About $244,000 to pay for things like playground equipment and a mini-pitch soccer facility was awarded by the City Council Monday night.

That money came from the city’s hotel/motel tax, a 7 percent levy added to lodging bills in the city.

In awarding the grants, the council mostly went along with the recommendations of the Hotel/Motel Tax Board, which is a committee tasked with reviewing all the applications for grants.

The council did, however, increase the grant award for Legacy Learning of the Boone River Valley, which is an organization that offers classes in the arts and in nature studies.

The board recommended giving the organization $3,800 for class materials.

The organization had requested about $16,000, which would have paid for class materials, marketing and payments to instructors.

According to the minutes of the board’s meeting, its members believed Legacy Learning of the Boone River Valley had a marketing plan in place. Additionally, the board members indicated that they do not recommend grants for anything that appears to be a personnel cost.

Councilman Logan Welch urged his fellow council members to increase the grant award amount for Legacy Learning. He said he experienced the value of the organization’s programs firsthand when his oldest son participated in a class for children who have autism. He added that the organization premiers its projects at the Webster City Community Theater in a way that brings people and attention to Webster City.

The council voted unanimously to award $15,050 to the organization.

Other grant awards included:

$100,000 to the Hamilton County Exposition for facility upgrades;

$69,450 to LIFT WC and the city government for a mini-pitch soccer facility;

$35,800 to the Webster City Community School District for playground equipment;

$15,000 to the Hamilton County Speedway for marketing;

$5,710 to the Webster City Community Theater for marketing and a projection screen.