Letter to THe Orange County Board of County Commissioners
Healthy Orange County Citizens
Dear Commissioners,
We are northern Orange County residents who value public recreational facilities that are accessible to all. Some of us play tennis and pickleball. We appreciate the County’s recent investment to resurface the tennis courts at Orange County Schools and Fairview and to add tennis and pickleball courts at Fairview.
We are writing to ask Orange County to work with Orange County Schools (OCS) to restore community access to the tennis courts at Orange High School (OHS) during non-school hours. These taxpayer-funded courts should be accessible to the residents who helped fund them while continuing to prioritize student use and school programming.
Until a few years ago, the OHS courts were available to the public at no charge when they were not being used by students. OCS now enforces a rental policy that charges $100 per hour for public use and $20 per hour for nonprofit organizations – which is unaffordable and has effectively closed the OHS courts to the public. By comparison, the Fairview courts are free to use, with modest reservation fees of $10 per hour for the public and $2.50 per hour for nonprofits. Cedar Ridge High School courts were once (a few years ago) open to the public. Today Fairview is the only public tennis option in northern Orange County.
There are six public tennis courts at Fairview and eight courts at OHS. The nonprofit Orange Tennis Club has reserved three of the six Fairview courts through an agreement with Orange County Parks and Recreation. While this arrangement allows the Club to serve its members, it reduces the number of courts available for public use. As a result, many Orange County residents travel to Alamance, Durham, and Chapel Hill to play tennis.
We are open to any solution that improves public access to tennis courts while respecting the needs of OCS students and staff. Two possible options are:
1. Establish an agreement between OCS and Orange County Parks and Recreation that allows public access to the OHS courts during non-school hours, similar to the arrangement that existed for many years; or
2. Move the Orange Tennis Club agreement to OHS, making all Fairview tennis courts available for general public use while maintaining student priority at OHS.
Tennis season is underway. We respectfully request that the County and OCS begin discussions now to expand access to taxpayer-funded courts, preserve student priority, and support the growing recreational needs of our community.
Thank you for your consideration. Please let us know how we can help move this forward.
Sincerely,
Gayane Chambless, Hillsborough
George Corbett, Hillsborough
Karen Corbett, Hillsborough
Sue Denton, Hillsborough
Randy Emmitt, Caldwell
Donna Gray, Mebane
Rachel Hawkins, Hillsborough
Frank Hollowell, Hurdle Mills
Dolly Hunter, Bingham Township
Millie Hunter, Hillsborough
Peter Jocys, Bingham Township
Marie McAdoo, Efland
Deryl McQuire, Hillsborough
Kate Millard, Caldwell
Meg Millard, Caldwell
Janet O’Regan, Chapel Hill Township
Terry O’Regan, Chapel Hill Township
Alden Powell, Bingham Township
Danielle Price, Hillsborough
Bertha Saunders, Schley
Edmund Tiryakian, Caldwell
Earl Tye, Bingham Township
Susan Walser, Bingham Township
Norma White, Schley
Jean Hamilton
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2026 6:50 AM
To: ALL_BOCC_MANAGER_CLERK <OCB...@orangecountync.gov>
Cc: Gayane Chambless <gayanec...@gmail.com>; scde...@gmail.com <scde...@gmail.com>; Randy Emmitt <rlep...@gmail.com>; Donna Gray <madon...@bellsouth.net>; Rachel Hawkins <rrphelps...@gmail.com>; Frank Hollowell <flholl...@gmail.com>; Dolly Hunter <dollyhu...@gmail.com>; mhunte...@gmail.com <mhunte...@gmail.com>; Peter Jocys <peter...@gmail.com>; Marie Mcadoo <mariemc...@gmail.com>; Deryl McGuire <dery...@yahoo.com>; Kate Millard <cle...@hotmail.com>; Meg Millard <zelda...@gmail.com>; Janet ORegan <janor...@gmail.com>; Alden Powell <abp2...@gmail.com>; Danielle Price <dbmp...@icloud.com>; Bertha Saunders <bnsaun...@gmail.com>; Edmund Tiryakian <scot...@gmail.com>; Earl Tye <ewe...@yahoo.com>; Susan Walser <susan...@gmail.com>; Norma White <n.b....@embarqmail.com>; ja...@orangetennisclub.com <ja...@orangetennisclub.com>; OCSBoar...@orange.k12.nc.us <OCSBoar...@orange.k12.nc.us>; dainell...@oange.k12.nc.us <dainell...@oange.k12.nc.us>; ksmi...@bellsouth.com <ksmi...@bellsouth.com>
Subject: Letter to THe Orange County Board of County Commissioners
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