Planning Meeting — 1/12/15
Call to Order: Chairman Glenn Hunter called the meeting to order at 5:35 PM. Those in attendance included: Glenn Hunter, Dolly Robinson, John Lear, Tom Moore, Joe Hinkle, James Montgomery, Adam Crocker, Sarah Crocker, Pierce Kelley and guest Patrick Jenkins from the Gainesville Country Club. Absent: Wendell Johnson, Nelson Rivera, Steve Jones, Brian Bickel and Mike Collins.
Old Business: Minutes of the meeting held on November 10, 2014 were unanimously approved following a motion by John Lear, seconded by Tom Moore.
New Business: John Lear introduced guest Patrick Jenkins who is currently the tennis pro at Gainesville Country Club. Mr. Jenkins holds numerous tennis certifications including construction, planning and coaching. He is active in many state and national tennis associations currently serving as President of the USPTA for this region. Mr. Jenkins has extensive experience in the construction of tennis court facilities, in coaching and running tennis facilities as well as hosting major tennis tournaments.
Mr. Jenkins stated there must be a Master Plan for constructing a tennis complex. He said for those communities or facilities that build two or four courts with the plan to construct more in the future, the additional courts rarely get constructed. He said, if you have the property and are planning for a multiple court complex, then it is more cost effective to construct all of the courts at one time. He stated, however, they layout of the courts need to be conducive to a good layout for tournaments. Access to 24 courts for tournaments is preferred. He said that USTA consultants are available to assist with the Master Planning. He indicated the "sub-irrigated" clay courts are the best design and are not that difficult to construct and will provide for less maintenance than the typical clay courts with sprinkler systems.Mr. Jenkins shared with the committee that community support for a tennis complex is vitally important. He gave examples of small communities around the country that have been very successful with hosting tennis tournaments as a result of excellent facilities and community support. He indicated that sponsoring tournaments such as for the USTA are done on a competitive basis.Mr. Jenkins offered to come back to future meetings for the committee and to provide assistance where possible.
Mike Null introduced Adam Crocker who had earlier in the day created a Facebook account in the name of "Gateway Community Tennis Association". Adam brought it up on the overhead and shared it with the committee. Adam recommended building the Facebook page to generate interest and contacts, then later establishing a web site for the organization.Chairman Hunter adjourned the TDC Committee for purposes of the creation of a separate 501(c)(3) organization. After lengthy discussion, the group settled in on the name "Gateway Community Tennis Association". Pierce Kelley agreed to prepare the appropriate 501(c)(3) documents along with the corporation documents that will need to be filed with the State.
Nominations were then made for officers including: President Dolly Robinson, Vice President John Lear, Secretary Mike Null, Treasurer Joe Hinkle, and Directors include: Glenn Hunter, Tom Moore, Pierce Kelley, James Montgomery, Adam Crocker and Sarah Crocker.Chairman Hunter reconvened the TDC Planning Committee and recognized the pending formal creation of the Gateway Community Tennis Association and asked that GCTA President Dolly Robinson to provide updates at each TDC Planning Committee meeting. Chairman Hunter expressed gratitude for the support of those individuals that plan to participate with the GCTA.
Chairman Hunter announced the next TDC Planning Committee meeting will be held on February 9th, 2015 beginning at 5:30 PM at the County's Economic Development office.Meeting adjourned at 7:05 PM.
