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FAIRMONT-- Pickleball courts in Fairmont were the focus of the city council meeting on Monday as the council made several decisions regarding the project, including location and size.
The city council has been talking about pickleball courts since at least 2023 when concerns about the condition of the current ones at Veterans Court were brought before the Fairmont Park Board. Since then, both the council and the park board have discussed ideas.
In mid-June the park board suggested that eight courts be placed on the north side of the Jeffery Kot Field soccer complex and that construction be funded with some of the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funds.
However, the council tabled making a decision later that month as it was not sure about the size of the courts and also questioned whether indoor courts would be best.
On Monday, the council first reviewed results from a recent survey the city put out in coordination with its contracted engineering firm, Bolton and Menk, seeking input from the public about pickleball courts in Fairmont.
Public Works Director Matthew York said of the 247 responses received, 65 percent preferred an indoor facility while 35 percent preferred outdoor. When asked how many courts there should be, the majority, or 54 percent, said four courts while 32 percent said eight courts and 14 percent said two courts.
Council Member Randy Lubenow said he would have liked to see a higher number of people take the survey.
"It is important that citizens take a viewpoint on it and contribute to the gathering of information," Lubenow said.
He said overall, he think the responses support what the council is looking at in an all-seasons arena.
Next, York asked council to establish a basic scope of the pickleball project, specifically location and size of courts, as well as use and additional features.
Council Member Britney Kawecki said, "To me, we don't need to over-build it; we just need to build it right."
She said the design plans for some courts she previously toured in Okoboji were sent to the city. She asked if ones of those size would fit in the space here and whether those design plans could be used.
York said they would fit in the space, but he was less sure about the design plans.
"I don't know if you can just take a drawing, especially if it's out of the state, if you can take it and push it off as law. I don't have an answer for that," York said.
Kawecki questioned why the city would need to spend money on design plans when these engineered drawings were made available to Fairmont.
City Administrator Jason Baker said he thought it was a legal question and pointed out that a lot of the work done would have been site-specific for the land there.
Kawecki asked Bolton and Menk Engineer, Troy Nemmers, for his opinion. Nemmers said he hadn't seen the plans, but agreed with what York and Baker had said.
"There can be some references made and you can certainly use them as a guide and a template...there's a lot of things to go through so I guess I can't say," Nemmers said.
City Attorney David Assaf said that they would need to figure out who the owner of the plans are and then an agreement would need to be entered into for the city to use them.
Lubenow said he understood what Kawecki was saying and agreed that he would like to see some cost-savings on design plans.
"If we already have something that will work, it would sure be good to get that information for a reduced cost," he said.
York said he thought the council had gotten off track in the discussion and reminded it that determining the scope of the project was asked for.
Lubenow said he thought the council was in agreement that Jeffery Kot soccer fields and four courts sounded good. He admitted that he didn't know the difference between tournament ready courts and recreational courts but was told it comes down to size and he said he was either way on that.
Kawecki added that picnic tables would be fine and that donations should be sought for shade structures. She said she thought lighting could be added at a different time.
The council unanimously approved a motion for the scope of the pickleball courts project to be at Jeffery Kot soccer field, north corner, four courts, tournament-ready, larger courts with shade structures, lighting and landscaping to be add ons.
Finally, York said that because this is a specialized pickleball court project outside of the design expertise of city staff, staff recommended that a task order be approved for Bolton and Menk to complete the design, construction plans and soil boring for $37,650. The project would be bid in the spring of 2027 for construction later that year.
Kawecki made a motion to table the item to the next council meeting on Sept. 14 until the city finds out more about whether the plans from Iowa can be used. Council Member Wayne Hasek seconded it and the motion passed unanimously.