Kyle Christopher, tourism director at the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce, opened up the “New Business” portion of the meeting Tuesday night by presenting tourism data, comparing 2018 to 2019’s stats.
In 2019, Batesville and Southside school districts hosted a total of five separate state tournaments.
“In my recent memory that was probably the most that this community has hosted in a single year, ” said Christopher.
The A & P Commission awarded over $21,000 in event grants that went to a wide variety of events hosted from athletic teams hosting tournaments to even the Cave City Watermelon Festival.
The grants awarded are from allocated funds the A & P Commission sets aside to assist event hosting organizations.
This year, the A & P Commission increased the allocated grant funds for $46,000 to assist tourism boosting events in and around the Batesville community.
The council voted to adopt an ordinance to amend the Batesville Employee Handbook for the airport.
Also, the council adopted a resolution to authorize Mayor Rick Elumbaugh to initiate condemnation proceedings for the acquisition of easements need for the construction of the Batesville Greenway Trail.
The Batesville Greenway Trail is a paved walking and biking path that currently stretches from the old Mickey Mouse Pool location behind the Batesville Community Center, across Myers Street to Riverside Park or Batesville High School, according to Christopher. The planned expansion will stretch the trail into the Eagle Mountain neighborhood on Aberdeen Drive. The goal is to eventually connect the city via Greenway much like the Razorback Greenway Trail in northwest Arkansas.
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