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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2018)
SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2018 | 7A PARKS from page 6A City staff have tried to ac- commodate the picklers there, resurfacing the courts and paint- ing pickleball lines in light blue to differentiate from the bright white lines that mark the tennis boundaries. Those city-designated lines have not been enough to hold all of the picklers, so Griffin has taken to chalking out additional “courts” in the facility. “I chalk out courts and this year we’ve been able to play 16 people at once, rather than just eight,” he said. “We’ve been averaging 20 people showing up. And we went as high as 28 one day.” Griffin had gone to the city and asked to turn some of the tennis courts into pickleball dedicated courts, but the city “didn’t want to go that far, and I understand that position completely,” Griffin said. If Griffin really had his dru- thers, the pickleball courts wouldn’t infringe on the tennis courts at all. “I would like to see, for lack of a better term, a pickleball complex,” he said. “Six courts, perhaps, with dedicated courts as opposed to a pickleball court painted inside tennis courts.” The real pie in the sky would be indoor and outdoor courts, “And with that, I’m just con- vinced that people would be com- ing here to play,” Griffin said. “We would run a few tournaments. The first time I run a tournament, it will not be the best, but with in- put from people with knowledge and more practice, we’ll run tour- naments and tourism dollars will just start coming in.” Griffin, who has already seen pickleball players coming in from Eugene and Reedsport, believed that dedicated courts would bring an influx of cash into the commu- nity and help stimulate economic growth. Sounds like the perfect addi- tion to the region. So what’s the plan to get it going? “I have no idea,” Griffin said. “Unfortunately for me, I am an exhorter and I am coach. That is how I was built by the Lord.” He hopes that being a vocal advocate for the sport will attract people that would have knowl- edge in such things and would be willing to pick up the torch. But even if or when he does find such people, what would the actual mechanism be for them to build such a complex? For that, we went to City of Florence City Manager Erin Reyn- olds. “Oh, Erin, the city manager?” Griffin said. “Great person.” staff to take care of this acreage? Just 16, including office staff like Conrad. “To bring that into perspective, we have six full-time rangers,” he said. “They are going out for compli- “Limited parks ance, looking at an- dollars” nual passes, looking “I had heard about for disturbances on the passionate, excit- our campgrounds. ed group of picklebal- That’s not a lot.” lers that showed up Rangers can spend to the Lane County hours a day just driv- Parks Plan,” Reynolds ing between one park JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS said. “I don’t think to the next, and it’s anyone quite antici- Rolling Dunes Park, located at the corner of 35th Street and Siano Loop in not just maintaining pated the interest in Florence, has the Siuslaw region’s only public tennis courts — marked in white — the parks that the pickleball, but that and pickleball courts — marked in light blue. Sometimes more courts are added rangers have to deal in chalk to allow more “picklers” to play. does go to show how with. They also work excited they are and how much with education, outreach and “Our other park project is ballot in the near future.” they love their sport.” adding a new park, a river beach These include projects like habitat restoration. Attending the meeting was city access park on Rhododendron Miller Park, but also larger eco- Lane County does all of this Associate Planner Glenn Suther- Drive, and those are both signifi- nomic drivers like downtown re- with an annual budget of $3.5 land, who visited the pickleball cantly funded through grants,” vitalization. million. To put that in perspec- court the morning after the parks Reynolds said. But if there’s no immediate tive, the City of Eugene alone has meeting to speak with the players. That’s not to say that the future plans now, what do the picklers $3 million in its parks budget, in- He found some possibilities to of pickleball is out of the ques- do as their resources become cluding $1.1 million for site reno- help the picklers in the near-term, tion. Once the new city council more and more taxed? They al- vations and rehabilitation, $1 mil- including adding a few more lines is seated after this November’s ready have 12 people waiting lion for community and regional and perhaps giving them a stor- elections, the city will begin goal around just to get a game in. park development and $750,000 age space. setting and planning for the next “That’s just the tension of what for neighborhood and communi- “Little things we can do now,” two years going forward. is always there,” Reynolds said. ty parks acquisition. Reynolds said. “We have a lot of work every “Pickleball and a few oth- “What we want right now, what Reynolds, along with other er requests that are along those we can actually do and where day,” Conrad said. “But it pro- city employees, had worked with lines for parks and quality of life, we’re going in the future.” vides a lot of opportunities to do Griffin in the past. He had come amenity type requests, will all be When it does come time for the a number of things for a lot of op- to city council meetings and considered and put into the equa- city to start entertaining the idea portunities. We can offer people made requests for an indoor facil- tion to see what can be funded of a recreational center, or a full a number of different experienc- ity or, at the very least, to modify and what can get done in the fol- blown pickleball complex, there’s es throughout the county. That’s the existing tennis courts, which lowing two years,” Reynolds said. a lot of questions that will need to what I love about our parks sys- the city did. tem, it’s that we can do so much But does that mean a pickleball be answered. Griffin stated that it was a plea- complex will be on the docket in Where would the complex go? for so many people.” sure working with the city. But as long-term planning? Some of those opportunities What would the architectural de- far as the big plans for a complex? “We’re hesitant to do one fa- sign be? What will the complex laid out in the Lane County Parks “We’d love to be able to say yes cility specific to one activity and cost? Are there grants available Master