Pickleball courts coming to Atascadero 

Courts will likely be ready by October

–During Tuesday’s regular session of the Atascadero City Council meeting, the council passed a motion to reject the bid protest of the second-lowest bidder R. Burke corporation, and award a contract of $173,143 to the lowest bidder Kirk Construction to create pickleball courts in Atascadero.

The total potential cost of the project is $240,000, which must be budgeted even if the final cost ends up being lower. The Atascadero Pickleball Club and the city are working together to fund the project with $30,000 coming from the club and a $150,000 contribution coming from the city. However, there remained a $60,000 funding shortfall for the project.

Multiple different options were laid out by city staff and discussed regarding how to cover the gap in the funding for the project:

• A – Reject the bids and rebid after the club has gathered the remaining amount of money.
• B – Delay the project until Aug. or Sept. to allow the club to gather more money.
• C – Loan the club money to finish the project.
• D – Charge fees for use of the court to earn back the funding shortfall.
• E – Appropriate the remaining funds from the Parkland Facilities Fees Funds.

City staff had advised against rejecting the current bids on the basis that the current bids were very favorable and rebidding could increase construction costs. “I wouldn’t expect the cost to go down that much,” the Public Works Director/City Engineer Nick DeBar said in response to Councilman Mark Dariz asking about rebidding. Delaying the project, as in option B, was found unfavorable since it only gave the club a month or two to triple their contribution through fundraising.

Most of the discussion instead focused on the viability of combining any of the other options with various ideas offered, such as Councilman Charles Bourbeau’s suggestion to loan the club the money and add fees if they couldn’t pay the money back. However, the council and city staff were both unsure of how much extra it would cost to set up systems to lock down and monetize the court.

“We ask that you fund it and get it going, this is for the community,” said the President of the Atascadero Pickleball Club Barbara Sims.

According to Sims, the club will take care of the courts and ensure the city doesn’t have to worry about court upkeep. She also shared that the club had recently secured arrangements with Mid-Coast Geotechnical to test the concrete, which would reduce the funding shortfall.

“We want it to be a little more equitable than that,” said Mayor Heather Moreno regarding Sims’ request for the city to fully fund the rest of the project.

Ultimately, the council decided that a combination of option C, loaning money, and option E, having the city fund more, was the most viable option for the project to progress. A motion was passed to authorize the Director of Administrative Services to appropriate the remaining $60,000 with the condition that the city would cover any construction contingency costs that may come up, but half of what remains would need to be paid back by the club.

“The project will probably be done in a month and a half,” said DeBar about the construction time, which should begin in a month when the construction company is ready to break ground.