Quail Creek Pickleball Club
Fundraising Proposal
Introduction:
The Quail Creek Pickleball
Club (QCPC) serves as steward of the Quail Creek POA (POA) pickleball
assets. The POA would like for QCPC to
assist financially with present and future expenses associated with the
pickleball courts. In addition, QCPC
members and QC residents have expressed concerns about the unfairness of
non-residents using QC courts without contributing financially to them. Currently, QCPC is not allowed to charge for
the use of QC pickleball courts. Last, POA
Board members have asked QCPC to provide an alternative to parking vehicles on
Quail Crossing Boulevard during pickleball tournaments.
This fundraising and guest
fee proposal (discussed in the next newsletter) addresses each of these issues.
Proposal:
- Charge a Facility Fee for non-QC tournaments (to be paid only
by non-residents)
- QCPC supports three tournaments at QC
i. One of QCPC’s objectives is to encourage active
participation in “events and tournaments conducted in accordance with the
United States Pickleball Association.” Article I, Section 2, QCPC By-Laws
ii. Current tournaments (minimum one month apart)
1. The Southern Arizona Senior Games (proposed for
February 25-27, 2020) is operated by Green Valley Recreation, a non-profit
entity
2. Quail Creek Classic (proposed for March 28-29,
2020) is operated by QCPC volunteers for the benefit of St. Jude’s Children’s
Hospital, a non-profit entity and the designated charity for the United States
Pickleball Association
3. The Green Valley Firefighter’s Tournament (proposed
for May 1-2, 2020) supports local firefighters through the affiliated
non-profit entity
4. Each of these tournaments provides positive
publicity for QC and QCPC by attracting hundreds of participants, including
those living out-of-state or elsewhere in Arizona
- Maximum feasible daily facility fee
i. Active adult communities and private pickleball
facilities typically charge $500 or less per day to third-party operators of
tournaments
ii. QCPC previously suggested to resident POA Board
members a fee of $500 per day, an amount QCPC believes is reasonable and most
appropriate
iii. The maximum fee that QCPC could support is:
1. $750/day for tournaments with 200 or fewer
non-residents
2. $1,200/day for tournaments with 201-300
non-residents
3. $1,750/day for tournaments with 301 or more
non-residents
a. Due to the economics of operating longer tournaments
(3-4 days) with 16 courts, the maximum total fee that QCPC can support for a
three or four day tournament is $5,250.
4. QCPC proposes that tournament operators pass on
the cost of the facility fee only to non-QC participants (protecting QC residents,
but also reducing total tournament revenue)
5. QCPC does not know whether the non-profit
entities involved can or will continue to operate tournaments in QC with fees at
these elevated levels
- Tournament Parking Alternatives
i. Resident POA Board members asked QCPC to
investigate alternatives to parking vehicles on Quail Crossing Blvd. during
tournaments
ii. Need parking for an estimated 70-110 vehicles.
iii. Parking at the Quail Creek–Veterans Park across
Nogales Highway is not feasible
a. Town of Sahuarita will require POA to provide a
Certificate of Insurance and Endorsement for one million dollars per occurrence
naming the Town as an additional insured.
b. Safe shuttle service (due to distance and
crossing a busy public road) would be needed and is either not available or
prohibitively expensive
i. Can’t use public transportation (Dial-a-Ride)
or school bus.
ii. Two private vendors declined
iii. Green Valley Airport Shuttle would charge
$1,500 per day
iv. Off-road parking within Quail Creek
1. The Grill parking lot has 210 parking spaces; could
cone-off a minority of spaces to use for tournament parking (e.g., the two western-most
rows farthest from the Grill entrance for
a total of 95 spaces).
2. CATC parking lot has 178 parking spaces; could
cone-off a minority of spaces for overflow parking, if needed (e.g., the two eastern-most
rows farthest from the CATC entrance for a total of 76 spaces).
3. Since the vast majority of tournament players depart
by mid-afternoon, tournament parking will have little or no effect on dinner-time
parking at the Grill.
4. Due to the distance from the courts, parking at
either of these locations would require shuttle van service for each full
day
a. Golf carts lack sufficient capacity or speed to
serve as shuttles
b. May be able to rent a van if
insurance/liability issues for van and drivers can be worked out
v. Allow off-road parking on undeveloped land near
the QC pickleball courts
1. If close enough, shuttle service may not be
necessary