission.
Generate planning and zoning limitations would be nice
I would have strict zoning laws. It is too easy for people to just move anything in to our community and I feel this hurts our community and the value of it.
Need plan and zone to a small part (not a full plan and zone)
Very restrictive planning and zoning committee to regulate growth
Manage growth in our county. Develop a plan
Prepare for future growth through land use planning
Implement planning and zoning
Common sense, practical approach to land management, best brought into being by a managed planning and zoning that does not take on a life of its own as it has been allowed to do in surrounding counties because of political pressure and favoritism
Perhaps there is a necessity for some type of zoning or growth containment that could be mapped out.
Enact some kind of zoning and planning that is not under the control of one or two people, but is controlled by representatives from the whole county
Put a good planning and zoning commission in place
Start with zoning and emphasis on protecting the county’s resources and people. Example, Gallatin County has a race track and the noise can be heard six miles away (personal experience). If I had a car stereo that loud I would be arrested. I am very glad I can open my windows and hear the crickets
Definitely planning and zoning needs to be implemented
Land use planning or zoning
We could consider planning and zoning ideas
Planning and zoning is a must!

Planned growth
Limit growth
Keep it small.
I don’t think people should be allowed to build subdivisions
Keep the country.
We must control our growth
I think Owen County has grown with jobs within the last few years. I would not like to see Owen County become Florence or Frankfort, a city with lots of new people that bring violence to our small town.
Keep the quietness of the community
Manage growth
Utilize planned growth
Growth control on both sides – trailers, commercial/subdivisions
Perhaps a growth analysis could be done contrasts cost to expenses of different types of growth to actually see what were talking about. What other economic growth could be developed that would allow the land to remain farmland?
Manage residential growth that comes due to little residential restrictions
Need planning
We need to look at other counties and see how they handled it (growth). Without growth the county will become stagnant
Planning and zoning. This would be a start in the right direction....Roads, water, sewage, building upgrades are all needed and I believe good planning is the place to start

I would like to see restrictions put on houses on different areas so that when people build, they have to build a nice home that won’t bring down the value of other homes around them
change the building codes
Plan for growth, especially in rural areas to keep property values from falling behind
Find a way to "control" and "manage" growth, particularly residential growth – to encourage good quality additions to the county and community. Stop the influx of trailer homes and low quality modular houses
Need to improve quality subdivisions for building houses
Clean up the county with some form of planning
Create and implement a planning and zoning office/director
Adopt Boca Rules and Regulations for rental properties (all structures up to code).

Establish minimum lot sizes
Could require a certain construction square footage to lot square footage maximum. For example, require 3 acres to build a 1500 sq ft home, so no huge developer doesn’t bring in one of those ugly crowded vinyl subdivisions with 3 ft between each house
I have noticed the trend to parcel land into ugly subdivisions creating visual chaos to the landscape. If you want to live 10 feet from your neighbor, move to Owenton or to Lexington. I think there should be acreage minimums outside city limits – at least 40 acres

No more subdivisions and trailer parks
Quality of life - do we allow "rejects" from other areas so that they may get easier welfare, trailers, etc. - Possible zoning implementations for the above
For every new house built, one mobile home goes out
Land size – not all of the trailer and d.w. on top of each other
Zoning - not junky trailers with welfare trash
Protect our country life style by not letting big companies come in and buy up land to build big subdivisions
If possible, restrict somehow on what you go put on your land
Zoning for mobile homes
No more trailer parks (2)
Control the trailers
Less trailer parks
Zoning for trailer parks
Set the guidelines that will determine what can be done, where, when, who and how.
All singles with trailers
To enact basic regulations to govern the subdivisions of real estate in order to protect the public from fly-by-night developers, those proposed in the past were far too restrictive
Provide strict enforcement of housing statutes - today uncontrolled housing growth
No more subdivisions and trailer parks
I strong believe that Owen County needs to have zoning laws enacted and enforced. Our county population seems to be changing from hard working good neighbors to many more new residents who choose to move to Owen County because they can find a mobile home to live in with no job, no credit, and no ambition. Other surrounding counties have enacted such laws. Now we’re getting their unemployed
Our county is in dire need of planning and zoning. I feel zoning laws would eliminate the ease of becoming a resident of the county and therefore lead to more permanent residents with permanent homes

