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San Luis Obispo council approves Righetti Community Park base build plus pickleball courts and pump track
Summary
The City Council voted unanimously to award the Righetti Community Park base contract and to add two alternates — eight pickleball courts and a bike pump track — after staff presented bids, funding options and community support. The action uses capital reserves and leaves staff to manage midyear funding and scheduling.
San Luis Obispo City Council on Dec. 13 approved construction of the Righetti Community Park's base facilities and added two alternates: pickleball courts and a pump track, after hearing staff recommendations, a review of bids and robust public support.
City Public Works staff presented the Righetti project as a 12-acre community park with a base bid that includes a parking lot, restroom, playground and sports fields. Project manager Wyatt Baker Hicks told the council that additive alternate No. 1 — eight illuminated pickleball courts — was the low bidder's price at "1,800,000.0" and additive alternate No. 3 (a pump track and skills course) was quoted at about "1,500,000.0." Staff said all bids came in above the engineer's estimate and that the full recommended package produced a funding shortfall requiring roughly $2,600,000 in additional funds, primarily proposed from the Capital Projects Reserve.
The project team also described procurement details, including an untimely bid protest from the second-low bidder (Urban Habitat) that staff rejected as filed after the city's five-day filing window. Staff reviewed the protest allegation — that the low bidder miscalculated the percentage of specialty subcontractor work — and characterized the issue as a clerical error that could be waived.
Councilmembers pressed staff on financing and schedule trade-offs. Vice Mayor Shorzman and Councilmember Francis asked whether adding alternates now would overdraw the capital reserve and whether midyear adjustments or use of unassigned fund balance could mitigate cashflow concerns. Staff said awarding Alternates 1 and 3 now would significantly draw down the reserve (potentially to zero) but that the CIP plan replenishes the reserve next fiscal year and staff would return at midyear with options if needed. Staff also told the council that including alternates in the current mobilization yields construction efficiencies and less community disruption than staging them as separate future projects.
Public comment included multiple residents and user-group representatives urging the council to fund the pickleball courts and pump track, citing strong local demand, multi-generational use and youth benefits. After deliberation Vice Mayor Shorzman moved, and Councilmember Francis seconded, to approve the base bid plus additive alternates 1 and 3. The motion passed on roll call, 4-0 (Yes: Shorzman, Francis, Boswell, Mayor Stewart).
The council directed staff to record next steps, monitor cash-flow and return with any midyear recommendations to ensure funding for other planned projects (such as Higuera Complete Streets). Construction is expected to begin in the window of late 2026 to early 2027 under current scheduling assumptions.
