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By Myrna Trauntvein Mona City Council has wanted for quite some time to build pickleball courts and council members agreed to expend up to $100,000 from impact fees to build them. “I have three estimates and I have one bidder here to present to us,” said Amy Stanley, city council member. One of Stanley’s assignments has been to be the council member over recreation. She has been working to find funds and space for the installation of pickleball courts. “I would like you to listen to what they have to say,” said Stanley. However, the presenters were not listed on the agenda. “We can approve expending up to $100,000 and then listen to what they have to say during the public comment period,” said TJ Pace, council member. Michelle Dalton, city secretary/treasurer, said that they could even listen to the presenters during the council reports item on the agenda. At the public comment period, Justin White, Nephi, and Clint Waters, Washington County, representing Sport Court of Southern Utah, addressed the council telling them of the two different options they had bid--one with a tile surface and the other with an acrylic surface. Waters said he had been with the company for 21 years and White had become the Juab County representative recently. “We are the exclusive CourtBuilder for Sport Court® athletic flooring and components, and our mission is to make sure your new court will be built with the kind of quality product and installation associated with the Sport Court name,” said Waters. He said that Sport Court Southern Utah’s pickleball courts are designed for younger or older players with varying degrees of mobility to enjoy. Older folks do not need to worry about falls. It has a patented Lateral Forgiveness to reduce joint strain and fatigue. The whole family can enjoy pickleball as it provides a combination of badminton, tennis and table tennis. “You can drop a glass bottle on the surface and it will not break,” said Walters. SportGame PB surface provides the lowest degree of skin abrasion compared to traditional hard court surfaces like acrylic and concrete. The UV stabilizers and patented formula keeps the outdoor court playable, even at surface temperatures up to 165°F. “It has a 15-year warranty,” he said. However, the courts had a much longer life than 15 years. Mayor Randy Christensen said that he wondered if there was a problem with frost on the surface in the wintertime. Waters said the older tiles could be slick when they were wet but the new ones no longer had that problem. Moisture was not a problem. Pace asked about lights. Even if the city decides not to light the courts at night, they probably should include conduit under the concrete pad in case another council would like them installed. Kevin Squire, council member, said it was a good idea to run the conduit but the lights might not be the best idea in Mona. “You can put a timer on the lights,” said White. “You could then have the courts lit until 10 p.m. and then turn them off.” He has a pickleball court at his house and the lights are one of his favorite items. The timer, said Waters, was the best way to control use. Stanley said that the property they had chosen for the pickleball courts was the old baseball field and it was covered in weeds. She was planning on having the city do the clean up and field preparation. “We will want to give you specs for what we need,” said Waters. “You need to make certain that the grass roots are gone.” They needed a 4-foot base, he said. Waters said that the courts are designed to have a 4-foot chain link fence but he thought that was too low because balls could go over the top and so he was suggesting that the city choose the 6-foot height. The fence would also go between the two courts. He also suggested that the council approve an extra 1-foot around the courts. That way, fence posts could be in concrete. Waters and White excused themselves from the meeting so that the council could discuss the bids without feeling pressured. The bid submitted by Waters and White was the low bid. It came in at $79,750. The other two bids were much higher, one at $153,513 and the other at $109,312. Stanley said that, last spring, eight contractors had indicated they were interested but the four responded. Of those, she had three bids. She said that Sport Court of Southern Utah had installed the basketball court for Mona and that had proved to be an excellent surface. “I liked what they did here,” said Squire. Waters and White were called back into the meeting. Squire made the motion to expend up to $100,000 from impact fees even though the bid was lower just to be on the safe side, and to award the bid to the lowest bidder which was Sport Court of Southern Utah. Pace made the second. By roll call vote all voted in favor. Waters said they would like to start construction in early spring. Kris Kay, council member, said he thought that would be an excellent idea because the city would like to have the courts finished by the city celebration in July. “We get busy in the late spring and in the summer so it would be good timing for us,” said Waters.
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