Ellensburg City Council authorized the city manager to contract for a centralized community calendar and to use up to $12,000 from lodging tax funds to pay for the first year of the service.

Kelly Vandenberg, arts and economic development manager, explained the proposed calendar would use an application programming interface to pull event data automatically from multiple local event sources and present a consolidated calendar on myellensburg.com. Vandenberg described the vendor as a company that already serves municipalities elsewhere and said the system is designed to boost visibility and attendance at local events.

Vandenberg said the annual vendor rate is approximately $10,000 and that the lodging tax advisory committee recommended a $12,000 authorization to cover initial setup and any incidental costs. The council discussed metrics and reporting; staff said the system includes back‑end analytics that can distinguish in‑county versus out‑of‑county traffic and provide usage reports.

Council authorized the city manager to execute the contract for a trial year, with the expectation the chamber (myellensburg.com steward under the city’s tourism contract) could assume ongoing operational responsibility if the calendar proves successful. Councilors asked staff to ensure a sunset or review clause after the trial year and to monitor operational costs if traffic grows.

The motion passed unanimously.