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Boonville updates community needs assessment; housing, daycare and youth services emphasized
Summary
At a public needs‑assessment hearing tied to a CDBG application, the council and residents discussed community priorities including daycare, affordable rental housing and a youth center; the council generally left the existing top‑five list unchanged but noted further review in the comprehensive plan.
The Boonville City Council held a public hearing, facilitated by Lincoln Brown of the Mid Missouri Regional Planning Commission, to review and update last year’s community needs assessment as part of the CDBG application process. Brown walked the council and attendees through sections covering infrastructure, public services, community facilities, housing, education and economic development.
Councilors and members of the public debated ratings for health care and code enforcement, with one speaker urging a boost to health‑care ratings based on personal experience. On community facilities, the discussion focused on daycare availability and the need for youth programming; several speakers said the YMCA/Kemper expansion and a relocated, larger library could provide more youth services and after‑school options.
A Housing Authority liaison told the council the housing authority voted a resolution calling attention to waiting lists for assisted rental housing: "There are 28 families or 64% applicants on a wait list for a 1 bedroom unit; 13 families or 30% families on the wait list for 2 bedroom units; and 3 families or 7% on the wait list for 3 bedroom," the liaison reported (speaker 6). Council members agreed affordable rental housing remains a significant need and left that category rated as 'poor' while acknowledging some market‑rate projects may not serve income‑qualified households.
Brown noted that some program labels (for example, 'residential rehabilitation') had been misinterpreted last year and clarified that the term in this context refers to assistance programs that help homeowners renovate substandard housing; the council added clarifying notes to the needs‑assessment record. After discussion, council members said the document will not be finalized permanently in this hearing and will be revisited as part of the comprehensive plan process.
Next steps: Brown will collect sign‑in sheets and any updated forms from participants and incorporate the council’s comments into the submitted needs assessment. Additional public input opportunities will occur, including a MoDOT public meeting on July 21 that also covers the larger transportation effort.
