Afton recreation to offer online payment

AFTON - Families looking to pay for their child’s participation in Afton Recreation Department activities will have a new option for payment.

During last week’s Afton City Council meeting, the council allowed the use of online payment platform Square, which the rec board has had access since 2023. Jake Roan represented the rec board during the meeting.

Due to Afton Rec being popular with families outside of Afton, difficulties with payment have arose for some unique scenarios. Typically, payment is meant to be given through cash or check directly to a member of the rec board, but some circumstances with visiting families can make this difficult.

The city council has also noted how checks to the rec board are often dropped off at city hall without any description of what they are meant to be used for. For families with multiple kids in rec programs, this issue can get exasperated.

To rectify these issues, Afton Rec plan to create a payment form to itemize and process payments easier. Additionally, Roan proposed a drop box for envelopes containing checks and other payments for those who are unable to contact a member of the rec board.

The rec board has had access to an online payment platform Square, but due to a shifting of board members the service was never open. The platform was originally meant to be used for concessions, but this was never accomplished either. Following Afton’s approval, QR codes at rec sites to guide parents to the form will be available.

If paying for rec activities with a mailed check or cash, including a description in the envelope of who and what the payment is for was recommended by the rec board.

Afton Rec offers activities based on the season, with baseball and softball in the summer (with variations of tee-ball and coach-pitch for younger kids), football, flag football, volleyball and soccer in the fall and basketball in the winter.

In other Afton city council news...

The city tabled a discussion of how to use city funds for a sidewalk replacement project on East Filmore Street. Ideas on how to lower costs, including limiting replacement to specific sections of sidewalk or waiting for additional extensions to the project year-over-year were presented.

Afton Police Chief Jake McGuire gave an update to the city’s purchase of new security cameras in the park square. He noted a $1,000 increase to the original budgeted bid due to updates to discontinued cameras, raising the total for the project to $32,000.

Roads around the park square (Railroad, Webster and Kansas streets) and the 200 block of East Kansas and East Railroad streets will be closed for Afton Autumn Days on Sept. 27. Autumn Days is headed by the Afton Community Club.

A motion was tabled to discuss additional information around painting designated parking spaces around the city of Afton. Parking signs were proposed to be removed for some spaces to make maintenance easier.

K’Lea Johnston was appointed to the city’s board of adjustments.