FAIRMONT–The matter of new pickleball courts in Fairmont went to the Fairmont City Council on Monday and while the council was mainly tasked with choosing a location, questions about the type of courts, and how much they would cost, prompted the council to hit the brakes on the project.

At its meeting on June 16, the Fairmont Park Board recommended that eight new courts be placed on the north side of the Jeffery Kot Fields soccer complex and that the construction be funded with some of the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funds.

“The first motion is the site,” said Public Works Director, Matthew York.

Council Member Jay Maynard said he’s done some research and found some articles about how loud pickleball can be.

“The recommendation that I’ve seen is that pickleball courts be located a minimum of 300 feet from residences,” Maynard said.

He asked whether the courts would be laid out in a single string or two by two. York said they would be four across and two deep.

Maynard said that after doing further research, he felt like sound insulation needed to be included for the nearby residents.

Council Member Britney Kawecki said she was in full support of new pickleball courts, but the specifications and budget aren’t what she expected. She said according to the 2026 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), it was to be four courts.

“We had budgeted $191,000 and now we’re at a million dollars,” she said.

Kawecki also said that people still play tennis and that new tennis courts weren’t included in the project.

Furthermore, she said, “I understand that we have LOST funds, but we haven’t really sat down to discuss those LOST funds,” Kawecki said.

She stressed that more input from the community is needed regarding the LOST funds.

“This for me violates so many principles of good governance,” Kawecki said.

She called for the matter to be tabled until there is some more public input.

York said that task order number five, which was previously approved by the council on April 13, was for moving eight pickleball courts to the site of the skate park on Margaret Street.

“Approved in task order number five was eight pickleball courts. It also said in there th project could include public input.

He also said that they have received input from people who play pickleball and also added that the city wasn’t asking for $880,000 of LOST funds for the courts, but rather asking for a pickleball court location.

“What we’re here to do is confirm that the location that you want to have pickleball courts is Jeffery Kot park,” York said. “Then give us some guardrails on what you want to see as part of the pickleball courts.”

He pointed out that what came from the Fairmont Park Board was a recommendation, not a mandate.

Council Member Randy Lubenow said he had a few concerns as well. He said one of the park board members said that if LOST funds couldn’t be used, they didn’t want the courts. He also said he would like to see indoor courts that could be used year-round.

“That would be my dream. That we would have a building indoors with lots of different activities,” Luebnow said.

Mayor Lee Baarts said that, based on what he heard, he believed the matter should be tabled until the council can have a workshop.

In other business, the council:

— Approved the first reading of Ordinance 2026-02, charter amendment regarding sections 2.1 of the Fairmont City Charter relating to the form of government.

— Received a proposed charter amendment from the Fairmont Charter Commission, which met the threshold to be included on the Nov. 3 general election ballot, and referred the proposed charter amendment to the city attorney for legal review. The amendment has to do with the administration of the Public Utilities Commission.

— Approved KLJ Engineering as the consultant for engineering and planning services at the Fairmont Municipal Airport. The airport advisory board had recommended KLJ due to the firm’s familiarity with the airport.

— Accepted a bid of $341,000 from The Joseph Company for the hangar door replacement and repair project at the Fairmont Municipal Airport. The door had been damaged during a tornado in 2024 and the funds are coming from the League of Minnesota Cities- Insurance Trust.

— After discussion, approved the proposal submitted by Braun Intertec, in the amount of $94,624, for construction materials testing services for the Blue Earth Avenue project.