Council agrees to restructure sports council into park-and-recreation advisory group

Council members and staff discussed the city’s volunteer sports council and agreed to a restructuring to better align the advisory body with current tourism and park programming goals.

Leisure Services staff described chronic volunteer attendance problems and limited capacity among the existing eight‑member sports council. The council has funded a community character banquet and subsidized tournament accommodations in past years; staff reported that the council has historically had a $20,000 annual allocation but has underused parts of the budget in some years because events were canceled or postponed due to weather.

Staff and council members said the council’s original purpose — from a master recreation plan developed earlier by consultants — was to maintain a central events calendar and coordinate with lodging providers to maximize hotel room nights. Leisure Services staff proposed reconstituting the body as a broader parks and recreation advisory committee with defined seat categories (for example, hotel/motel representatives, tournament directors, youth sports and trails advocates) so recruiting can be targeted toward people who can commit time and connections.

Council members suggested clearer duties, quarterly meeting schedules outside peak event seasons, and closer ties with the Chamber’s tourism staff to improve hotel‑motel sales and event recruitment. Staff said the council helps secure letters of support for grants and that a more active, better‑aligned advisory group could strengthen future grant applications.

By the end of the discussion the mayor said the city would “carry forward with restructure” and staff were asked to prepare a revised mission statement, membership categories and meeting cadence for council consideration.