BET Decision Day - Pickleball Funding News 2023 - $375K for Dedicated Courts CUT by $100K
By Cathy Blood
Editor-in-Chief, GreenwichPickleball.com
Greenwich, CT
Third Update, 4/12/23, second update on March 24, 2023 (originally published on 1/22/23)
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2023 BET Decision Day Pickleball Funding Update
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Well, the news isn’t good. The BET Republican Majority voted in April 2023, to reduce funding for Pickleball to $275K from $375K. The tie-breaking vote to cut was cast by the BET Republican Chair.
Many Pickleball fans watched the Greenwich Community TV feed on YouTube (or attended in person to watch ‘budget paint dry’.) The meeting started at 9AM and the agenda followed the Capital Budget - ending a little before or after 11PM (honestly, I think I fell asleep.)
We don’t have a copy of the final, edited capital budget document, but this recommended budget doc will give you some idea of the order of the vote.
(In the YouTube recording you can listen to the Republican Majority’s stated public rational for the cut. Then note the Democratic Minority’s stated public rational for voting against the cut.)
We will likely be fighting for interim funding to build the courts in a way that will require much less maintenance over time, allow for sideline safety and fund the full four courts as specified. We’ll keep you informed as usual.
The good news, at least over last year, is that there is a firm location for the outdoor courts at Eastern CC, and there is some funding. Last year at this time we were up the proverbial ‘creek’, with no location or funding allocation at all.
Scroll down to read all the details about why the cuts aren’t justified, and why the comparison with the Stanwich Club courts ‘build cost’ is apples to oranges. Different materials, labor costs, and site work. And the 2022 P&R Bible Street Pickleball funding request was based on refurbising an existing surface with an undetermined number of courts. That there is some fancy footwork.
Let the record show (below), all Republican BET members voting to substantially reduce Pickleball funding, all Democratic BET members in favor of maintaining Pickleball funding.
Screenshot from the official minutes of ‘Greenwich BET Budget Decision Day’ 2023 Town of Greenwich Website.
It’s GO TIME Picklers! - March 24, 2023 Update
Let me take a moment to summarize what has happened between the presentation of the Capital Budget to the BET Budget Committee and NOW, March 24, 2023.
Our Pickleball Court funding is 100% AT RISK.
The proposed capital budget included $375K for four new dedicated Pickleball courts on ‘raw’ ground behind Eastern Greenwich Civic Center.
After the First Selectman’s budget presentation, the BET Budget Committee typically looks for items that can be eliminated or reduced.
And Pickleball was, as usual, on the chopping block.
READ the Full Story - It’s a Nail Biter!
A motion was made within the four person BET Budget Committee to reduce the $375 for Pickleball courts to $275K based on a single example of 2 courts being built by Stanwich Club for $90K - with no further details or due diligence.
This motion did NOT pass. The vote was 2-2 along party lines. A majority is needed for motions like this to pass.
Shortly after this vote, at the March 9th Cos Cob Association meeting, First Selectman Fred Camillo stated that the funding had been cut for Pickleball. When questioned about the failed motion, he stated that ‘when a certain group within the BET takes that kind of action, they are putting up a red flag to indicate that they will vote as a group for the reduction on decision day.”
So our First Selectman sees Pickleball funding as already cut, despite the motion failing to pass in the BET Budget Committee.
I’m inclined to believe him.
If the majority party leader believes that Pickleball funding cuts are a done deal - then we have to take this threat very seriously.
Will the BET be satisfied to cut the funding just to $275K, or will they cut even further when push comes to shove on April 4 - BET ‘budget’ decision day?
What we can do is MAKE NOISE. A lot of noise.
BUT WAIT, THERE’s MORE…
In an email response to a concerned member of our Pickleball Community, a member of the BET said that if “costs were higher” than $275K “we [the BET] would fund it.”
But that requires an authorization for Interim Funding - a time consuming budget process that would delay the construction process - and such a request is not guaranteed to pass. In fact, the BET could choose at that point to reduce project scope instead of approving interim funding.
