HomeMy WebLinkAboutRE_ Pickleball courts at Smith Park - Please forward to Rexburg City Council Members - Matt Nielson - OutlookRE: Pickleball courts at Smith Park - Please forward to Rexburg City Council Members
Robert Chambers <Robert.Chambers@rexburg.org>
Mon 8/26/2024 3:25 PM
To: Matt Nielson <mattn@rexburg.org>
Thank you, Matt. I think you are taking the right steps on this item.
Robert C
Sent from my T-Mobile 5G Device
-------- Original message --------
From: Matt Nielson <mattn@rexburg.org>
Date: 8/26/24 11:52 (GMT-07:00)
To: Marianna Gonzalez <marianna.gonzalez@rexburg.org>, Jerry Merrill <jerry.merrill@rexburg.org>,
Bryanna Johnson <bryanna.johnson@rexburg.org>, Colin Erickson <Colin.Erickson@rexburg.org>, David
Reeser <David.Reeser@rexburg.org>, Deborah Lovejoy <deborahl@rexburg.org>, Eric Erickson
<Eric.Erickson@rexburg.org>, "Mikel D. Walker" <walkmed@msn.com>, Mikel Walker
<mikel.walker@rexburg.org>, Robert Chambers <robertchambers7@gmail.com>, Robert Chambers
<Robert.Chambers@rexburg.org>
Cc: Keith Davidson <Keith.Davidson@rexburg.org>, Justin Beard <Justin.Beard@rexburg.org>, Deborah
Lovejoy <deborahl@rexburg.org>
Subject: RE: Pickleball courts at Smith Park - Please forward to Rexburg City Council Members
Council Members,
We have heard from a few others as well with concerns about the court system tiles. Our internal Parks
Committee met this morning and discussed it once more. We decided to go ahead and put the acrylic option
out to bid (required as a semi-formal bid process) this week and allow vendors to respond with pricing by next
Tuesday. I have 4 vendors that I can send the bid out to once Justin and I can finalize it by tomorrow hopefully
at the latest.
Deborah and or Marianna please add pickle ball options back onto the agenda for next Wednesday to further
discuss the presented options.
We believe the savings by using the acrylic over the tiles is approximately $50,000 - $55,000. Total cost would
likely be $80 to $85,000. Of course, our concern was how long it would be until the cracks begin to show up
once again, but it may worth rolling the dice to see what lifespan we can get before having to address those
courts again. The manufacturers recommend repairs and repainting every 3-5 years, but we have had real
good luck with the courts at Nature Park that are also asphalt. Those courts are likely 25 or more years old,
and we last patched and resurfaced them to create pickle ball courts in 2018, meaning we have got 6 good
years on those courts with no major issues and no plan to resurface for likely several more years.
We will put the bid out to have the work completed within 45 days or by mid-October.
Your consideration of the tile option is still on the table, and we can get a final decision based on your
consideration of the community feedback on tile surfaces vs. acrylic on 9/4/24 next week.
Please feel free to call me with any additional questions or concerns.
Thank You
Matt
Matthew K Nielson
Chief Finance Officer
Financial Management
mattn@rexburg.org
208-372-2343
[rexburg.org]Rexburg.org |
[engage.rexburg.org]Engage.Rexburg.org
From: Marianna Gonzalez <marianna.gonzalez@rexburg.org>
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2024 8:22 AM
To: Mayor <mayor@rexburg.org>; City Council <CityCouncil@rexburg.org>
Cc: Ma Nielson <ma n@rexburg.org>; Keith Davidson <Keith.Davidson@rexburg.org>
Subject: FW: Pickleball courts at Smith Park - Please forward to Rexburg City Council Members
From: Kevin Kimball <4kckimball@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 25, 2024 4:58 PM
To: Customer Services <CustomerServices@rexburg.org>
Subject: Pickleball courts at Smith Park - Please forward to Rexburg City Council Members
Greetings,
Could you please forward the following message to our Rexburg City Council Members?
"Dear Brian Chambers, Mikel Walker, Colin Erickson, David Reeser, Bryanna Johnson, and Erick Erickson,
Please do not waste our hard-earned and hard-paid taxes on a significantly deficient pickleball experience at Smith Park.
Based on my discussions with Keith Davidson, I understand that Rexburg City Council is currently discussing a plan to purchase a tile-
based product to convert the two Smith Park tennis courts into six pickleball courts. In my opinion, as well as in the opinion of every
local pickleballer I talk with, this is a waste of taxpayer funds and will deliver an inferior pickleball experience. Pickleball on tile courts is
not the same game as pickleball on a normal, tennis court-like surface, the major factors being 1) the ball skids on tile thus making it
more difficult to judge the ball’s bounce, significantly reducing the enjoyment of playing. 2) the tiles often have dead spots which also
cause the balls to bounce in unreliable ways.
I personally have played on both the first-generation sport tiles as well as on the new second generation sport tiles that have added
some surface texturing to try to overcome the former generations’ deficiencies. The fact is, playing on tile is not the same game as
playing on normal tennis court-like surfaces like we enjoy at the junior high, the Nature Park and at BYU-Idaho. In my opinion putting in
a tile-based court is like telling a bunch of baseball players “Yes, we understand that you want to play baseball, but we are going to
spend your tax dollars on softballs.” Sure, both sports involve hitting a ball with a bat, but it is not the same game. I know this may
sound extreme, but the difference between the two court types really is that big of a difference and each court type requires a different
ball just to be playable.
If you are looking to taxpayer funds on a band aid to temporarily relieve some of the pressure on local pickleball courts as we wait for the
courts to be built at the DonJo Sports Complex, please consider simply patching the cracks on the Smith Park courts, which I
understand you will do either way, then just paint the lines for 6 pickleball courts and skip purchasing the tiles altogether until the courts
can be redone properly. This approach would not only be significantly cheaper than purchasing sport tiles but, more importantly, it would
provide a more consistent pickleball experience for the community.
If we are going for cheap and temporary, tile should definitely not be the answer. I hope you will reconsider.
Sincerely,
Kevin Kimball
Founder Rexburg Pickleball
(208) 206-0276