By Mike Wood

Staff writer

 

Friday, December 20 (9:00 a.m.): In an effort to see the Pickleball Courts project become reality in 2025, the Planning Committee went through the painstaking process at Thursday’s meeting of identifying other proposed projects planned for next year that could be deferred.

At November’s meeting, the committee learned that a “pre-construction estimate” for the long-discussed project near the Event Center came to just under $4 million – over $800,000 more than the previous figure.

After absorbing the shockwaves from the cost hike, the committee this time focused on what could be done to keep pickleball on course in 2025. It discussed which other proposed 2025 Capital Budget items were movable, and which were “must-do’s” for next year.

Committee members described how having the pickleball facility built aligns with discussions within the Marketing Task Force.

“It’s a crucial item going forward to marketing this community,” Planning Committee Chairwoman Cheryl Hines said. “I think it’s also important to people that live here now. That’s a huge club. And they give back so much to the community, too.”

Dwight Walker, who serves as chairman of the Marketing Task Force, provided input from that endeavor that “it’s essential to be competitive in the marketplace,” adding that “our outdoor courts are a safety issue right now. We need them to be replaced.”

The Creekside courts, which were formerly for tennis and designated as a temporary pickleball facility, are cracking.

People in the upper 50 or 60 age range whom committee member Ted Bentley has spoken with “move here because of the Pickleball Club,” he said. “They like the area a whole lot. But the plus was that it has a pickleball club.

“This is an important piece of what people look for as an amenity when they’re moving into a community such as ours.”

To make pickleball work, committee members examined which other proposed

shave $200,000.

Another $40,000 could come by deferring a portion of a plan to convert lawn bowling greens to artificial turf, eliminating high water costs to maintain its natural grass. It also would buy time to research other lawn bowling facilities that have done conversions, Bentley said.

Another $25,000 could be spared by waiting until 2026 for a Dollar Clubhouse landscaping rehabilitation project.

Walker said he finds estimates on Membership Transfer Fee revenue to be on the conservative side – which Hines agreed with. So instead of having to identify $1 million to offset the pickleball increase, Walker said he was looking for $670,000 to pare.

By their nature, some projects are harder to slice and dice – a prime example being a pavement program tabbed at $1 million. Payment work is “dynamic,” GRF Director of Community Services Ann Mottola explained. Variables include market fluctuation, the span of time to spread out the work, and the unknown impact that winter weather might have on certain roadway areas.

“The other thing that swings dramatically with pavement is the cost of oil,” General Manager Jeff Matheson said. “Two or three years ago, we didn’t do pavement because oil prices were through the roof.”

“I don’t want to get into this cycle of deferring maintenance because we don’t have the money,” Hines said. “If we don’t have the money, then we need to think seriously about increasing those (Membership Transfer) Fees so we have the money.”

The pickleball proposal continues to move through the city of Walnut Creek’s processes. It went before Walnut Creek’s Design Review Commission on Dec. 4, Mottola noted, and hopes are that it will go to the city’s Planning Commission in April.

In other action at Thursday’s meeting, the committee, by a 3-0 vote, recommended that the Finance Committee have a goal of $2 million for an upcoming year’s unplanned expenditures.

“I can’t remember a year when we haven’t had unplanned events: trees, sewage backup, mudslides and so on,” Walker said. “It’s not a cushion; it’s for unplanned events.”

During the meeting, Mottola provided two “real time” updates about projects that moved along faster than anticipated. The Tice Pools roof project was completed ahead of schedule, and the pool area reopened Dec. 16. Also, construction crews have removed their equipment from the Gateway solar project, reopening the entire parking lot.