The Emporia Recreation Commission, the City of Emporia, and USD 253 Emporia will form a new committee to help oversee sports facility usage in the future.
The committee’s creation followed a vote by the ERC during its monthly meeting on Monday evening as part of discussions on use priority. According to Rec Director Amanda Gutierrez, there has been a high amount of desire expressed in recent months from teams both in and around Emporia to use the facilities and, to her knowledge, very few have signed an agreement with the ERC for said usage.
Gutierrez says the ERC wants to ensure everyone has access to its facilities, but the main concern was who would receive priority for such use. Hence, the committee’s formation.
In order to have a fair and balanced schedule and set of procedures, Gutierrez and others felt those decisions could not be made by the rec center alone.
The committee will be made up of a representative from the ERC, to be appointed by Gutierrez, a representative of the city, to be appointed by Emporia City Manager Trey Cocking and a representative of the school district to be appointed by Superintendent Dr. David McGehee. The committee will then prepare a recommendation for the ERC to move forward with, with a first recommendation or report due by May.
In other business, Gutierrez reported the city had granted the ERC a transient guest tax dollars (TGT) grant to help get more consumers into local businesses and beds, specifically next month during state basketball activities. Gutierrez says the plan is to provide certificates to schools and teams for restaurants or accommodations during their visit to Emporia.
KVOE News asked how giving the teams certificates funded through TGT dollars would bring more money to Emporia, noting the TGT dollars are simply city dollars being circulated back into the city economy. Gutierrez replied, saying they’re not aiming at generating revenue from the teams themselves, but rather those who are traveling to watch them.
In other state activity news, Gutierrez also stated that Emporia has been selected to serve as the quarterfinals location for state baseball and softball in May, the first time the city has hosted state activities for that particular sport in several years.
Other items of business included a first reading of a new AI policy, requests for proposals for accounting services, an update on the opening of Summer S’cape registration and discussions on opening bids for a new elevator maintenance contract.
The ERC is scheduled to next convene in March for its monthly meeting.
