On Tuesday, January 14, twenty-five Ansley residents gathered at the Municipal Auditorium to start the process of updating Ansley’s Comprehensive Plan for the next ten years. A Comprehensive Plan is the vision of how a community wants to grow and develop in the future to serve the needs of its citizens and improve the opportunities to attract new people and businesses to the community.
Before the work began, the group reflected on the “wish list” of proposed projects from a decade ago. It was important to recognize that great things have happened in Ansley since 2008. Those accomplishments include: (1) building of a new fire hall; (2) a new activities building at the school; (3) updating the town sewer system with the installation of lagoons; (4) improving the cemetery with new fencing and an avenue of flags;(5) attracting new businesses; (6) continuing work on updating the electrical infrastructure in the community; (7) adding new campground facilities at the park; (8) wireless internet capabilities; (9) availability of a community exercise facility at the school; (10) both new and renovated housing.
Using the list from 10 years ago, the residents next worked on recognizing current assets and updating the list of new community services. These included: (1) the addition of an investment company at the bank; (2) a newly updated showroom for the lumber yard; (3) the passing of a local sales tax for infrastructure improvements; (4) new insurance providers; (5) Ansley’s long-serving barber; (6) a new clothing boutique; (7) additions to our successful school system including an after school program, science fair, pre-school, and free summer lunch program; (8) the Veterans Wall; (9) a new sand volleyball court and t-ball field at the park; (10) continuation of Dates and Updates; (11) the now active and improved Ansley Village website.
Following the asset update, the group began to discuss a “wish list” of projects they would like to see completed in the next ten years. The list was extensive and included the following ideas: (1) continuing the work to improve the lake, surrounding park and pursuing the installation of a walking path around the park’s perimeter; (2) eliminating and/or reducing the flood plain designation; (3) investigating the development of a community cooperative grocery story and a community/school shared library facility; (4) installing new directional signage to the school and other community facilities; (5) investigating the possibility of a slide at the pool; (6) attending to the general appearance of the community by being vigilant on upkeep of vacant lots and properties and compliance with village codes; (7) investing in new housing, housing renovation and the renovation of buildings along main street.
This list is most certainly challenging but as we’ve seen, possible, with the dedication and hard work of a united mind-set in our community. The next steps in the process will be a review of the community meeting by the Village Board of Trustees at their February meeting and then a joint meeting with the Village Board of Trustees, the Ansley Planning Commission and the village engineer. This will result in actually updating the written Comprehensive Plan for Ansley, prioritizing goals, and moving forward with efforts to accomplish those goals. These meetings are always open to the public and you are encouraged to attend.
If any of the ideas or projects mentioned above interest you and you would be willing to join others in taking an idea and making it into a reality for our community, please contact any Planning Commission member (Lance Bristol, Jeanne Rapp, Ervie Ferguson, Jim Morgan, or Gail Ferguson) or the members of the Village Board of Trustees (Trent Fecht, Cathie Jo Mills, Jamee Smith, Rob Henry, or Chris Hogg). “If you can’t push, pull – if you can’t pull, get out of the way – Push That’s Ansley.” The old Ansley slogan still holds true today. Join in creating the future of Ansley.

Ansley-338-G1-002 , <—Comprehensive Plan.