We need to trust our Parks and Rec department, and the due diligence they have performed by obtaining preliminary bids for this project from reputable contractors. Hearsay about another court installation project by BET members should not be how budget decisions are made.
And what we’ve since learned is that the Stanwich Club courts were constructed with asphalt, with no lighting, no tree removal, no landscaping and no public entity wage requirements.
$375K is the amount that the experts in Parks and Recreation have determined is needed to build these four courts properly - with post-tension concrete - and with the LOWEST maintenance cost over time.
So what’s next?
All GREENWICH Pickleball players who are in favor of dedicated courts need to submit an official public comment form (link below).
THE PUBLIC COMMENT ASK should be for funding the original appropriation - $375K. If the project comes in under budget, funds are returned to the town. Let’s fund something right for a change.
It’s GO TIME Picklers!
Use the link below to submit your public comment NOW, before the 3/29 BET Public Hearing.
March 29 BET Public Hearing AGENDA
The final BET budget vote will take place on April 4, 2023.
The final Public Meeting is on Wed, March 29, 7-10PM
Meetings can be accessed on Greenwich Community Television Channels 24 (Verizon), 79 (Optimum). To view more BET budget videos, visit the GCTV YouTube Channel.
Listen to this four minute clip as Candace Garthwaite and Jodi Stuart speak on behalf of all Greenwich Pickleball Players in support of funding $375K for 4 Eastern Civic Center Pickleball Courts at the Public Budget Presentation Meeting on January 24, 2023.
Pickleball Locations & Plans in the Official ‘Operations Plans’ Document
Below is all the information related to Pickleball and Tennis in the Parks & Rec Operations Plan. (Pages 102-104.) We’ve included tennis info since most Pickleball courts are dual use tennis courts. We’ve also included mentions of the two civic centers since that is where all indoor Pickleball takes place.
The info below is taken verbatim from the public document.
PARKS AND RECREATION 811-817 – RECREATION
FY 22-23 Major Accomplishments (bullet points are unedited).
Pickleball. Additional lines and mobile nets to Eastern Greenwich Civic Center, Byram Park, and Western Middle School courts. Addition of seasonal beginners pickleball outdoor play group (Fall, Spring, and Summer) to accommodate players at the novice level. Designate some parking spots at the end of Lyon Avenue to reduce parking issues at Christiano Park courts. Collaborate with nearby Towns to create a pickleball tournament.
Tennis: Replace and upgrade tennis court equipment used to dry courts and increase play time. Created labeled court maps for pickleball and tennis to help players with reservations determine which court they have.
FY 23-24 Goals (Pickleball & Pickleball related)
Cohen Eastern Greenwich Civic Center: Make plans for operations, i.e. consider long term lease for tenant, plan in-house programs, seek program renters of facility
Confirm plans to construct official pickleball courts at the Cohen Eastern Greenwich Civic Center and/or reconstruction of lighting fixtures at Byram Park courts to accommodate more players and provide more hours of court time.
Acquire new renters to the Bendheim Western Greenwich Civic Center that provide new activities or those not currently being offered at the Center.
Tennis: upgrade tennis equipment used to run clinics. Install new rules signs at tennis courts which need them. Install court numbers on courts where needed.
To be sure you’re ‘in the loop’ on how to support Pickleball in Greenwich, and to ensure we are NOT robbing Peter to pay Paul, subscribe to ‘Opa!’ the GreenwichPickleball.com email newsletter.
When the time comes, we may need to reach out to our local RTM members.
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Cathy Blood is the Editor-in-Chief of GreenwichPickleball.com (a passion project) and is a recent Pickleball convert. She’s the Partner in charge of Marketing at Speritas Capital Partners, and she owns NEST New Media, a digital SEO content strategy business where she helps businesses tell their story and write about their industry with an engaging, authoritative and ‘converting’ voice.
