Establishing Official Policy for Sedalia Parks & Rec

Establishing official policy for Sedalia Parks & Recreation was the main topic of discussion Thursday evening as the Sedalia Park Board passed no less than 12 policy recommendations during their half-hour, monthly meeting.

Working behind the scenes on developing policy is Recreation Superintendent Courtney Fry, who has been employed by Parks & Rec for about two months, and oversees the three recreation supervisors.

“I was the one doing the research and the writing of the policies, trying to figure out what would fit Sedalia, the City, our community members, and what the Parks & Rec's goals and missions are. So a lot of piecing together and researching, but it's a fun job,” Fry told KSIS after the meeting.

There was no official policy in writing previous to now, Fry noted.

“A lot of these things that you saw in tonight's agenda were rules that we had, things that we implemented, but we didn't necessarily have a policy to back us up. And so putting it in policy gives us some more backbone if there were an issue,” Fry said.

Policy that is finalized and adopted will be posted on the Parks & Rec's website, she noted.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at 6:30 Thursday night for Moore's Train House in Liberty Park. Rules, hours, prices and other information will be posted there as well. An open house is scheduled for Saturday, July 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., when train rides will be free. The train will run every weekend through the summer.

“We're excited about getting that going,” Fry said. “We had a big staff meeting today and we talked about that, and it's been two years since the train has operated.”

Fry noted that Sedalia Parks & Rec is seeking volunteers to drive the train. Those interested in doing that should show up at 11 a.m. July 17 at Convention Hall to find out more.