The owner of the Carthage Golf Center driving range is retiring and offering the city a chance to lease and operate the range this year.

Parks Department Director Alan Bull said Dennis Detert decided to retire this year and is offering the city a good deal on leasing the range, which is located immediately south of the parks department office in Carthage Municipal Park.

"It fits in with the golf course and we didn't realize how much we needed it until he decided to close it this year," Bull said "Mr. Detert would like to sell the land to the city, but the city needs to operate the range for a couple of years to see how it would work."

In other business, the committee will discuss letting the Joplin Sports Authority host a summer girls Little League softball tournament at the Fair Acres Sports Complex.

Bull said the Joplin group landed the contract to host the tournament, which will determine what teams advance from this area to the softball World Series, but then it lost its existing venue.

He said Joplin only has two softball fields certified to host Little League softball, while the Fair Acres complex has four fields.

Bull said the tournament will bring 600-800 parents, players and others to Carthage for a week from July 21-27.

The committee will also:
• Consider a request to put a marker commemorating the Little League baseball team that advanced to the Midwest Regionals last year.

• Discuss the fireworks bid for the annual Fourth of July celebration.