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Fruit Heights council hears proposal for four pickleball courts, asks staff to seek bids and confirm funding
Summary
A pickleball committee member urged building four courts at the city office site to avoid demolition delays and vandalism at Nichols Park; council asked staff to seek designs and bids, and discussed funding in the city's capital projects budget where $250,000 had been tentatively set and a $750,000 amount proposed for next year.
Scott, a member of the city's pickleball committee, told the council the committee's recommendation is to build four initial courts at the city office site to avoid demolition and speed construction. "With the placement of courts at Nichols Park, the recommendation was to place the courts where the pavilions now are," he said, but added that building at the city offices would avoid demolition costs and reduce time to open the courts.
Council members asked detailed questions about court orientation, fencing, benches, lighting and time controls. Scott said lighting is "mandatory and necessary" and that contractors had offered discounts for layout, lighting and other elements. He also said the committee envisions adding courts later as demand increases.
City Manager Darren confirmed some capital money has been budgeted and staff are prepared to pursue design and bidding if council directs. He told the council the budget currently contains $250,000 previously earmarked for courts and that staff had proposed increasing the capital project line to $750,000 for the next fiscal year. Councilmembers instructed staff to obtain engineering designs and competitive bids and to return with cost comparisons for building courts together at one site vs. staging multiple locations.
The council did not make a final funding commitment on the floor but placed pickleball as a high-priority capital discussion during budget adoption. Staff said they would include the courts in the next budget steps and seek estimates to inform whether the planned allocation is sufficient.
