Residents press Seal Beach for answers after tennis court resurfacing cracks within days

During oral communications at the April 13 study session, a resident identified as James said resurfaced tennis courts cracked within days and criticized the city's contracting and oversight, urging greater in-house capacity and warranty enforcement.

"We keep having the rate increases, and I'm waiting to hear about all the shovel ready jobs that are now shovel finished," James said, arguing the courts were not ground down and rebuilt as expected and saying the work showed hollow spots and immediate cracking.

Public Works Director Lee responded that the contractor's scope matched the contract and that the scope did not require full subsurface rebuilding. A council member noted the contract includes a one-year warranty against defective workmanship and said staff would follow up to determine whether the warranty applies in this case.

Therese Miller, an Old Town resident, urged the council to "unbundle" CIP projects so individual items can be deferred or advanced as priorities and asked staff to provide a clear prioritization methodology showing safety risk versus fiscal trade-offs. She also requested a three-year audit of carryover funds and clearer carryover accounting on the CIP spreadsheet.

Council and finance staff (Barb Arenado) said funds are invested per law (LAIF and adviser-managed accounts), that changes to budget format can be made to show beginning balances and adjustments, and that debt issuance requires demonstrable revenue coverage. Staff said they would report back in the budget process and follow up on the tennis-court warranty question.

The study session adjourned to closed session at 6:30 p.m.