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Pickleball courts paid with ARPA and impact fees; residents say process fell short of expectations
Summary
Select Board members said the new pickleball courts were funded with $41,000 from ARPA and about $41,000 from impact fees and approved at a September select-board meeting; several residents said the broader planning process (charrette) and subsequent funding decisions did not include the public in a way they expected.
The Select Board confirmed the town’s recently installed pickleball courts were paid for with a mix of federal ARPA funds and local impact fees, but the funding and approval process has prompted anger and calls for clearer public engagement.
Select Board member Letty said the courts were funded roughly half from ARPA and half from impact fees: “It was $41,000 from ARPA and $41,000 from impact fees, about half and half.” She said the funding decision and vote approving the project occurred at the Select Board meeting on Sept. 3, 2024.
Several residents said they felt the recreational projects that followed the town’s planning charrette had not been presented back to the public in the way residents were told they would be. “We cannot unpickle the ball. It is the pickleball court is there. We're not gonna tear it out,” Letty said, acknowledging the courts remain in place while residents expressed frustration that some promised public follow-up did not happen.
Resident Jim told the board he and others regarded the pickleball courts as a “want” rather than a “need,” and he tied the conversation to wider concerns about rising taxes and the order of priorities for spending. Laura Haja, who said she attended the charrette meetings, said the follow-up promised to the public did not occur and that residents expected more chance to vote on large projects at town meeting.
The board explained impact fees are collected from developers and are restricted by category and the capital-improvement plan; impact fees used for recreation must be spent for CIP-related recreation items or returned to a developer if unused within the required time frame. Select Board members said some impact-fee revenue can indirectly reduce tax pressure—for example, fire-department impact fees have historically been applied against a bond payment for a fire station—while stressing that ARPA funds were allocated to specific projects rather than used directly to offset taxes.
Officials said the pickleball project was presented at multiple select-board meetings, and the board will provide recorded meeting footage and minutes for residents who want to review the approval.
