RA Board to Vote on Indoor Tennis' Next Step

After more than a year of research and community input, Reston Association's board of directors will decide on Thursday

RA has been investigating building a five-court facility at The structure would cost an estimated $3.8 million, and several financing options (bank loans, private bond financing) have been proposed. Through rental fees and partnerships with the United States Tennis Association and other groups,

Reston citizens have spoken on both sides of the issue for months. The tennis community s

"When you go to the Herndon tennis bubble, you see the addresses of people who sign in," Reston resident Tom Bradley said at a RA board meeting last year. "The addresses are about 80 percent from Reston. That is a lot of money going to Herndon."

On the opposing side are citizens with a variety of criticisms. Among the top reasons - money could be better spent on existing facilities; they do not want to see their they do not want additional noise in the nearby neighborhoods.

There has also been criticism that tennis playersis comprise only a small portion of the Reston population.

Here are options that will be presented for board consideration at Thursday's meeting:

Option 1: Move to approve the topic of an indoor tennis facility for referendum in 2012 and direct the Board Planning Committee to work with staff to develop a draft question and establish a referendum schedule for the full Board’s consideration by Jan. 26, 2012.

Note, a referendum - educating and polling the community about whether they want the indoor tennis issue on a future ballot - would cost RA an estimated $75,000.

Option 2: Move to postpone the decision on whether to pursue a referendum on an indoor tennis facility to March 22, 2012 to allow additional time for the completion of a staff report which will address the following:

1. Less expensive options for covering existing RA tennis courts, including a review of specific locations and associated preliminary development costs; and, 2. Revised revenue and expense projections that are specific to the types of indoor tennis facilities that will be considered as options in 1 above.

Option 3: Move to direct staff to continue to actively seek opportunities, including private and public partnerships, to bring indoor tennis to the Reston community.

Option 4: Move to table the topic of indoor tennis indefinitely.

Interested in getting in one last word? The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at . There will be a public comment session at the meeting's start.