Tyrone won’t charge pickleball players for court use
Misunderstanding over use of borough facility leads to move
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TYRONE -- In light of a recent misunderstanding about the borough's pickleball courts, council members voted to waive any fees for the Tyrone Pickleball Club through the remainder of this year.
Currently, pickleball is played on the roller hockey rink at Reservoir Park, where a sign indicates designated play times for hockey and pickleball.
If the designated sport is not being played at the rink, people can play the non-designated sport, but must yield to the designated times if a conflict arises between people wishing to play one sport over the other, according to the sign.
In June, councilman Ken Patterson reported that his family -- who had their own net and equipment -- wanted to play pickleball at the rink in April, but were told they were not allowed unless they paid a $20 annual membership fee to the club and attend a 45-minute lesson on how to play the sport safely.
During Monday's council meeting, Donna Reese, president of the Tyrone Pickleball Club, addressed council over the issue.
Despite there being four courts -- two of which were unused -- he and his family were not permitted to play and ended up leaving the venue when told of the fee, Patterson said in June.
On Monday, Reese said the situation was a misunderstanding and noted that Patterson and his family should have been allowed to play on the available courts since they had their own equipment.
"Our club agrees that no one should be forced to pay for play at a public facility," she said. "This is no different than the hockey leagues that charge a fee to individual teams that participate in their league play at the rink."
The club charges annual dues to its members to cover the costs of equipment repairs and replacements, social activities and organization of play, according to Reese, who said members only pay the fee to play with the club.
Reese also noted the Central Blair Recreation Commission, which is in charge of the Garfield Park pickleball courts in Altoona, allows the Blair County Pickleball Club to organize play at that site free of charge.
The Blair County Pickleball Club privately raised more than $90,000 for the Garfield conversion to six pickleball-only courts.
According to Reese, people have to be a member of the Blair County Pickleball Club in order to play during organized club play times.
Several members of council, including Mayor William Latchford, the council's president, said they're concerned because the club is charging fees and using the hockey rink, which is owned by the borough.
It was opened two decades ago with the intention of being made available to the public for recreational opportunities.
"Even though you're saying you're charging the fee for a club membership, that's still making money off of a borough facility. This is where the dilemma arises that we're trying to figure out here," Latchford told Reese during the public comment portion of Monday's meeting.
Historically, the borough has charged a $15 per hour fee for hockey leagues to use the rink for tournaments, but hasn't done so in many years, according to Borough Manager Ardean Latchford, who said the club is not charged a fee currently and is allowed to utilize the rink because of a verbal agreement council made with the club's members last year.
According to Reese, the hockey league is not running a league this year, and as part of the agreement, the club lined four pickleball courts on the hockey rink in March 2023.
During Monday's meeting, Latchford recommended council members reinstate the rental fee and charge the pickleball club $15 per hour to rent the facility for their regular play since the club occupies courts from certain hours and limits the availability for public play with their own equipment.
A second sign with rules and regulations at the hockey rink posted with the Tyrone Borough seal states that the scheduling of the courts and play will be managed by the Tyrone Pickleball Club.
However, after Reese told council members the club is a nonprofit group, Patterson moved to waive any fees for the club through the remainder of this year.
Reese also said charging the club a fee to play on the rink would result in either larger membership dues or members going to other facilities in the area to play.
"That would probably be the breakdown of the club," she said, adding the fee isn't collected to use the facility and many club members also play pickleball in Altoona, Philipsburg and State College.
Patterson's motion was seconded by councilman Rob Poust and passed unanimously, with council Vice President David Snyder absent.
Poust said he would love to see the courts remain utilized.
"I would rather see something be used than to sit stagnant," he said during the meeting. "If this group is willing to put money into it to evolve and develop it, I think it's great."
William Latchford asked Reese whether the club would consider dissolving its membership fees if the borough purchased its own nets and balls. Reese said it could but a set of four nets costs about $950 and the cost of 50 balls is about $200.
"We thought it would be easier just to collect a little bit of money and take care of it," she said, adding they thought, "Let's cover our expenses. Let's not go to the borough and ask for money. Let's be responsible with our equipment and kick in a little money and try to take care of it."
Some potential solutions discussed during Monday's meeting were to have a pickleball net available to be signed out at the park or build a separate pickleball court next to the hockey rink.
But council members were unable to decide on a happy medium between the borough and the club, which has grown to over 100 members since it formed.
The club started play in Tyrone on April 2, 2023, and officially formed as a nonprofit group in February after logging over 4,000 play times, according to Reese.
Rob Rerko, a member of the club, said he's retired and learning how to play pickleball has been "the most positive thing in my life."
"It's not every year you get to meet 50 new friends, and it keeps on growing," he said. "Our group is a lot of fun, and we enjoy each other. I just can't emphasize what a positive thing it has been for me."
On Tuesday, members of the club -- including Kathy Hormell -- played pickleball at the hockey rink, which she said is the only venue to play the sport in Tyrone.
Kim Reese, Donna's husband, said there's a camera that live streams the facility on the club's website so people can see whether the courts are occupied at any given moment.
"If you look at that camera, you actually see an empty court probably 80% of the time, counting the hockey schedules," he said. "There's a lot of capacity there for anybody to go there and play on their own, and there's no one there who would interfere with it."
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.