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City officials turn away from funding plan for Overland Park soccer complex project

Officials with the City of Overland Park, Kan. have shut down plans to use federal CARES Act funding for a video broadcast system at Scheels Overland Park Soccer Complex, citing a tight Dec. 30 project completion deadline as the reason.

The City of Overland Park, Kan. has opted to turn down plans to use federal CARES Act funding for a video broadcast system at a soccer complex, according to a Monday afternoon announcement from the city.

A city spokeswoman said in an email that officials decided it would not be possible to pursue $350,000 in CARES Act funding for use at the Scheels Overland Park Soccer Complex because they do not believe the work could be completed by the Dec. 30 deadline for all projects funded by the CARES Act.

Councilman Scott Hamblin, who opposes the project, told the city manager that he plans to introduce a motion to rescind the council’s previous approval of the project at the Nov. 16 council meeting. Because of the motion, no work on camera installation would begin before Nov. 17.

The city will not take any further action to complete the project, and no CARES Act funding will be used for it, the city spokeswoman said.

The Overland Park City Council voted 10-2 at its Oct. 21 meeting to approve the funding for the project, a pay-per-view video broadcasting system that would have allowed games at the complex to be viewed remotely.

Hamblin has argued that it did not align with the goals or definition of the CARES Act, a stimulus bill passed by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Others said they saw the project as a way to boost the city’s economic recovery and that if the city does not use the funding, it will lose the money.