Pasco's difficulty finding residents to serve on the city's parks and recreation and senior advisory boards has caused the city to combine the two.

The Pasco City Council unanimously approved the merger Monday.

City staff told the council that it had been unable to find enough residents willing to serve on the city's senior services advisory committee despite recruitment efforts. The board only had two active members out of five positions.

The council approved increasing the parks and recreation advisory board by two positions to nine members, according to city documents. The two new positions will need to be active participants at the Pasco Senior Center.

The current members on both boards will serve together on the reorganized parks and recreation advisory board.

Pasco Mayor Matt Watkins said it is critical to still have senior voices on the board.

Rick Terway, the city's administrative and community services director, wrote in a memo that the two boards met in September and decided to recommend merging. Senior programs are administered by the city's recreation services division.

Kennewick and Richland have only a park and recreation commission, Terway stated in the memo.

Also Monday:

The council approved hiring Apollo Sheet Metal in Kennewick to fix the Pasco Senior Center's HVAC system in a 6-1 vote. The project will cost about $36,700.

Councilman Tom Larsen, who opposed the measure, said he thought the city could get it repaired less expensively.

-- Kristi Pihl: 582-1512; kpihl@tricityherald.com