Sports Pavilion committee recommends $15,000 operating boost to refelt 20 billiard tables

Jolene Pioskowski, chair of the Sports Pavilion committee, asked members to approve a recommendation asking staff to increase the operating refelting budget from $7,500 to $15,000 so 20 pool tables can be refelted next year and the committee can resume a rotation of about 10 tables per year thereafter.

Committee staff noted refelting is an operating expense rather than a capital improvement because felt has a short useful life. Cliff said staff assessed table wear and identified 20 tables in need of refelting and proposed a compromise: “instead of doing 30, we do 20,” adding that an additional $7,500 in the operating budget would make that possible.

Resident commenters and some committee members urged caution. Jason Fieg, a frequent player, said that past schedules left a subset of tables perpetually behind and questioned whether a one‑time larger purchase would solve long‑term wear patterns. Cliff replied staff will assess tables annually and adjust the count by need (he said it could be 8–12 or 10–12 in practice).

Cliff and Gary Zarek, the pavilion manager, outlined numbers the committee used in deliberations: Gary had roughly $20,000 in next year’s operating budget for refelting and estimated a cost baseline for a set of tables; Cliff said the committee could add $7,500 to accelerate the program to 20 tables next year and then maintain a roughly 10‑per‑year schedule.

The committee agreed to recommend the budget change and the management plan to the governing board, with Cliff to present the adjusted operating budget and staff recommendations at the board meeting.