TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Brian Ambrose, Community Services Director
PREPARED BY: Brian Crawford, Senior Program Manager - Parks & Recreation
SUBJECT:
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Pickleball Courts Construction Strategy
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RECOMMENDATION
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Provide an update to the City Council, residents, and staff on the strategy for future pickleball court construction.
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PRIOR ACTION/VOTE
On June 4, 2024, the City Council adopted Joint Resolution No. 24-4745, approving the Capital Improvement Plan Budget for Fiscal Years 2024/25, Approving the Fiscal Years 2024/25 to 2028/29 Capital Improvement Plan, Authorizing the Operating Transfers for Various Funds; and Authorizing the Use of Unassigned Fund Balances and Committed Fund Balances (Vote: 5-0).
CITY COUNCIL GOAL
Coordinate and deliver responsive, effective community services.
BACKGROUND
Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in America, attributed to its short learning curve, appeal to various ages and fitness levels, and low startup costs. Residents of Murrieta have been calling for access to dedicated pickleball courts throughout the City. City staff has been soliciting input from residents regarding potential locations for new courts. As of May 2024, four pickleball courts are in the City's inventory. Two (2) courts are located at B Street Station Park next to the Library and Senior Center, and two (2) courts are located at Alderwood Park on Baxter Road just east of Whitewood Road.
The new Capital Improvement Plan project (CIP 22042) for pickleball court construction was funded with $400,000 in interest funds and project savings from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant funds. As set forth in the ARPA guidelines, all ARPA funds must be spent or encumbered (construction contracts approved) by the end of December 2024. Given that time is of the essence, City staff is seeking direction on a proposed strategy to design and build pickleball courts expeditiously to ensure funds are expended on time within the grant’s timelines.
City staff has reviewed the City’s inventory of parks to find locations that may have space to fit at least two (2) pickleball courts, which require at least 70 feet by 70 feet of space for a concrete pad, fencing, walkways, and seating outside the court for people waiting to play. Additionally, to minimize design and construction costs, suitable locations should have relatively flat grades, minimal drainage issues, and be adjacent to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant walkways. Bathroom facilities, water fountains, and off-street parking are also important.
The City has on-call agreements with several firms for engineering design services. Staff has worked with NV5 Engineering to develop a scope of work for design services that will provide design plans, materials quantities, and cost estimates that can be easily applied to any selected location.
Instead of bidding the construction for each location, the City can leverage cooperative purchasing agreements to complete less complicated public works construction projects. The Gordian Group (Gordian) manages construction services procurement for Sourcewell, a cooperative purchasing alliance to which the City belongs. Through a competitive bidding process in which contractors submit pricing on thousands of different construction tasks, contractors in our area are awarded contracts at the prices from the competitive bidding process by local agencies, like the City, which solicit proposals for various projects through Gordian Group.
The City has worked with Gordian to select a contractor, Horizon Construction (Horizon), which will provide a construction cost proposal, based on quantities provided by our design engineers, that details every task that needs to be completed to construct new pickleball courts at selected locations.
Any location that is selected for design and estimation of construction costs also needs to undergo a thorough environmental review, including the noise generated by pickleball play, to ensure compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). As such, staff is not currently seeking City Council approval of any specific site until those tasks are completed.
Staff will seek the City Council's concurrence on the strategy to design and construct pickleball courts and input on possible project locations.
Staff will use a single site as a test model for NV5 to provide a design for new courts and for Horizon to provide a detailed proposal for construction. This process will allow staff to better understand what it will cost to construct pickleball courts at each location. Once staff has this information, additional locations will be simultaneously placed into environmental review and design, with the intent to solicit construction cost proposals before the end of December.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Proposed Pickleball Courts Locations Map