The Fishers City Council gave final unanimous approval to the 2022 calendar year budget Monday night, but first addressed concerns from residents in the River Glen neighborhood.
The 2022 city spending plan totals $121.64 million, with $40 million to be stashed in cash reserves, about $10 million more in reserve than guidelines require.
Deputy Mayor Elliott Hultgren presented the budget Monday night. According to Hultgren, Mayor Scott Fadness was out of town Monday working on a “substantial economic development opportunity.” He did not provide any further details.
Residents of River Glen had discovered in recent days that the city was planning to spend $300,000 transforming the current tennis court at River Glen into several Pickleball courts. About 4 homeowners with property adjacent to the current tennis facility objected to the noise that would be created with a number of pickleball courts.
Hultgren addressed that concern immediately in his budget presentation, saying the proposed pickleball courts would be located on the west side of the city, not necessarily at River Glen. The decision on an exact location of the pickleball facility would be done at a later date.
The council also unanimously approved the 2022 salary ordinance, providing a 4% pay increase for all city employees, including elected officials.
Thank you Larry for covering this issue. The proposed location of pickleball courts at the River Glen Country Club would impact more than 4 homes. Some of those concerns are loud noises from hard paddles and balls, strangers coming and going at various hours, bright court lighting, the potential for parking problems, and the possibility of players using our street for overflow parking and cutting through private yards to access the courts.
Pickleball facilities, courts located within 350 feet of residential structures often require abatement. Courts located within 150 feet require careful abatement design to avoid complaints.
Abatement treatments usually consist of freestanding walls strategically placed to shield noise sensitive areas from the pickleball courts. To be effective, the walls must block the line of sight to the paddles during play. On level terrain this means a minimum wall height of eight feet above the playing surface. The cost of the walls can be reduced by lowering the courts into the ground and using the excess soil to build a berm around the courts. Placing the wall on top of the berm will lower the required height of the wall itself, reducing construction costs. The wall may be masonry or a solid fence system having sufficient mass for effective sound insulation.
For pickleball courts located in the middle of a residential area with houses on more than two sides, screen walls may be required on opposite sides of the courts. When these walls are parallel to each other, reflections between them can degrade the performance of the walls significantly. In this case, sound absorbing panels may need to be installed on one or both walls to stop multiple reflections from amplifying the sound going over the walls. This can almost double the cost of the walls and may make the site financially unfeasible.
Court orientation also plays a role. More sound propagates in the direction of play than to the sides of the pickleball court. By positioning the courts so that the line of the net runs through the most noise sensitive area, a noticeable reduction in sound pressure level can be achieved at this location.