Pictured is KCCRVC Secretary Jo Paczkowski.

KOSCIUSKO — The Kosciusko County Convention, Recreation and Visitors Commission approved several grants during its meeting on Wednesday, May 8.

Jill Boggs, Kosciusko County Convention Visitors Bureau executive director, discussed malfunctioning issues with the Visit Kosciusko County website. The bureau currently works with Simpleview for its customer-relationship-management, or CRM, software and overall website design. Boggs requested a $15,000 grant to pursue a new website.

KCCRVC President Mark Skibowski requested that Boggs come to the commissioners’ July meeting with quotes from other software providers in order to determine the best solution regarding the Visit Kosciusko County website.

Boggs also requested a grant for fixing the visitor bureau’s parking lot. Instead of paving the entire area, ruts in the parking lot would be filled and sealed. Parking spot striping would also occur. The commissioners approved a $4,323 grant for the KCCVB to use for the work.

While speaking with Boggs, the commissioners also set a price range to use in the future in order to determine if repair projects should be funded by KCCRVC grants or not. Any project costing more than $3,000 is considered an item that is eligible for KCCRVC grant funding; projects costing less than that are expected to be budgeted for in the organization’s operational budget.

Evelyn Rake, representing the Kosciusko County Old Jail Museum, requested and received approval for a grant in the amount of $12,896 for both the building’s maintenance and funding for Warsaw ParaFest, a paranormal conference taking place in the city on Sept. 13 and 14.

The commissioners also approved a $500 publicity grant to help promotion for Warsaw ParaFest. The two-day event will include vendors, television personalities and investigations at the old jail.

Nate Bosch, Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams director, also presented an update on Clearly Kosciusko, a website that connects people to Visit Kosciusko County and the Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams. Bosch said billboard and radio ads for the site, www.clearlykc.com, are being implemented.

Karl Swihart, City-County Athletic Complex director, addressed the commissioners about fundraising for an indoor facility. Plans for the building are currently on the CCAC website. According to Swihart, the building will hold two full-sized softball fields as well as one full-size soccer field.

Eight grant requests for events taking place in the town of Pierceton were also approved by the commissioners. Each grant totals $500; all grants will be used for publicity and marketing purposes for events such as the Pierceton Days Festival and Heirloom Tomato Festival.

The next KCCRVC meeting will take place at 9 a.m. Wednesday, July 17.