After criticism, Overland Park won’t use $350K in COVID-19 relief money for soccer
After drawing national criticism, Overland Park will no longer use $350,000 of federal COVID-19 relief money to install video cameras at Scheels Soccer Complex, officials announced Monday.
Sean Reilly, city spokesman, said that officials decided to pull the funding due to a timing issue.
Last week, the Overland Park City Council voted 10-2 to purchase the video equipment with federal money provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act. The city also agreed to grant Musco Sports Lighting the license to stream games on its platform, and the city would receive 70% of all revenue made from people paying to watch or download the videos.
City officials argued that streaming games would allow families to watch their children play without having to sit in crowds during the pandemic. But the idea quickly sparked outrage among Kansas City area residents, and then throughout the country.
Councilman Faris Farassati, one of two who voted against the proposal, argued that it was an inappropriate use of CARES funding, as residents lose their jobs or struggle to afford rent. He called the project a “money grab.”
County officials review proposals for how to spend the federal relief money to determine if they meet eligibility requirements. But at Thursday’s Johnson County Board of Commissioners meeting, officials said that even though the county approved funding for video camera installation, they were unaware that the money would go toward the soccer complex.
On Monday, city officials said in a news release that “it would not be possible to pursue federal CARES funds for” the soccer complex “due to an anticipated shortened time frame to implement the project.”
Councilman Scott Hamblin, who also voted against the proposal, previously said that he plans to make a motion at an upcoming City Council meeting, asking members to rescind the agreement. Reilly said that motion would likely not be discussed until the Nov. 16 meeting, pushing back the start date for the project.
“Due to the requirement that all work funded by CARES be completed by Dec. 30, 2020, Overland Park officials believe the work could not be completed by the deadline,” officials said in the release.
After the City Council approved the spending last week, Reilly told The Star that he was unsure about the timeline to start the project.
On a video chat with reporters Monday afternoon, he said that the time limit was the only reason for pulling the funding. He said that national scrutiny did not play a role.
After The Star and other Kansas City-area news outlets reported the City Council’s approval of the project, national news organizations, including The Hill and USA Today, picked up the story, garnering criticism from afar.
The county has approved more than $2.5 million in CARES Act funding for Overland Park, according to documents provided to The Star. Expenses range from staffing to sanitation equipment to technology for remote work.
The $350,000 for the soccer complex cameras was the second most expensive item on the list. The most expensive, estimated at $455,000, is for software and technology for emergency management operations.
Overland Park also has received an additional $466,000 of CARES money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. It is allocating $386,000 toward small businesses. And the other $80,000 will go toward nonprofits to distribute to low-income residents for child care, utilities and rent assistance.
Reilly said the city was also awarded another $780,000 from HUD for businesses and individuals, but staff are still determining how to distribute that money.
Some council members, including Chris Newlin, who is a soccer coach, had argued that purchasing cameras to stream games at the soccer complex fit the spirit of the CARES Act. He said it would make it easier for families to stay home during the pandemic, without having to give up watching their children compete.
“Parents still want their kids to play and they want to watch them. This is a great avenue so we can watch our kids,” Newlin said last week.
On Thursday, Maury Thompson, deputy county manager, said that county officials had determined Overland Park’s requested funding for the soccer complex was eligible for CARES Act funding.
“In my professional opinion and that of our national consultant who is consulting with the (U.S.) Treasury, this is clearly an allowable expense,” Thompson told county commissioners. “I understand the concerns, but this is clearly an allowable, eligible expense.”
But he later added that officials were not aware the funding would go toward the soccer complex.
In Overland Park’s application for funding, which was provided to The Star, the city requests $350,000 for “video broadcasting platform” expenses. The application does not mention soccer, sports or the Scheels Overland Park Soccer Complex, at 135th Street and Switzer Road.
Upon learning that the CARES funding was earmarked to the soccer complex, a few county commissioners questioned whether the county could claw back the approval. Reilly said that the decision to pull the funding was made by the city alone, but that county officials were notified.
This story was originally published October 26, 2020 at 4:54 PM.
