Park board approves pickleball agreement with conditions on hours, insurance and oversight

The Brainerd City Park Board approved a conditional agreement on a proposal by a local pickleball association to add courts at Gregory Park, directing staff to revise the draft contract to limit reserved hours, clarify insurance and maintenance responsibilities and require city review of plans.

Board members voted to approve the pickleball agreement contingent on several changes: limit LAPA (the local pickleball association) reserved access to Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.–noon (instead of seven days a week); spell out maintenance duties for both the city and the association; require city staff approval of plans and specifications and engineering review; confirm that the 8–noon block remains open to the public (with program details to be clarified); and ask the city attorney to tighten insurance language in the agreement. The board also recorded that the association must complete its fundraising before construction would proceed.

The board’s motion did not identify a mover or seconder in the recorded transcript; members voted “aye” and the motion passed. The draft agreement on file referenced a five‑year term, though members discussed a prior reference to 10 years and told staff to follow the term shown in the current document.

Board members and staff discussed construction standards and maintenance expectations in detail. Staff said the association intends to follow national standards for sanctioned play, may engage a professional design firm and will be expected to include contingency line items for unforeseen subsurface repairs. Board members asked that plans include investigation of the existing subbase and that long‑term structural or resurfacing obligations be spelled out so the city does not inherit unanticipated capital costs without clear terms.

Multiple public commenters urged the board not to remove existing tennis courts. Larry Kellerman, identifying himself as a long‑time resident of Baxter who plays with a senior tennis group, said the community “doesn’t see the rationale” for removing courts that local players use and asked whether the high school courts are reliably available for public play. Chuck Benson, who said he has lived near Gregory Park his whole life and helped build some courts, said he would “sure like to see [new] pickleball courts, not destroying the tennis courts we already have.” Coach and former MnDOT engineer Gary Nini said the southern three courts “get used” for junior varsity and community clinics and warned of cost and durability risks if subsurface issues require full reconstruction.

Staff told the board that the association had contacted several local tennis stakeholders and that construction would not begin until the association raised the funds and delivered plans. Members requested that staff return a revised agreement for finalization; they also agreed to send the revised draft to the board by email and to call a special meeting if the city attorney’s edits are substantial. The board noted a tentative special‑meeting date in two weeks to finalize remaining items.

The action is recorded as a contingent approval; staff will revise the draft per the board’s instructions and circulate it to members prior to final execution.