TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Leon County Commissioners are moving forward with plans to travel to Poland, hoping to make Tallahassee the permanent home of the World Cross Country Championships.
On Tuesday, commissioners voted 6–1 to approve a trip to Poland. Many commissioners say this move sends a message that Leon County is serious.
Commissioners also discussed the economic impact the World Cross Country Championships brought to Tallahassee, which they say is about $4 million and still growing. They say this was not just a trip they came up with on their own. According to commissioners, World Athletics officials have called Tallahassee’s course one of the best they’ve ever seen.
Now, they want to start a conversation about what it could look like for the event to return to the capital city every other year, while bringing in millions of dollars in impact each time.
“These types of events are the events that we wanted and to know that we have the capacity in Leon County to not just bring the state championship here but a world championship here, as the home is something that reaches the levels of obligating whatever we got to obligate to get there,” Leon County Commissioner Nick Maddox said.
Commissioners say the trip would happen sometime in March or April and would be paid for using funds already in the existing budget.
“We can’t ask the world to come to Tallahassee if we are not willing to go to the world with a handful of people and say we’re committed to you, we want you to commit to us,” Leon County Commissioner Brian Welsh said.
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Commissioners also discussed taking action after mobile home residents in Tallahassee went without water for a week. They said possible reimbursement for those affected could be in order.
“This is a serious issue that we as a board should look into further. Again, I’m thankful for the leadership of the county administrator and staff being able to jump on this, but I think a president needs to be set that we are not going to tolerate negligence amongst our landlords and this is not how we conduct business in Leon County,” Caban said.
Also on the agenda were lease negotiations with the North Florida Fairgrounds. After a lot of back and forth, the commission decided to table the item and ask for a 90-day update on negotiations.
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