At Monday’s Knoxville City Council meeting, an ordinance was passed to reduce the number of members on the Parks and Recreation Commission from seven to five. Parks and Rec Director Brandon Nemmers says that the commission had struggled to fill the seven spots, and reduced the number to five in order to have a full commission.

“We made the decision to make it official and have just five seats on the Parks and Rec Commission. It’s been on the books for quite a while that there were seven seats available. We’ve been hovering around that five mark for the last couple years, and made it more official. It’s kind of crazy, it’s hard to find people to volunteer and serve on those boards even though it’s not a huge commitment, it’s a once a month meeting. But it’s now official, and we have our five, and we are now full as a Parks and Rec Commission.”

The purpose of the commission is to come up with new ideas to further the mission of the Parks and Recreation Department, and to be available for community members to express concerns. Find more information here.