Six meetings for a “listening tour” of the newly consolidated county parks and recreation department have been scheduled.

The meetings each will take place at 6:30 p.m. between Jan. 25 and March 9, according to a schedule provided by recreation director Randy Luebbe. Only meetings for Topeka City Council district Nos. 4 and 7 and Shawnee County Commission District No. 1 have been scheduled.

The meetings, which are expected to last about an hour, will give residents an opportunity to voice their concerns and opinions about the merged parks department, Luebbe said.

The “listening tour” will be conducted during the next several weeks by the 15-member Shawnee County Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, which was formed after county commissions and the Topeka city council last year approved the merger of the two parks and recreation departments. The consolidation took effect Jan. 1.

The tour will involve about 16 meetings — at least one in each Topeka City Council district and at least two in each Shawnee County Commission district. Those who attend will be asked to fill out a questionnaire, which will contain such questions as, “If you could improve anything about Shawnee County Parks and Rec, what would it be?” and “Is there anything you would like to see made available?’

The listening tour schedule is as follows:

• County District No. 1: 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25, Silver Lake Senior Center, 400 E. Lake St.

• City District No. 4: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 6, Highland Park High School cafeteria, 2400 California.

• County District No. 1: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 8, Rossville City Hall, 438 Main St.

• County District No. 1: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 22, Auburn Civic Center, 1020 Washington.

• City District No. 4: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 27, American Legion Post, 3800 S.E. Michigan.

• City District No. 7: 6:30 p.m. March 9, Crestview Community Center, 4801 S.W. Shunga Drive.

Aly Van Dyke can be reached at (785) 295-1270 or aly.vandyke@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @alyvandyke.