City of Ash Grove to buy new storm siren with $30k from Greene Co.

Aldermen hear year-end police report, 2025 traffic stops, warnings greatly increase over year prior
 
 
The Ash Grove Board of Aldermen held their monthly meeting on Jan. 20, during which they spent their allocated money from the county, and Chief of Police John Davis delivered his year-end report.
At the meeting, the city of Ash Grove received its annual allowance from Greene County and decided to put it to use immediately. The board got the amount of $30,000; first considering new laptops from the police department, the board eventually concluded that adding another storm siren was the best move.
This new model they are considering can be directly linked to the current and sole siren in the city to enable simultaneous use. In a unanimous vote they decided to spend the full amount in updating the city’s storm warning system.

Police report
Chief of Police John Davis supplied the board with his 2025 numbers and how they compared to the numbers for 2024. Notably, the police department conducted nearly 100 more traffic stops in 2025 than in 2024, from 684 up to 777. They also issued 836 traffic warnings this year, up from 774. Drug related arrests, conversely, went down significantly, falling to four in 2025 compared to 17 arrests in 2024.

Comprehensive plan
Following the acceptance of the police report and other consent agenda items, the city unanimously approved a resolution accepting the city’s comprehensive plan. The plan was developed by the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments to set a loose plan for where the city government should focus their efforts.
The plan identifies that Ash Grove is primed for growth with multiple opportunities available for the city’s taking. One of the top priorities identified by the document was the implementation of an ambulance barn, as Director of Public Works Chris Boyd stated at a previous meeting that ambulance response time to the city often takes longer than an hour. The document also stated that the city would primarily be growing by infill and that they should accommodate this by utilizing vacant lots and revitalizing existing structures. This aligns with another potential opportunity acknowledged in the plan which is the eventual revitalization of Main Street.
The board also stayed after the regular meeting was finished to answer questions about the upcoming sewer revenue bond in the absence of Boyd, of which there were few.