ORANGE PARK — The cancellation of this year’s Kids Fest was again a hot topic at Tuesday’s town council meeting.

Following the event's postponement, the town said that approximately $33,762 worth of funds needed to be reallocated within the budget. 

Interim Town Manager William Whitson presented staff suggestions to the council on what that could potentially look like.

The plan consisted of three options.

Option one involved simply letting the funds go back to the fund balance. Option two consisted of combining the funding with the funds identified for concepts related to the town's design standards, such as the Town Square concept. Option three proposed using the money to begin planning out next year’s activities early on, like the annual Fall Festival or an improved Kids Fest. Five-thousand dollars would also go toward software to help accelerate their ability to capture outside revenues and plan ahead of time, while $4,000 would go toward additional vendor and photo opportunities for the events.

It was a decision the council didn’t take lightly, with some members noting the pros and cons of each option.

Mayor Randy Anderson said that if they went with option two, it ought to go solely toward professional services for the town, not a specific project.

“I think we need to decide if we go with option 2, that money goes back to professional services,” he said. “I think that need to be the focus.”

Anderson also noted that with option 3, the software would need to be purchased per year, creating possibly too large of a commitment.

Councilman Kenneth Vogel voiced his thoughts on the decision, adding an additional option to possibly use the funds for a bigger Veterans Day event. 

“As a town 10 minutes away from the Navy base and the cemetery finding more veterans, it’s like we just skip over that,” Vogel said.

Councilman Glenn Taylor said he prefers to see at least some the funding still go toward children's events.

Council ultimately voted 4-1 on option 2, to use the funds for professional services to move forward with items already budgeted in this fiscal year that have yet to be completed.