It has been several weeks since the end of Pickleball-Tennis War I, and all fronts are quiet, for now.
The truth is, it wasn’t really a war. In fact, the two factions did not even want to oppose each other. But Habersham County’s government inadvertently pitted them on opposite sides of an argument no one wanted.
When the pickleballers came to the county last summer, they asked for a pickleball complex of their own because of the growing amount of participation in the area. The county was sold on the idea, and the recreation department began exploring the possibilities.
Behind the scenes, the project transformed. Due to cost overruns and a recommendation that the county resurface two tennis courts instead, they went the cheaper direction. Two problems ensued, though.
First, while some suggested the tennis community did not protest this move until too late, the item was never mentioned publicly until it was time to vote. Three packed houses of both sects of players delayed the vote a little longer until the April meeting, but the “done deal” outcome that Peggy Fortson and the pickleball crew wanted was in the bag.
Second, the costs saved now will be money spent later. Losing two tennis courts will one day necessitate that more are built. Moreover, there is no way the pickleball crew will stop here. Eventually, they will want the complex they were previously promised.
At the recent forum for the District 3 county commission candidates, Chairman Bruce Palmer said he hopes to have that problem in the future.
“That will mean we have plenty of our citizens interested in outdoor recreation,” Palmer said.
A quick look around at the last three county commission meetings showed there are quite a few folks who are already enjoying said recreation.
No one can fault the commissioners for saving the taxpayers money in an era when we are going to need it. But the mistake was pressing this decision before it had to be made.
If we had $88,000 to tear up two tennis courts and replace them with pickleball, and we had $50,000 from a project that fell through, we were at $138,000. The pickleball folks are excellent at raising money, and the tennis community was ready to help them do so. It would not have been long before both sides could achieve what they wanted and improve the lives of everyone in Habersham.
The error was allowing loud voices to push our commissioners into a decision that did not even have to be made at this time. The courts were still usable for both groups, and they could have remained so until the money was raised.
Eventually, this issue will resurface, pardon the pun. Taking something away when we could have worked together and put something back was a mistake that we hopefully will not duplicate in more important matters down the road.