Plan includes some ro- to everything, but unfortunate- that’s all it’s for,” she said. for such a plan? These are a lot bust improvements to how the ly we have very limited parks It’s difficult for any city to fully of questions that have to be an- parks are run, including updating dollars,” Reynolds said. “Typi- move forward on a project like a swered to begin such a project, the website to make it more user cally, we do all of our park proj- pickleball complex without con- and as of right now, the current friendly and using apps to con- ects through grant funding and sidering other sports. If it spent staffing levels can’t handle the re- nect people to parks with ameni- through community grassroots $500,000 on a complex, what search it would take to look into ties like self-guided tours. efforts. The great thing about about all the other sports out such a grand project. Lane County is also looking to pickleball is that we have a good there? Shouldn’t they get an in- “It’s not a lack of wanting to,” encourage more usage for those grassroots group starting. We un- vestment too? Reynolds said. “It’s a lack of re- with disabilities, pointing out that fortunately just have not had the “We know there’s a greater need sources and human capacity on the parks have few handicapped funds to match with that grant and desire in the community for the city side for a pretty special parking spaces and not much in funding, and it’s one activity ver- a community recreation center, interest group project.” the way for visually impaired or sus maybe something that can get or a parks and rec program that’s And staffing issues aren’t just hardscaped paths for people to people interested on a wider scale more robust than what they city a problem with the City of Flor- go on. in our community.” Another issue the park has already provides,” Reynolds said. ence. As of now, the priority is im- is outdated signage around the But right now, the city is not proving Miller Park through a currently in the process for plan- park. Resources $500,000 project that will bring a ning that. “Some people come into our “With the small number of new concession stand, bathroom, “We’re just not there,” Reyn- staff, we’re busy,” Conrad said in parks and the trails aren’t well better accessibility in trail walk- olds said. “We’ve quite a few large the Parks meeting. marked. Signs have outdated in- ing around the park and other priority and significant capital Lane county operates a total formation that isn’t organized improvements to the field. projects. We’re just looking at it of 68 parks, including camp- well,” said Lane County Public in the context of the community grounds, marinas and water ac- Works Director Dan Hurley. “We and trying to be sensitive to other cess ramps. They cover a little don’t want our parks to be stag- larger items that are going on the over 43,000 acres of space. The nant and just expect people to come. They have to be vibrant, where we’re adapting to people’s interests.” With those improvements in the pipeline, and such limited re- sources to manage them, focusing on creating a pickleball complex Sending out an SOS would not be in the immediate cards. But Lane County is institut- ing a mechanism that could help groups like the picklers get their plans in motion. “One plan I really like is to cre- ate a 501(c)(3) umbrella friends’ group,” Hurley said. “It’s a very important tax status for a group to organize so they can be a non- profit. We can’t just give money to a group of individuals without accounting on that. It’s hard for a new group to form a nonprofit and there’s an expense to it. Our thought is, if we could create an umbrella nonprofit and help to get that going to coordinate new friends’ groups or communica- tion between friends’ groups.” This potential umbrella group could help small friends’ groups get the funding and organization needed to help along projects like a pickleball complex. Working with well-organized friends’ groups is vital for the suc- cess of any large-scale project, ac- cording to Reynolds. “[The picklers] need the city and the city needs them,” she said. “It really has to be symbiotic and working together through the whole process. So, if they have that energy and the desire, we could work with them and they could fundraise toward a city pickleball park project.” While the city does not have an umbrella project in mind like Lane County does, there is a lo- cal organization that can help the picklers, and any other recre- ational organization that is look- ing for a home, help realize their goals. The Siuslaw Vision 2025 proj- ect, which is in its fourth year, just finished hosting a statewide conference where communities and cities gathered to talk about growth and how cities are work- ing together to build up regions within the state. Along the way, Vision repre- sentatives gave a step-by-step guideline on how the idea of a pickleball complex could give fruition to a larger recreational complex in the Siuslaw region, the economic importance of such programs how community mem- bers can work together to make it all happen. Read more in Saturday’s edi- tion of the Siuslaw News. The Rolling Dunes pickleball games are held Monday, Wednes- day and Friday from 8:30 to 11 a.m., located at 35th Street in Florence. No preregistration re- quired. For more information, visit w w w. p l a c e s 2 p l a y. o r g / c i t y / florence-oregon. To read more about the Lane County Parks Master Plan, and to take an online survey about the plan, visit www.lanecounty.org. Siuslaw Outreach Services (SOS), 1576 12th St., is actively recruiting vol- unteers for the front desk. These special volunteers greet clients and support SOS staff. Most volunteers cover a four-hour shift once per week. All training is pro- vided. For more info, call 541-997-2816, email lori@florencesos.org or stop by. Open Monday –Saturday 11am-9pm August 31st is our 11th anniversary of serving traditional mexican cuisine to this community we love so much. Our family & staff thank you for your continued support. — See Jim for your auto sales needs! We are currently hiring for servers and line cook. Please come by for an application. 2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence (541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475 2825 Hwy 101, Florence • 541-997-1144 KRAB KETTLE 280 Hwy. 101 M 541-997-8996 Fresh Seafood Market Open Daily 10-6 541-997-2422 Get Results...List With Richard. Richard Beaudro Principal Broker 541 991-6677 Price Reduced 85545 Pine St – Private 10 acre estate. 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