Even more pickleball players filled the audience of the Pagosa Springs Town Council chambers Tuesday evening than at last month’s meeting, but after considering the request to include permanently painted striping on the new gym floor in the Ross Aragon Community Center (RACC), the councilors decided to follow the recommendation of their staff … mostly.
“This is essentially an appeals hearing,” Mayor Don Volger introduced the discussion. “Though not formally an appeals hearing — we’re not calling it that — but this is an appeal that you have made to the town council because of your disagreement with an operational decision that our staff has made to not put down permanent lines for pickleball.”
Town Manager Greg Schulte did not unilaterally make this operational decision, the mayor clarified, but consulted with staff from the RACC, the Parks and Recreation Department and the Building Maintenance Department.
“One thing that I want you to know,” the mayor explained, “it’s not our habit, nor do we want to make it our habit, to overturn operational decisions. That’s not our job. We are in the business of setting policy.”
However, the mayor reassured the audience that the council would listen to what the pickleball players had to say and then make a decision. He then asked Schulte to explain the staff’s point of view.
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