GREENWOOD TWP- While the Greenwood Town Board appeared to throw cold water on the idea of building new pickleball courts at the town hall at their meeting in August, the large group of pickleball enthusiasts who attended the board meeting on Oct. 10 seemed to give the board second thoughts. That’s when supervisors voted unanimously to set up a working committee to develop a plan and explore funding options for the construction of four new courts.
Almost 30 people representing the newly-formed Lake Vermilion Pickleball Association (LVPA) filled the town hall, and group leader Paul Thompson gave a presentation on the sport, its growing popularity, and the importance of the sport to a large number of Greenwood residents.
The two pickleball courts at the town hall saw an average of 17 players per day in August, and 13 per day in September, according to data collected by the LVPA. Pickleball is played on half a tennis court, so two existing courts fit on one traditional tennis court space, and eight players can use the courts at a time.
“We’ve been here since 2002,” Thompson said. “We struggled to meet folks.” That all changed in 2016, he said, when his wife convinced him to take a pickleball lesson.
“We met and became friends with more people that year than the 15 years prior,” he said. “It really was a tremendous deal for us.”
Pickleball tends to convert players rather quickly, since it requires only basic equipment and a quick lesson before getting out on the court.
“It’s like tennis but it’s fun,” he said.
Thompson said the sport allows beginners and more competitive players to have fun together.
“The social aspect is maybe more important,” he said. “I play with some people who can hardly hit the ball, but I play for the social interaction.”
Many others echoed these sentiments, and the board also received 17 written comments in support of constructing new courts.
While the game is mostly known for its appeal to senior citizens, Thompson said the nationwide data shows that the game is most popular with ages 18-34. Indeed, the average age of a pickleball player is 34.8 years, he said.
“There aren’t that many opportunities to connect with people in Greenwood except going out to the Vermilion Club,” he said. “Playing pickleball is healthier.” It is also a game that grandparents can play with their grandchildren.
Thompson argued that the addition of more courts would help meet the goal in Greenwood’s Comprehensive Plan to encourage healthy lifestyles. But as town board members have noted, the comprehensive plan also included a survey of residents with a majority against constructing more recreational facilities at the town hall grounds.
Thompson said the level of play in Greenwood has been improving, and they would like to have the opportunity to host tournament play, as well as have enough courts so that more competitive players can set up matches between themselves. The additional courts would also reduce the conflict between pickleball and tennis. While most of the “local” tennis players also play pickleball and don’t mind sharing the court, he said, there have been some conflicts between visiting tennis players and the large group of pickleball enthusiasts.
The township did set aside certain times for pickleball versus tennis at the August meeting.
LVPA’s first goal, Thompson said, was to find a way to work with the town board and the Greenwood community to explore ways to add more pickleball courts and find ways to raise the funds needed.
The group’s vision includes ensuring free court time for all and adding a four-court pickleball-only design on the town hall grounds.
“This would be a community builder,” Thompson said, “as well as a marketing tool for area resorts and VRBOs.” Thompson said the group has talked to the Lake Vermilion Resort Association and had a discussion with a leader of the already-established Greenwood Recreation Committee (which is a 501(c)(3), and oversaw the construction of the pavilion and playground) about possibly cooperating on the project.
The group identified two possible areas for the new courts, one adjacent to the pavilion area, and the other between the town hall and Birch Point Rd. Chairman John Bassing said the flat area by the pavilion is used to pile snow in the winter, and that might create problems. Supervisor Rick Stoehr said another issue with that location would be preventing parking in the helipad area in the center of the adjacent parking lot.
Thompson said the group is more than willing to help with writing grants and fundraising, but first would need to have a plan in place. He said the IRRR has a matching grant program that could provide up to $30,000 in matching funds. Rough estimates of the cost for construction of a four-court area start at around $100,000, based on other courts built recently in the region.
The board seemed to generally support the goals of the group.
“I am very impressed with the community that has developed here,” said Supervisor Barb Lofquist.
The board passed a motion to form a Pickleball Committee, with two members from the town board, two interested citizens, and three members from the LVPA. The motion passed but no one was named to the committee at that time.
In related recreation news, at the suggestion of Lofquist, the board voted to lease the warming shack shed to the recreation committee for one dollar per year, as long as they purchase insurance and sign a hold-harmless clause. This would put the recreation committee in charge of loaning out the equipment stored in the shed.

Fire Department
Fire Chief Jeff Maus reported that the township has received a $5,000 matching grant from the DNR’s rural fire program. The board approved purchasing wildland firefighting equipment and clothing, handtools/pulaskis, a large chainsaw, and upgrading the lighting on rescue boat one with the grant money.
Maus reported on the boat accident last month that included First Responders and firefighters from Greenwood, the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, Tower Fire Department, Tower Ambulance, and Virginia Ambulance. The department used both fire boats during the rescue.
“It was a very successful rescue,” he said, “with good outcomes for the victims.” He said the department had conducted a post-incident action review, and that five or six department members had participated in the rescue.
Maus reported that the newest member of the department had passed her background check and had responded to nine calls in her first partial month on the service.
The department assisted the DNR on the report of a fire by Timbuktu Resort, with two department members taking two DNR employees out on fire boat one, during which they located and suppressed a fire. The department has a contract with the DNR for such work and will be paid for the time and equipment use.

Other business
In other business the board:
• Did not receive any quotes for snowplowing Birch Point Extension, Twp. Rd. 4136, though clerk Joanne Bassing said Vermilion Property Services, which plows the town hall area, would be sending in a quote and can do the work.
• Did not receive any quotes for brushing on Birch Point Extension, Twp. Rd. 4136.
• Decided to accept the quote for town hall cleaning for $175 for a monthly visit, on a month-to-month basis.
• Will hire Benchmark Engineering to do planning work for possibly repaving or conducting a mill and overlay on the town hall parking lot. The engineering is expected to cost approximately $4,500.
• Heard the township will be receiving five AED units, at no charge, for the town hall and fire department vehicles.
• Voted to withdraw from the Lake Vermilion Trail joint powers group due to the lack of any progress on the proposed trail.
• Voted to move the $91,155 in the community enhancement fund to the general fund, and to combine the township’s building fund with the capital equipment fund. They also voted to move more township reserves into higher-interest paying CDs at Frandsen Bank. The township has received over $5,000 in interest from a CD they purchased earlier this year.
• Is considering converting the phone system to an internet-based phone service to save money.