Rec sends lease agreement back to city

Chanute Recreation Commission members approved a lease agreement change that city officials had requested and sent the agreement back to the city commission.

The CRC approved the change at a brief monthly meeting Monday. Under the agreement, the CRC pays $1,000 per month as rent on the recreation center, which goes into a building maintenance and improvement fund. Previously, the fund was capped at $250,000, when the rent would go into the city’s general fund for parks. The change removes that limit.

City Commissioner Phillip Chaney attended the CRC meeting and said that with current inflation, the city did not want the cap.

The CRC also approved renovations at the ballfields that the rec commission operates. Fields 1, 2 and 6 are at the south end of the complex in Santa Fe park. The city of Chanute has renovated the fields on the north part of the complex, which include artificial turf.

The three CRC fields have dirt surfaces and Sports Director Jordan Richards said that 50 tons of Oklahoma red dirt will be brought in to level them. The renovation also includes replacing the backstops and painting benches.

Workers have been removing an old score booth, but discovered the legs were set in concrete.

CRC Director Monica Colborn requested that a gate be installed to limit access to the fields. Sometimes after the surface has been prepared for CRC games, other people use the field for practice.