Roanoke Rapids City Council Tuesday approved a budget amendment that accounts for a $20,000 grant the parks and recreation department received.

Finance Director Carmen Johnson told the council the department was awarded the NC Amateur Youth Sports Grant which provides funding to buy youth sports equipment or to provide facility upgrades that benefit youth sports.

Johnson said the grant was established by state lawmakers and N.C. Amateur Sports from a percentage of the sports wagering tax revenues in the state.

Parks and Recreation Director Kelly Daughtry expounded on the grant during her report to the panel as well as detailing other funds the department has received and also discussing upcoming programs.

Chockoyotte scoreboards

The money from the amateur sports grant will be designated for replacing two scoreboards at Chockoyotte Park. “All those scoreboards were bought at about the same time and they are past their lifespan and have had a lot of issues,” she said. “If we replace them all at the same time we will have the same equipment. It’s a lot easier for us if one controller messes up. We can share the controllers until we get it fixed. It makes things go smoother during our sports seasons.”

Occupancy tax

Meanwhile she said from occupancy tax funding through the Halifax County Convention and Visitors Bureau there was money left from last year, giving the department a total of $114,277.50. That money will be spent on the Canal Museum and Trail, replacing the tennis court at Rochelle Park with three pickleball courts, and replacing four scoreboards at Ledgerwood. “We do have a 20-plus team tournament that will be coming up in July that’s hosted by our department and also with Youth Baseball.”

Daughtry said there have been several issues with the Ledgerwood scoreboards. “That’s something that will make things go smoother during our sports seasons.”

Archery program

The department was also awarded an estimated $5,000 worth of equipment and training for two employees with an archery grant.

Daughtry said archery classes will be starting in late February. “That’s something we’ll do in the gym at T.J. Davis.”

Wood carving

Then the department was awarded $1,000 from the North Carolina Recreation Department Association new initiative grant to start wood carving classes. That grant covered tools and material which is anticipated to start at the beginning of March at the Jo Story Senior Center.

Emry update

Councilman Andy Jackson asked about the tennis courts at Emry Park and Daughtry explained the effort currently underway by a group of skateboarders to transform some of the courts into a beginning skatepark.

“There’s a group in the community that has been raising funds,” Daughtry said. “The city has designated some funding towards that. There is a gap between what the city has designated and what they have raised. They are continuing to do some fundraisers. We’ve talked to them several times about how we can move this along. There are plans for that area.”

Justin Kerr, who has been leading the Emry effort, said this morning that the group has reached the $22,000 mark with several donations from prominent businesses in the community. That puts the group around $8,000 away from its target goal.

A skate contest is scheduled on March 15 to continue the fundraising efforts.