Paschal Fish Park, 14th and Maple Street in Eudora

The Eudora City Commission directed staff Monday to review how much $56,000 in impact fee park funds could improve Paschal Fish Park.

In doing so, commissioners agreed with a proposal Assistant City Manager Barack Matite brought to the meeting. Matite suggested the city apply $56,000 from the fund built from $200 charged on new home permits to improve the park.

The city is now involved with an Internet crowd-funding drive to raise money for new Paschal Fish playground equipment. As of Monday, donors have pledged $3,500. The drive ends Thursday. Kelly Dumais, city management intern, said personal donations of money and materials made outside the website bumped that total to $9,100.

That was still far short of the amount needed to replace playground equipment, Matite said. His suggestion was the city use the $56,000 from the park impact fee fund to purchase the playground equipment, put a trail loop around the park and use whatever money remained into improving the shelter. That would allow the city to put a completed check mark next to Paschal Fish Park on the city’s park master plan, he said.

Mayor Tim Reazin voiced the only concern. He noted the existing trail around Bluejacket Park continued to deteriorate. It seemed questionable to invest in new amenities when existing ones needed maintenance, he said.

What prompted the mayor to sign on with the City Commission’s overall consensus to support Matite’s plan was a proposal the assistant city manager made earlier this month of seeking $290,000 in Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism grant dollars to upgrade the Bluejacket Park trail and add more concrete trail in the Winchester Road neighborhood.

The grant, which the city would apply for in August, would require a match of $87,000. Matite also proposed the city apply next year for a Sunflower Foundation grant of up to $55,000 to help with the city’s match.

“We’re working toward those grants,” Reazin said. “City staff is doing a lot of the right things getting those grants. I would say ‘yes.’ There’s a lot of positives of completing Paschal Fish.”

Matite said he would bring back cost estimates for the Paschal Fish Park improvements for the City Commission at a future meeting.

In other business, the City Commission:

• Agreed at a workshop to move forward with an employee handbook revision. Added language or changes included banning city employees from carrying firearms at work, allowing 10 days of paid military duty leave and banning smoking in city-owned vehicles. That last item prompted a long discussion, in which it was agreed the city would explore during this summer’s budget discussions helping with the cost of stop-smoking programs or other incentives.

• Recognized Kurt Von Achen for his 45 years of service on the Eudora Planning Commission.