OKTIBBEHA COUNTY — After weeks of discussions about creating and managing indoor pickleball courts in the Oktibbeha County Community Safe Room, the county decided it doesn’t want to partner with the city after all.
During a board of supervisors’ meeting on Monday, supervisors heard a request from a local pickleball player, Lou Fratesi, with the informal group Starkville Pickleball Association, to use the Safe Room as an indoor location to play during inclement weather. The gymnasium at the Travis Outlaw Center has been the group’s alternative spot, but with renovations continuing through the month there, it is looking for another option.
“Currently, we play three or four days a week … and our issue is that when there’s inclement weather, we can only play at the Sportsplex,” Fratesi said. “… What we’re looking for is the opportunity to play at the storm shelter. Not that we’re going to play there every day.”
Pickleball players in the city typically utilize the outdoor courts at McKee Park, unless they are forced into the Travis Outlaw Center’s gym by rain. But the Parks and Recreation department recently announced that the gym floor would be closed until June 25 due to maintenance. A gym curtain will also be installed in the space the week of June 26.
The city approached the county about providing pickleball facilities to local players back in April, with a proposed agreement for Starkville Parks and Recreation to manage indoor recreation in the county’s safe room between emergencies.
In return, the city would split the cost of utilities, which were about $5,000 in 2022. In a revised version of the agreement, which supervisors still did not approve, the city would also be required to chip in $25,000 for facility upgrades that would make the building more accessible.
But after hearing Fratesi’s request, District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery immediately proposed the county work with the pickleball group directly, rather than working with the city on their Safe Room agreement any longer. The vote passed unanimously.
“We’ve discussed with the city possibly doing something with them with the storm shelter, but it’s my opinion that it would be easier to work directly with this pickleball group,” Montgomery said.
With the new, more direct connection to the pickleball group, supervisors continued to promote creating a general usage contract for the storm shelter space during non-emergencies.
County Attorney Rob Roberson, who has been working on the general usage contract along with the agreement between the city and the county, told The Dispatch on Tuesday this new direct method makes the most practical sense for the county.
“It’s going to allow the county to stay in control of the Safe Room, which was probably one of the main obstacles in dealing with this to make sure the county stays in control of the calendar,” Roberson said.
Board President Orlando Trainer told The Dispatch the agreement with the city is no longer necessary, but that doesn’t mean the decision was made due to any bad blood with the city. The city can still use it, he said, but it will have to engage directly with the county via a usage agreement.
Trainer said the county will not be providing pickleball courts to players but will be providing the space for the pickleball group if it agrees to the general usage contract. Bringing in sporting equipment and temporary court markings would be the responsibility of the pickleball group, and possibly the city’s pickleball league, if the city chooses to use the space.
Usage would not be restricted to pickleball but could conceivably be for other private or public events. For example, the Starkvegas Juneteenth Committee for Unity recently received approval to use the Safe Room for a health fair this month.
Trainer said EMA Director Kristen Campanella would be in charge of managing the Safe Room’s usage by individual groups, along with the calendar, since she is already over the building for its emergency usage.
But all of the details on this new agreement between pickleball players and county officials have not yet been finalized. Campanella told The Dispatch in a text on Tuesday that she has not been in contact with the pickleball group.
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