The Laramie City council voted to help fund resurfacing, painting and net replacement of the UW tennis courts in the amount of $35,000.
The unanimous decision came after nearly an hour of discussion, prompted by Councilmember Joe Vitale’s suggestion that the city also cover Alpine Tennis Association’s (ATA) $25,000 contribution to the cause.
“That $25,000 the Alpine Tennis Association has raised would be better spent on program costs,” Vitale said. “I think it’s the university’s and city’s responsibility for maintenance.”
Vitale proposed an amendment to the resolution that would exclude the tennis association’s commitment to the project, and said the city could cover that cost by digging into its reserves.
A further amendment was tacked onto this amendment stipulating the city’s contribution would be raised from $35,000 to $60,000.
Laramie Mayor Dave Paulekas said he had issues with pulling additional funding from the reserves, citing the fact that next year’s general fund would probably be less than this year’s.
“Our savings fund is there for good budgetary practices and emergency funds,” he said. “If we reduce the money out of our savings account every time we want to spend money on something, then we better have a way of resupplying it.”
The mayor also said if the council approved this amendment, the city would have to take the money from somewhere else.
“We’re making budget decisions on the fly,” Paulekas said. “If I’m going to borrow money from something, just like at home, I need to have a way of being able to pay it back.”
Vitale said he was concerned that the ATA’s other interests would suffer as a result of their donation.
“They have, I understand, about 200 kids in the program,” Vitale said. “I’m sure there are some of those kids who can’t afford to travel to those events or can’t afford to buy a tennis racket, maybe can’t afford the entry fees.”
Mark Byra, president of the ATA, cited court rental and instructor fees, subsidizing membership fees and youth scholarships as some reasons the $25,000 contribution might impact what the association could provide.
“It will certainly have its consequences on what we can do with our youth programming,” Byra said. “It would be really helpful to keep those dollars, or a portion of those dollars to carry on helping the youth be involved in tennis.”
Both the amendment and the amendment’s amendment failed, but the main resolution for $35,000 passed with a new amendment to pursue grant opportunities in order to refund the ATA.
UW Athletics ($35,000) the United States Tennis Association ($20,000) and the Albany County Recreation Board ($35,000) also contributed to updating the eight outdoor courts at the University of Wyoming Recreation Area. Based on an estimate from Renner Sports and a calculation of miscellaneous costs for repairs, the project is expected to cost a total of $150,000. The passing of this resolution (2015-33) means the project is now fully funded.
