Tennis club expansion a hot topic

greenspace

- October 16, 2012 at 05:44:31

ASJ- please describe all the activity that is going on in this space. I seriously just have not seen it. Please don't mention the skating rink because it was an ugly wood- framed puddle for the majority of the last couple of winters. Your claim about the tennis membership fee is valid if in fact it costs a junior member $150. I thought it was less than $100 and that gave you a solid 5 months of play. New question: What was so wrong with the Tennis Clubs' initial proposal to have the kids courts put in beside the existing clunhouse? This would have left the greenspace to all its "users". Was this denial another case of NIMBY from the Brunswick St side. Someone set me straight here- it is tennis courts afterall not a nuclear power plant.

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  RegReader

  - October 18, 2012 at 11:02:58

  I agree completely Greenspace. This area of the park is not utilized to it's full potential and there is plenty of greenspace elsewhere... in front of bandstand on either side of walkway... and much more on other side of river heading up to falls. Not to mention the space near the playground. These are just nimbys. The tennis court fees are cheap compared with many other sports... $100 for at least 5 months of activity. And glad you mentioned those rinks they put in... my son and I have tried to use various ones around town for the past couple of winters and they are not maintained.... you can't just put them together and let mother nature do the rest of the work. They need to be cleared and flooded if they are going to be a half decent surface.

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  ASJ

  - October 18, 2012 at 20:02:52

  Greenspace - please excuse me if I don't answer all your questions. The original proposal to the Town by the Tennis Club was to use that space beside the clubhouse was turned down due to the fact that the two main properties bordering that small piece of land (that is already used by the Tennis Club) opposed it. In addition, these two homeowners are either employed by the Town in a prominent position or are on Town Council. All it would have taken was to make sure that the fence on that small portion was high enough to catch any errant balls and things would have been fine. Yet when 28 homeowners from the streets surrounding that area put a petition in against taking the land from the park, no attention was paid to it. Doesn’t that sound funny – 2 people associated with the Town don’t want the Tennis Club to change the use of land they already have so the Town says “No” yet when most of the homeowners around the park say please don’t take away that green space, they are ignored by the Town and say “Okay” . There is going to be little space between the tennis courts and the little league ball field as it will be going up to where the crosswalk starts on Palmer to go across the field – 120 feet, leaving no green space. I personally think that is a little odd; 2 against and the small space is turned down, at least 28 against a larger amount and it is Okay go for it. That space is used by the Town and other organizations for activities that are put on but the biggest is by residents of Truro themselves. When you live looking onto that space and are in the park every day, you are much more aware of what is going on in different areas on a daily basis. There are actually people who think the park itself is used very little by anyone – unfortunate for them. Getting down to the basics, the land was given on the premise that it was to be open for the use of all residents of Truro and visitors. That doesn’t mean that it is okay to give the land away to an organization that is not Town owned. The Tennis Court is not owned by the Town of Truro. In this day and age, there are many people who cannot afford to pay for a couple of children (or even one, or themselves for that matter) to belong to the tennis club. By giving the land away, it is going against what it was set up for by the original owners and taking away space that is used by so many for so much. How would people on the “right” side of the tracks feel if one of there big chunks of greenspace/play area were taken away and a new Town tennis club set up there. Or how about the Golf Club stepping up and reorganizing a little so they could have at least half a dozen tennis courts there (plus a couple of little ones for the young ones). They would be able to host the tennis tournaments and they already have the facilities for people to go in to cool off, have lunch, etc. In addition, the Cougar Dome is to have half a dozen courts and they are to be available to the public when there isn’t any school (evenings, weekends, summer); what a thought, play tennis as one of your classes. I do have to say something regarding the ice rink. For years it was laid out properly, flooded properly and taken care of so that it was a fun place for children of all ages to come. They even moved picnic benches down. The individuals involved in doing the set up and maintenance took great pride in keeping it that way. Some of the parents would even come and help clear it if there was a lot of snow. Last winter it was not set up properly, the building up (watering) was done wrong (different staff) so instead of the Town fixing it, they just left it and said the only rink they were maintaining was the one downtown in the square. Unfortunate for the children in this area (we won’t talk about the “tracks” again).

