No Agreement on Tennis Courts Yet, Tredyffrin Supervisors Say

The Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors on Monday night threw cold water on a T/E School district proposal to save the the tennis courts at Valley Forge Elementary School through an agreement with the township.

Board chairwoman Michelle Kichline started off the discussion as a matter of new business, saying that a proposal received by the township incorporated elements of a 1974 agreement that is no longer in effect. 

The township in 2008 turned maintenance of the courts over to Tredyffrin-Easttown School District, which planned to demolish the courts on March 23 of this year. After residents objected to the demolition, the district's Facilities Committee announced April 12 that the courts would be spared, assuming the district could forge an agreement with the township.

The district's draft proposal was not well-received by the township. The township supervisors also expressed uncertainty over whether the proposal carried the backing of the full school board, the facilities committee or only the committee member who passed it to township manager Bill Martin.

"[The proposal] would essentially have had the township resuming the obligations in the agreement it had terminated 18 months or two years ago. I'm not aware of a sentiment on this board to resume those obligations," township solicitor Vincent Donohue said.

He added that the proposal "contemplated the township contractually granting relief from the impervious requirement," which the township is unable to do directly. A variance on impervious cover would need to be granted through the normal process by the Zoning Hearing Board.

Township supervisor Phil Donohue was the only board member to speak optimistically at both the township and facilities committee meetings. He said the back-and-forth over the courts was disheartening, but "the notion that we have is that everybody wants to make this work."

He advocated letting the solicitors from each side hash out the details to find a commonsense solution, which would likely involve a resident-funded 501(c)3 group helping cover maintenance costs.

"We have the tools, we have the people, we have the staff. People can go make the donations and subsidize the cost, and the township can backstop it to make sure it gets done properly," Phil Donohue said.

Kichline agreed that the next step should be a conversation between the two solicitors, and cited the fact that the 501(c)3 was not mentioned in the draft proposal as one of its errors.

"There are so many legal issues that are not properly addressed in the document at this point," Kichline said. "If they want to move forward with this, I would suggest the two solicitors sit down and talk about it. Because it's just so off the mark ... that we have to start from scratch."

See also:

• Tennis Court Demolition Postponed [Updated]
• School District to Discuss Tennis Courts Tuesday Night
• Coach: I'll Pay for Tennis Courts