The fine details are still pending, however, the Emporia Recreation Commission at least has the initial plans for a formal recommendation in motion as it pertains to potentially funding a new recreation facility in Emporia.
As part of their monthly meeting Tuesday night, ERC members approved drafting a recommendation to the Emporia City Commission. The document will recommend the city consider approving placing either a one-cent or half-cent sales tax on a future election ballot to serve as the funding source for construction of a new facility preferably in a centralized location.
The action follows recommendations from the Future Funding Task Force after several rounds of discussions since May. Assistant Director of Rec Operations Amanda Gutierrez notes this only a piece of the overall puzzle, but it is a significant piece.
ERC staff will draft the formal recommendation over the next month and present it to the ERC for approval in September after which it will go before Emporia City Commissioners for final approval. Gutierrez says it is her hope the recommendation will find favor with the city, however, if it does not it could mean a significant setback for construction plans.
As for the current recreation center, task force members and rec commissioners both stated their desire to see the building remain in use in some capacity. Exactly what that capacity would be, however, has not yet been determined.
Later in the meeting, commissioners discussed and ultimately turned down the potential establishment of a rec commission advisory board presented by ERC commissioner and Mayor of Emporia Susan Brinkman. Conversations then shifted to a late addition to the agenda by outgoing commissioner Dave Harding regarding ERC management agreements with the city of Emporia.
During those conversations commissioners noted a perceived “tension” between the ERC and city leadership. Harding gave further voice to this topic stating he has noticed communication between the two entities becoming lesser and lesser in recent years.
Harding added that he feels the city has made many decisions that affected the ERC without ERC input being sought. Harding pointed to plans for constructing a new skate park at Whittier Park that could mean the removal of a softball field as an example but when asked for further comment by KVOE News Harding declined.
KVOE also sought comment from Mayor Brinkman on the matter who stated she neither agreed nor disagreed with Harding’s comments but noted they do have “validity.”
Brinkman would ultimately request the conversation be tabled to a later date saying she would have liked more time to review the agenda item before delving deeper into discussions.
In other business Tuesday night, commissioners approved the 2023-24 budget and plans to exceed the revenue-neutral rate for the coming fiscal year. The budget carries a general fund of just over $6.2 million which is a $900,000 increase over the previous year.
The Emporia Recreation Commission will next convene on Monday, September 18 at 5:30 pm inside of the Lee Beran Recreation Center.