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  RegReader

  - October 19, 2012 at 12:56:57

  ASJ... insteresting information regarding the 2 people who work for the town... I take back my NIMBY comment. If this is true then I share your sentiments.

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  ASJ

  - October 21, 2012 at 16:59:13

  Yes Regreader, it is true regarding the two people who work for the Town/Town Councillor and would not take much time if you want to verify. I'm not naming names. What is unfortunate is that this is a topic that people (as a rule) really couldn't care less about and don't read this story anymore whereas there are still angry/frustrated people in this area who care very much. The head of Parks and Recreation was against it, 2 of the 3 Councillors that were up for election to stay were against it and the rest, who were not returning, just said ok, they didn't care - they had already said their chairs were open to someone else. The point of having the Dept. Heads, etc. give their opinion (work wise) is so that the Mayor and Councillors will get INFORMED opinions to work with. This time they couldn't care less either and didn't listen.

ASJ

- October 14, 2012 at 15:38:11

Greenspace, your comment shows that you may have been using the park all your life but you appear to not know what is going on in it as that greenspace is used all the time. Yes, the proposed courts are taking up most of the space: 120 feet by 120 feet - up to where the crossing path starts by the Little League ball field - that is most of the space. Yes there are a lot of overweight children so turn off the computers, TVs, gaming machines, etc. and get outside. There are not a great deal of people that can afford the $150 for each child for only a couple of months but there is a great deal to do that doesn't require you to be a member to do it and is great exercize.

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Parkman

- October 13, 2012 at 17:27:17

Greens pace says it all,rather than a couple of councillors trying to make hay.

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ASJ

- October 12, 2012 at 15:58:05

My personal opinion is that the Town did act deceptively (yes, a slightly diferent meaning to the word) by not requiring the Tennis Courts to talk to a larger amount of people that live in the area regarding, expanding the courts. Palmer Street is not the whole area that it impacts. We hadn't heard about it. People also do not realize that another 120 feet out into the green space practically wipes that green space out. What a disgusting look driving into a beatiful park, all those high metal fences. What amazes me also is that one of the concerns of some Palmer St. residents is that the people playing tennis really impact their parking - people come to play tennis for execize and pleasure yet they are too lazy to park their vehicles a few feet further in the parking lot to the pool. So, more fighting regarding parking, no space left for the cadet's tattoo, the carry over of the blessing of thebikes (larger every year), a rink for the kids in the winter, play space in the spring/summer/fall for frisbee, kite flying, learning to catch ball, learning to ride bikes, etc., etc. All of these things are free yet you have to pay membership fees at the Tennis Court. The new dome has 6 courts that are available when school is out - that means summer and there are others around town. Use them. The land for Victoria Park was given years ago for the use of "ALL" people, not only the ones that could afford it. Yes, waste of time, nobody will read this. By the time that Kinsman and MacArthur can try to do anything about it, (if they get re-elected) it will be too late, things are supposed to be started by then. ACOA should have put in more requirements also as to the people's wishes before giving them the money - our tax dollars. Tax dollars for something most people can't use. Shame on them.

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PJ

- October 12, 2012 at 12:02:49

Mr. MacArthur and Mr. Kinsman are correct in insisting on complete openness regarding the use of public space. It seems that the tennis expansion was made long before the brief public airing. Mr. Mills should indicate the subject of the in-camera session which conveniently occurred during the same meeting as the tennis expansion. Just having his assistant verify secret minutes is not good enough for the owners of the park.

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  Greenspace

  - October 12, 2012 at 16:19:48

  As a lifelong user of Victoria Park I have to say that the green space in question between the existing ball field and tennis courts is rarely used save for a couple frisbee throwers and the odd football catch. Is the tennis court expansion really going to take away the entire space? I expect NIMBY over garbage dump sites and high rise buildings but this is tennis for kids? What is the harm? Our kids are the most obese in the country, we should support efforts to encourage active healthy living. Thanks for the approval Council. Tennis anyone?