The Emporia Recreation Commission voted to shrink itself from nine members down to seven Monday.
One city commissioner and one school board member will be removed from the board. That’s no problem for the Emporia school board, which hadn’t yet filled one of its two slots on the recreation commission. But it means the Emporia City Commission will have to remove either Jeff Longbine or Kevin Nelson before the next meeting on Sept. 17.
The board had been the only nine-member recreation commission in Kansas. That meant it had to have at least five members present for a meeting, which had become increasingly difficult in recent years. With seven, only four people need show up.
The new commission will contain one city commissioner, one Emporia school board member, two volunteers appointed by the city, two volunteers appointed by the school district and an at-large member appointed by the rest of the board.
Both the city commission and the school board had agreed to support the change so long as the number of community volunteers remained untouched, a position Recreation Commissioner Jim Markowitz supported wholeheartedly.
“The numbers part of it doesn’t interest me as much as the makeup of the board does,” Markowitz said. “I think it is a little redundant to have two city commissioners sitting on the same board. ... I’d be more in favor of having someone from outside as a member, who has a passion for being involved.”
In other action:
F The recreation commission voted to adjust the pay for its part-time workers to match the new federal minimum wage.
F Demolition work will begin in October to prepare the way for a new heating and cooling system at the indoor swimming pool. The new system will go in in December.
F Commissioners discussed the need for a plan for the Jones Aquatic Center, which is drawing only half the people it did in 2002. Chairman Roger Hartsook suggested that some improvements may need to be made to keep the water park fresh. “We’ve seen the numbers drop,” he said, “and we can’t blame that all on raising the rates.”