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Nonprofit gains council approval for pickleball courts
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WILLIAMSBURG — The Williamsburg City Council gave a community group approval Nov. 12 to pursue installation of pickleball courts at the Williamsburg Recreation Center.
Pickleball Iowa County asked for approval to install four courts in the parking lot of the Recreation Center on South Highland Street. The courts will be located on the north side of the gravel section next to the playground equipment.
Pickleball Iowa County will begin raising funds for the project and have talked to Laura Sauser, of Iowa County Community Development, about grant opportunities, they said.
The Pickleball nonprofit group asked the city council for clarification on how to proceed. Councilman Tyler Marshall said the group would hire an engineer to design the courts and the city engineer will review the design.
State law requires that projects of more than $100,000 on city property has to be engineered, Marshall said.
Typically engineering costs for a small project is about 10% of the cost of the project, Marshall said. That would be about $1,000 to $1,500, not the $20,000 Pickleball Iowa County had feared.
Pickleball Iowa County said it has a design and a contractor it likes, but the council said the city will have to bid the project.
“If the city’s going to end up owning it, then it has to go out for bid,” said Williamsburg City Attorney Eric Tindal.
“But it’s not the lowest bid, it’s the lowest, best bid,” said Marshall. The city can choose the contractor Pickleball Iowa County prefers if it can has a legitimate reason for choosing a bid that’s not the lowest.
Tindal told the group to make sure its preferred contractor bids on the project. Pickleball Iowa County can advocate for that contractor when the city opens the bids.
Marshall told the nonprofit group to keep the construction costs from its preferred contractor under wraps. Anything said at a council meeting becomes public record and other contractors will know the number they have to beat when they bid, Marshall said.
When funding becomes available for construction of pickleball courts, the City and Pickleball Iowa County will enter into a long-term lease agreement spelling out the responsibilities of each.
