Grey Highlands is supporting a community project to establish pickleball courts in Flesherton.
Council approved the project in principle to set up the courts at the Flesherton Arena complex and requested an asset management plan during a meeting on Dec. 18.
This comes after representatives from the Pickleball Club of Grey Highlands approached council in May to develop a four-court pickleball facility beside the Flesherton Arena.
The cost of the project ranges from $150,000 to $200,000 depending on the surface material used.
The help fund the project, the club proposed covering 50 per cent through grants with the assistance of municipal staff, 25 per cent from Grey Highlands costing between $37,000 and $50,000, and the remaining 25 per cent through fundraising, in which the group has already secured $23,000.
A report from Manager of Operations for Parks and Recreation Mike Botelho says alternatively, the project could renovate the existing pickleball playing surface at Flesherton Memorial Park.
“This approach could improve quality and usability while reducing costs by leveraging existing infrastructure. However, it may not adequately address long-term demand for pickleball facilities,” says Botelho.
Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen requested an asset management plan on top of the original motion to support the project in principle.
“There is questions around the stability so that 15 years from now when this asset has some wear and tear, we are going to have money already set aside to continue the lifecycle of this asset so that we don’t burden a future council with the decision try to go, do we keep pickleball or do we not keep pickleball,” says Nielsen.
Nielsen says he wants to see the report before council makes the final decision on spending the money on the project.
The deputy mayor’s recommendation was supported by council.
Coun. Paul Allen says the report should be delivered sooner rather than later.
“We don’t want the group to go through the fundraising and go looking for grants and then we get a report at the end and for what ever reason, there is a decision to can it,” says Allen. “I think that report should be as soon as possible after a site plan is established.”