City, Park Board In Dark On Pickleball Court

The Bourbon City Council and the Bourbon Park Board left Tuesday’s monthly meeting equally confused about a pickleball court being constructed at the park.

Mayor Dave Lafferty was absent and unable to answer the park board’s query of who bid the project and how much it will cost.

Concrete has been poured for the court at the bottom of the hill, behind the swings. 

Steve Pasch, the park board president, asked the city if they could get approval for another court. 

Pasch asked what the first one costs, but the council was in the dark. No council member had seen any bid or any invoice.

Francie Rohrer, one of the park board members, was confused. She asked how the city could not have a bid and how a pickleball court could be constructed without the park board being involved. 

“There has to be a bid brought to the board,” Rohrer said. “They’ve been pouring concrete.”

Ward 1 Alderwoman Margie Brine said the mayor wasn’t there to explain what happened, which drew a sharp response from Rohrer.

“I got my hand slapped by the mayor who told us he doesn’t want the park board doing anything without the council being informed. The next thing we knew, there was (a court) going in. If you’re going to ask us to serve on the board, there needs to be some respect.”

Brine responded, saying that if there was a lapse in communication, the board would fix it. Ward 2 Alderwoman Sonya Sewald, who described herself as “uneasy” about the situation, said she believed the project was part of the Missouri S&T designs that were presented to the city and community last year.

“I think (Lafferty) believes we’re all on board,” Sewald said.

The park board was given “provisional” approval for the construction of a second court, assuming the budget can support it.

Sewald said she wanted to approve another court and didn’t want to stop progress, but without knowing what it would cost, the best she could do was give provisional support.

Pasch asked if it was possible to match funds, but Sewald said without knowing where the money was coming from to construct the first court, they couldn’t answer that.

The park board has $30,000 in expenditures and it’s possible a second court could be constructed by exhausting that fund.