Meeting Monday, the Great Bend Recreation Commission approved revising its letter of support for the Great Bend Sports Complex synthetic turf project. GBRC approved its portion of a pending cost-share agreement with the City of Great Bend and USD 428 last month. The Rec portion of the funding would cover some of the initial cost as well as maintenance of the turf. 

At Monday’s meeting, the commission revised its letter of support by clarifying that GBRC set a $10,000 cap for annual maintenance not to exceed eight years.

 The Rec board members approved their letter of support for the turf project with a financial commitment of $200,000 while providing annual maintenance on five ballfields. “It is prudent from a budgetary standpoint for the Recreation Commission to present the scope of maintenance that is being provided,” said GBRC Executive Director Diann Henderson. 

In other business, the commission approved solicitation of vendors in purchasing windscreens for the newly renovated Veterans Park tennis courts. A recommendation of purchase will be made at the April board meeting for final approval. The commission also approved an agreement for direct deposit of salaries for Rec employees. 

In her monthly attendance summary, Henderson said there were 2,291 people enrolled in programs sponsored by the Recreation Commission in February. “The total participation for the month was 4,327 and of that total were 677 spectators,” she said. Henderson added that the Commission offered a total of 829.5 hours of supervised activities last month.