A Pickled Proposal

Pickleball was back in the Saratoga Town Council’s court as a proposal for a pickleball facility was presented at the August 6 meeting of the governing body.

Cindy Loose and Cindy Carnes, representing the Good Times Pickleball Association, went before the council in order to ask the Town for land to develop a “state-of-the-art pickleball facility.”

Carnes said the group currently has 25 members that play off and on at the Platte Valley Community Center Gym.

“Currently, our residents have access to limited gym time slots for pickleball, and this new facility will provide a dedicated space to meet the growing demand,” Loose said.

Carnes listed the benefits pickleball has to the community. Health and wellness, social benefits and economic investment were all highlighted during her speech to the council.

“The sport’s growing popularity means it will attract players from neighboring areas, boosting local tourism,” Carnes said. “Tournaments and events hosted at our facility will bring in visitors who will dine in our restaurants, shop in our stores and stay in our hotels. This influx of activity can generate significant revenue for our local businesses and increase the town’s visibility and reputation.”

She claimed “developing and maintaining a pickleball facility would be relatively low compared to other sports infrastructures.”

Grants, sponsorships and community fundraising would be behind the funding of the project.

Mayor Chuck Davis said he had been discussing this idea with Loose.

“We’ve talked about various locations—one of them included part of Kathy Glode Park,” Davis said.

Davis asked what their total dollar figure was. Carnes said it was $527,707 for the building, not including the cost of the courts.

“Would it have lighting and heating? Would there be a facility available all year long?” asked Councilmember Kathy Beck.

“Yes it would be inclusive, the lighting was not included in that quote,” Carnes said.

When asked by Beck, Carnes said the square footage of the building would be “80 by 150.”

Carnes said she got the quote from Vap Construction.

“So [the quote was for] just a bare structure then?” Davis asked.

“With the cement,” Carnes said.

“No insulation?” Beck asked.

Carnes said the ceiling and the gables were insulated.

Beck asked if Discover Carbon County would provide any grant to the project.

“Yes, there are always pots of money for development, but our approach would be to do court naming sponsorships,” Loose said. “I already have commitment from one person that said ‘name a court after me and I’m in.’ I’ve also approached some other businesses and the feedback is good.”

Tournaments were discussed, with Loose and Carnes saying there are pickleball groups in Encampment, Rawlins and Sinclair.

Councilmember Bub Barkhurst asked about parking and how many people would come to a tournament.

Carnes estimated 50 to 100 people would attend a tournament.

Barkhurst asked what the projected maintenance costs would be for the project.

Loose provided a document to the council with estimated maintenance costs generated with the large-language machine learning model ChatGPT.

Generative AI models like ChatGPT are known to experience “hallucinations,” where they provide false or misleading information.

Davis asked if the Good Times Pickleball Association would take care of their own maintenance costs or if they would ask the Town for help.

“Everything is negotiable, but it would be nice if this was a partnership between the two of us,” Loose said. “I would hope [the Town] would help out with a few of the maintenance costs and perhaps help us with staff.”

Beck said she loved the idea of a facility, but would like to see a full business plan from the association. She said she thought Kathy Glode Park would be a great location for the facility.

Councilmember Jerry Fluty brought up concerns on whether they would actually be allowed to build on a designated park or greenway.

Barkhurst said there might be issues since Kathy Glode Park is a memorial park.

“I think the council’s very open… you guys go back and work on your business plan, and we’ll work on the land part to see if it is legal,” Davis said. “I think [Kathy Glode Park] is a pretty good location. I’m guessing approximately a half to two-thirds of that park isn’t used. It’s just grass. That’s been there a lot longer than I’ve lived here, it might be something we want to have a public hearing on.”

The next meeting of the Saratoga Town Council will be on August 20 at 6 p.m. at the Saratoga Town Hall.