Jonesboro, AR – JonesboroRightNow.com – A cashless payment option will soon be implemented at various city parks operated by the Parks and Recreation Department.

During a presentation at Tuesday’s city council meeting, Parks and Recreation Director Jim Stearns told council members that his department, along with the Finance Department, had been working since the beginning of the year to research cashless options. Only cash payments are currently accepted.

Initially, Stearns said the departments looked into using existing equipment, which would have cost around $25,000

“We’re trying to do our due diligence with the taxpayers’ money, and really, it was hard for us to commit that $25,000 to start this cashless option up,” he said.

The department held a meeting with a local sports organization that had recently announced it was going cashless and reached out to another company that provided cashless point-of-sale systems. From those discussions, he said, the cashless option project had been approved, and staff were working to order the necessary equipment. He said this would cost less than $20,000.

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Stearns said the goal is to implement a cashless payment option at all field sports hosted at Joe Mack Campbell Park, located at 3021 Dan Ave., hopefully by April 18. From there, more cashless options will be implemented across the department’s parks, with the goal of completing the rollout by the end of the year.

This will not replace the option to pay with cash, Stearns said, but will serve as another option. Cash will still be accepted.

“We will never move away from cash as an option to attend events. We want to offer a cashless option for those people that don’t [use] cash, prefer to use debit/credit,” he told councilmembers. “There will always be a cash option.”

To inform the public of the change, Stearns said his department will work with the city’s communications department and promote the new option at the department’s community centers.

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