Pickleball group still hoping for upgrade

Sundance's pickleball enthusiasts are still keen to see the city's courts rehabilitated to create a better play environment for the growing group of local players who utilize it.

Representatives from the group attended last week's council meeting to again enquire on progress.

Susan Worthington asked for information on the basis that the group itself keeps patching and painting the old courts and would like to know whether they should keep doing so.

Mayor Paul Brooks stated that the city was not successful in its recent attempt to obtain grant funding. Public Works Director Mac Erickson continued that, at this time, WWC Engineering is creating a cost estimate for rehabilitation of the court.

If the city is going to go after another grant, he explained, it first needs to know how much money to ask for. With an estimate in hand, said Brooks, it will be possible to present this figure to a grant source and, if successful, the funding will go into the city's recreation budget and the city will budget for the matching funds.

"To begin the process, we've got to have an accurate set of numbers," Brooks said. In terms of timing for this, he said, "I would guess a minimum of a year."

Worthington asked whether it might be possible to install a permanent net at the courts at an estimated cost of $850 for the purchase of the net. This question arose when a small group of people not associated with the pickleball group visited the courts to play but were unable to do so because the group had stored away its nets.

Worthington also asked about the possibility of installing a backboard so that one person could practice alone.

Brooks stated that the council would have to look into where the city's recreation budget stands and noted that the city has other priorities in addition to pickleball that require funding, such as the municipal pool.

"We can look into it, but there's a finite amount of money, folks," he said.

The group was directed to set up an appointment with Erickson to discuss needs and possibilities.