Pickleball players return with new data

by Laura Bednar

Aug. 5 township trustees meeting

After two previous appearances at Bath Township trustee meetings, resident pickleball players returned to reiterate the need for dedicated pickleball courts at Bath Community Park.

Resident Alan Kurzweil read an updated court usage study, which included the month of July. Local players took note of the number of pickleball players versus the number of tennis players and times courts were in use. This data was sent to Kurzweil.

The final numbers for June 24-30 were 153 pickleball players and 21 tennis players. July 1-8 had 190 pickleball players and 19 tennis players. For the period of July 9-21, there were 292 pickleball players and 38 tennis players. During the week of July 22-31, there were 256 pickleball players versus 36 tennis players. Kurzweil said during the five-week study, there were 891 pickleball players and 114 tennis players, 77.2% more pickleball players.

There were 11 days without tennis players and only one day without pickleball players.

“What is not reflected in the data is that there were multiple times when people left due to long wait times,” said Kurzweil, adding that Bath is getting a positive reputation for its pickleball facility.

Trustee President Sean Gaffney thanked Kurzweil for giving the trustees data to review.

Resident Chuck Gray said the township should rebuild the courts to be sustainable for 10 years. He said Bath should move forward with a plan to create six dedicated pickleball courts, “which should include input from people who play, so we avoid mistakes.’’ Gray noted that other communities made mistakes in location and sizing of courts.

If Bath had eight dedicated courts, the park could host tournaments, according to Gray, which would generate revenue for the township by people visiting nearby restaurants after the event. He said he has begun discussions with NuVue Bar and Grill to have a pickleball-themed drink.

Copley resident Chuck Penzenik said there should be more automatic external defibrillators closer to the pickleball courts in the park. Gaffney said the township would look into the number and location of AEDs in each park.

Finances

Trustees approved selling former Fire Station No. 2 at 70 S. Cleveland-Massillon Rd. to AMK Holding Co. for $200,000. Copley constructed the facility and will receive two-thirds of the sale price with one-third going to Bath. As part of the agreement with AMK, the lot was split so the cemetery on the property would remain in Copley’s possession.

Trustees also approved several purchase orders, including $157,647 to Wichert Insurance for renewal of commercial, crime and cyber liability insurance, and $32,500 to the village of Richfield to pay a school resource officer for the Revere Local Schools, which is a three-way cost split among Bath, Richfield and the school district. ∞