The Emporia Recreation Commission has a new sports supervisor and it’s a face that’s familiar to the local community.
Former Emporia State Soccer Head Coach Brian Sailer was introduced as the new sports supervisor during the ERC’s monthly meeting Monday evening. Sailer served as the head soccer coach at ESU for 12 seasons until this past December.
Sailer, who has been on the job for the past week and who holds a Masters in health and recreation, says he is excited to be taking on the new role.
Sailer replaces former longtime sports supervisor Rick Cunningham who moved to a maintenance role with the ERC earlier this year. Another recent hire noted during Monday’s meeting was new outdoor maintenance foreman Logan Buehler.
Speaking of maintenance, the ERC will have some work to do at the Flint Hills Optimist Baseball diamonds which were damaged during Sunday’s high wind event. Assistant Director of Rec Operations Amanda Gutierrez says the damage was extensive.
A timeline and cost estimate for repairs are currently pending. Gutierrez expects the majority of repair work will take place during the summer months.
In other business, commissioners approved the purchase of the Civic Clerk agenda and meeting module up to a value of $20,000, however, estimates have the software costing closer to $16,000 per Monday’s report. The commission also approved hiring Prelle, Eron and Bailey PA as the ERC’s attorneys to oversee the creation of an executive director contract for $250 per hour with no up front retainer.
Separately, commissioners reviewed timelines and breakdowns of the 2024-25 budget. The ERC will reconvene for its monthly meeting in June.
