craigdailypress.com

Craig city officials are looking for candidates to serve an advisory board to research the likelihood of a recreation center.

The city is seeking five community members, who must apply for the positions and then receive City Council appointments, to the Craig Parks, Recreation and Trails Advisory Board. The five open positions have either two- or three-year terms.

"A great way for us to hear about what's right and what's wrong is for our staff to hear it from the public," said Dave Pike, Craig Parks and Recreation director.

The city is looking to re-install the advisory board after a long absence.

The board disbanded following a failed tax measure in the November 2003 election. That measure proposed raising sales and use taxes to pay for an $11.6 million recreation center.

Voters rejected the proposal, 1,391 to 594.

Pike said he believed advisory board members were "burned out" after campaigning heavily for the recreation center measure, and interest in the board waned when the city sought to replace members with expiring terms.

But, the city has been getting questions recently from the public about possibly developing a recreation center. One of the advisory board's tasks will be exploring a recreation center; a steering committee consisting of community members and advisory board members will deal solely with the recreation center question.

The advisory board will also concentrate on recreation department policies and procedures, advise on budget priorities and make capital improvement recommendations, among other duties.

The deadline for submitting an application for the advisory board is May 4, and Pike said he hopes to have board members in place by the end of May.

Advisory board applications can be picked up at Craig City Hall, 300 W. Fourth St.

For more information, call 826-2029.

Story at a glance:

• City seeking candidates to serve on Craig Parks, Recreation and Trails Advisory Board.
• Five positions up for grabs, two- or three-year terms available.
• Deadline for submitting applications is May 4, City Council to make appointments.
• Board members to be installed by May 22.