Planning Committee wants feedback from residents

By Mike Wood

Staff writer

 

Thursday, November 21 (2:00 p.m.): The latest construction cost estimate for the Pickleball Courts project has risen considerably from previous figures, the Planning Committee learned at its Nov. 14 meeting.

A pre-construction estimate reported to GRF less than 24 hours before that meeting now pegs the project at nearly $4 million, up from a previous estimate of around $3.1 million, GRF Director of Community Services Ann Mottola told the committee.

It’s a fair projection for what this will cost Rossmoor, she said after the meeting. “This gives us a more accurate figure,” she said, as the project continues to move through the city of Walnut Creek’s approval processes and toward competitive bidding.

The total pickleball construction request for the 2025 Capital Projects Budget now sits at $3,983,000. Prior to that, it was nearly $3.15 million. Committee member Dwight Walker seemed taken aback by the estimated increase for the project, which early in its lengthy evolution was anticipated to cost less than $1 million.

“Now we’re at $4 million. … Is it going to go higher?” Walker asked. “When do we start saying, ‘Oof, we didn’t realize this was going to be a $4 million project?’”

GRF General Manager Jeff Matheson called the new estimate “a good budget number” but noted “that’s contingent on the fact that if we did it within the next so many months.”

“The value of the project now is what really needs to be evaluated,” Matheson said, detailing how various sites were vetted in the journey of the project that led to adding on a “a new slab, a new roof structure and sound mitigation of the walls,” for the proposed site near the Event Center.

At this point, Matheson is calling for a community-wide presentation in a town hall format, at a date to be determined.

“Are we in a position where the value of the $4 million pickleball project is reasonable for the community?,” he said. “I would argue that it is, but that is a presentation that we need to make to the community.”

He drew comparisons with other high-cost projects like the Event Center, Creekside and the Fitness Center, all of which in retrospect are hard to imagine not having. “And those were all, ‘Can we afford this? Is it really time?’” he said.

Committee Chairwoman Cheryl Hines said the town hall would be a good idea, “to also explain sort of the evolution of the project and how it’s grown in scope.”

Carol Cerioni, president of the Pickleball Club, described during residents’ forum the anticipation she’s heard from outside the community about a new facility for the nation’s fastest-growing sport.

“I get so many people from out there contacting me, just off our website, about pickleball and is there a facility? And, you know, so I keep telling them ‘It’s coming, it’s coming!’ ”

She added, “I think it’s going to be such a boon to this community. It will make us relevant. People are looking to go to a place – younger seniors – are looking for a place where they can participate in pickleball.”

In other matters:

• The committee asked the Board to approve a contract with Terra Landscape to complete median turf replacement on Rossmoor Parkway and to replace turf at the corner of the parkway and Golden Rain Road. The latter is the site, just past the main entry, where a treasured golden rain tree came down early this year; plans call for three such trees to be planted there, among new landscaping.
• It recommended for 2025 Capital Budget prioritizing that the food and beverage study be assigned priority 1 (highest) and a study of a conversion and redesign of the lawn bowling greens to artificial turf be ranked as priority 2.
• The committee voted unanimously to recommend the 2025 Machinery and Equipment Budget, but it subtracted a request for replacement of $95,000 of equipment that would be used on the greens in their current grass format.
• The committee reviewed the GRF Enterprise Risk Management plan, which addresses myriad key risk areas, with proposed solutions and actions on financial, facilities, governance and many other matters. This also will go to the Audit and Finance committees for their input and brought to the full Board during retreats, Matheson said. This serves as a “foundational tool” for budgeting items if something needs to be addressed, he said.
• It also asked for more detail about the NetSuite implementation, for which an additional $544,472 has been requested for next year’s budget.