Manhattan city leaders want to reopen pools, zoo, Discovery Center this summer
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KSNT) - After having many facilities close last summer due to budget cuts, Manhattan leaders are discussing ways to keep them open this summer.
The city is looking into their budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins in July. They have created a Strategic Planning Committee to evaluate the city's information to see if this is possible.
"We're not going to wait. We're going to start having those discussions through our goal setting and setting the priorities and understanding what the community's priorities are through this strategic planning process that... has begun," said Manhattan City Commissioner Aaron Estabrook.
One of the things at the top of their list is keeping the pools, Sunset Zoo, Flint Hills Discovery Center and sports teams open. Additionally, they would like to find ways to increase city staff's salaries, another thing that did not occur in 2020.
After seeing better revenue than expected from last year, Estabrook believes this will be a possibility.
The committee will meet for an evaluation on Tuesday.