Zoning or some form of division of land control needed to be put in place. Right now our county is a refuge for all the land uses that are restricted or denied by neighboring counties where they are not tolerated
Enact zoning regulations that allow for division of land and construction or renovation of homes that does not infringe on others or change the peaceful and beautiful area in which we now live.
Pass a zoning ordinance
Zoning (67
Zoning is needed
Zoning a must (2)
Add zoning
Zoning Consolidate
Zoning, zoning, planning, zoning
Implement zoning to cut down trailer parks and subdivisions
Zoning - better quality of living, restrictions on people
One thing we could do to make Owen County a better county is county-wide zoning
Some type of zoning that would allow the county to look nicer and cleaner
We need to have zoning. People should not be allowed to put a trailer up anywhere in the county and live there and possibly cause their neighbors property value to go down because they choose to live in a dump
Zoning to stop the spread of trailer parks. Affordable housing is a priority. But trailer parks are not the answer. This should be a county-wide zoning issue not just around Owenton.
Zoning to a certain extent, like if I have to buy a permit to build a building beside my house, I’m not for it
Zoning laws to keep all trailers and other such living places from appearing on every hill and hollow
Possible zoning only if it could be limited to not control everything we do
Better zoning laws
Zoning must be done or we will have a hodge-podge
Zoning – I’m not sure if I am for it or against it
Zoning program with purpose of limiting concentration of residences and buildings
Start zoning
Some type of zoning - but not to get carried away. Maybe enforce what the state already mandates
Bring zoning in to protect us from having small trailer park subdivisions, but not keep us from building small buildings and where to put them
Zoning, zoning, planning, zoning; Set the guidelines that will determine what can be done, where, when, who and how.
Zoning-Consolidate; All singles with trailers

Protect the land for there will never be more of it. New Wal-Marts are built every 4 days in the United States – thousands of acres bulldozed, paved and dead forever. We do not want Owen County to be just another mindless mediocre mall of stuff. We need to be forward thinkers, imagining what we will leave our grandchildren...will it be concrete and asphalt and traffic and crime and pollution, or a good solid healthy environment for them? We need to change the fact that Kentucky loses 109 acres a day to roads and development and protect Owen County from the greed and ignorance of those who believe the only way to make a buck is to destroy the natural world. We need farmers markets, community supported agriculture, nature camps, outdoor recreation that respects our land and water and some support for art and music programs and classes. We need to create not destroy.


No zoning

No zoning (2)
Do away with building inspector and not get zoning
Keep zoning out
I don’t think we need planning and zoning
Local option (tax break), zone ordinances, building restrictions, minimal road frontage, mobile homes (nix these)
We don’t need zoning, we just need to follow county laws that we have.


Growth of community

Bigger community
For the town to expand
Make it bigger.
and make it like a city


Housing issues

Affordable housing (2)
Liveable places to rent – with heat, clean environment
Affordable housing is a priority
More apartments
More housing
Retirement living area
Homes
More apts – affordable apts based on income
Home owner exemption from new building inspection program and building codes

Work together...Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Habitat for Humanity here in the county. There are several families in the county who do not have much. Single parents, people who have lost their homes to fire, or even floods (Monterey) who couldn’t afford insurance. I think we truly have a friendly family atmosphere here. It would be so nice. If we could pull together and form more programs for people like that – sometimes you can’t go by one’s income. Bills vary from utilities to car insurance. We never know what it’s like until it happens to us. There are several counties around us who have Habitat for Humanity. And I believe it’s time we help the people around us. There is several businesses around here that would donate what they could. If that fails, there’s always fundraisers. This may give a family a new start and push back into life


Lower taxes

Lower taxes (4)
Quit taxing everything
Get rid of tax on insurance
The taxes in this town are outrageous too
Make living here more affordable. Rent, taxes, land, its all too high
Hold down taxes
Lower the school tax, or show an improvement of the level of education that Owen countians are paying for. I agree with the fire tax, if it is not 10%. An 1%l tax to benefit each districts departments, would in turn benefit the community that it serves, with quicker apparatus and possibly more members
Stop wasteful spending and concentrate on bringing income to the county. Stop taxing, then wasting the tax dollars (ex: Industrial Park).
stop raising our taxes so that families will stay in the county instead of moving away to where taxes are cheaper.
We need more revenue in the county to help with building/repairing roads.


Elected leadership issues

Elect people to lead us that are honest and straight forward
We need a better understanding of the democratic process and more involvement in the democratic process
Put new people in court house, example: judge, etc.
People need to get involved and not just complain
People need to take the opportunity that they have in this county to be self-determining
Look at resumes fairly. Choose the qualified person, not a family member
Get a new judge
Change most of our elected officers. Get everyone just because their Dad ask you to do them a favor, you give someone a job. Hardly anyone tells the truth anymore. And its time new people start running, if necessary they start talking
No more good ole boys club – cover ups let few select people get by with things because you know their parents and they are good people
Elect more Christian officials to run this county
Magistrates look toward really improving the county long-term and not just be "against it"
More communication with judge, police, etc
Have the court house open 6 days a week
Agree to changes that will improve community


Church/Religious issues

Unity of churches in communities
Keep praying for our community
Churches working together
Make the pastors in the churches honest at all times; To not make decisions based on what their "friends" want.
Make the pastors in the churches honest at all times
Put god back in Courthouses and schools
Put the Lord 1st in our lives
We should encourage participation in a local bible believing church
Our newspaper should reflect the love of God in our community
teach OC about Jesus.
Go back to everything closes on Sunday


Legalize alcohol

Vote the county wet otherwise no business will strongly look at us as a place to set up shop
Make county wet. Owen Co loses untold tax dollars to neighboring
I think this has been done by approving the sale of wine. I really think there would be more revenue coming in if this county was wet instead of dry
Stop from being a "dry" county. Sell alcoh