Tennis Court Maintenance; River's Bend, Fox and Central Parks 

The city has tennis courts at Rivers' Bend Park (4), and one each at Fox and Riverdale Park.  Loral I Armstrong Delaney Central Park also has a four court system that was constructed in the mid-1990's and converted to 2 tennis courts + 4 pickleball courts in 2021.

Tennis courts typically need resurfacing at about a 5 to 8 year maintenance interval. For River's Bend Park, this coming year would be the twelfth year since this maintenance activity has occurred, and it is needed and should not be deferred due to concern for safety and quality of play. (At the point the color coating begins to spall off, or loosen from the bituminous surface below, players can slip and slide when making abrupt moves or stops, creating a fall hazard. The color coating at River's Bend has reached this stage a couple of years ago.)

For Fox Park, the single court there was constructed around 1995, and it was resurfaced one time since. The court is not in playable condition, and probably should be signed 'closed' until such time as the resurfacing would occur. 

As mentioned above, Central Park was re-color coated last Spring, however, thin cracks reappeared which is a common occurrence for large areas of bituminous, exposed to extreme tempature fluctuations. Pickle ball players have commented about the appearance of these cracks, and staff recommends caulking with thickened paint at a not-to-exceed cost of $2,500 (Time and Materials). Alternatively, a colored caulking approach would be $10,000.


 

The first attachment is the existing conditions of the courts discussed above. The second attachment is the long-term forecast (summary form) for all the city's courts, together with the estimated costs.  It may be noted that this forecast also is a second quarter Action item #16 of the 2022 Strategic Plan: "Establish a Funding Plan to Complete Parks Capital Replacement Improvements". (As an aside, the tennis court at Riverdale Park is in need of maintenance at this time too, however this can be addressed for reconstruction year 2023.)

The itemized cost break-down for maintenance this case recommends is as follows:

River's Bend
Recolor 4-courts $24,000
Remove and re-set two net posts $2,500
Repair/replace wood practice wall $500

Fox Park
Recolor single court $7,500
Repair/replace wood practice wall $400

Central Park
Crack fill $2,500

Contingency 3 park locations $1,000

Total 2022 Court Maintenance $38,400
 

For the 2022 tennis court maintenance resurfacing and associated repairs ($38,400), the recommended funding source is the Capital Maintenance Fund, (formerly known as ‘Park Maintenance Fund #810’) which has a present balance of $1.3M.


 

Staff recommends proceeding with the reconditioning of the courts at River's Bend and Fox Park' as soon as practicable—and also proceeding with paint-caulking approximately 950 feet of cracks (three colors) at Central Park this Spring as well.

Motion to recommend to City Council, the reconditioning of the courts at River's Bend, Fox Park, and crack filling Central Park in the amount of $38,400 to be funded by the Capital Maintenance Fund.