What appeared to be a simple transition from tennis courts to pickleball courts at Parkside Park has ended up costing Tiny Township much more than it bargained for.
At the recent meeting of council, a public works report regarding an upgrade to the pickleball courts was included with a request for immediate funding of $80,824 plus HST to be approved so that the project could be completed before the arrival of winter.
The initial approval to reconstruct one of the three tennis courts into an accommodation for two pickleball courts came in early 2024, requiring a reconstruction and resurfacing of all three tennis courts.
“A lot of these parks that were made back in the time, there’s really no documentation that we had to compare back to, to see what we were really dealing with once you put a shovel in the ground,” said public works director Tim Leitch.
“When we first started to tear the previous courts up, we started to run into issues.”
Leitch explained that the previous intent to resurface the courts and extend their life by using a fibreglass reinforcing mesh had bonded so efficiently to the asphalt that it “made it virtually impossible for us to recycle the asphalt” which the township would otherwise use for other internal applications.
Also, an additional layer of asphalt was located beneath a thin layer of gravel which had been a cost-saving intent from a 1990-era reconstruction, which had unintentionally retained winter water and caused surface heaving; that second asphalt required removal for the gravel to be returned after.
Finally, staff had observed water drainage from adjacent Oliver Drive which would flow through Parkside Park and into the courts; to mitigate this a French drain and additional catch basins had begun to be installed but required further costs to complete.
As a result, the project before council for approval was nearly $43,000 over budget and also required $38,000 for the unfinished completions.
In options provided to council, Leitch explained that the $81,000 approval could achieve completion if excess money was taken from other projects that came in under budget or were unused. These included: $50,000 from the Balm Beach walkway project; $10,000 surface grinding at the Lafontaine pavilion; $7,500 from the Tamarack bridge; and the negation of $15,000 from a sports cage build at Parkside Park.
“All in all, (these are) lessons learned moving forward because it’s important for us getting in these situations that this doesn’t happen again,” said Leitch, addressing their management into the township’s asset management system and plan.
“Historically, there’s a lot of the works down in our parks that we just don’t have records of, but as we come across these things we are updating our records and making sure that they’re accurate so that when we quote these jobs, we know exactly what we’re dealing with.”
There was some confusion from the explanation within the report and from Leitch provided to council regarding the overage funding, with Leitch having to reaffirm that the Lafontaine grinding would be completed while under budget.
Mayor Dave Evans stated his encouragement for the sport and the Parkside reconstruction, having attended a recent meeting with local pickleball participants and enthusiasts.
“I think it’s a great opportunity given the demographics of our community; this is an incredibly popular sport in all areas of the community,” said Evans. “I’m really excited; moreso now that I find out that Lafontaine’s going to get it (pickleball).”
Council approved the public works request which was ratified immediately.
Following the meeting, MidlandToday asked Leitch about similar unexpected findings which could occur when Balm Beach reconstruction would take place as per the transportation master plan of the township.
“With the projects we’re looking at there (for Balm Beach), I’m very confident that we’re not going to be having those types of surprises,” said Leitch. “The roads are being developed, and they have been developed over time, so we’re confident when it comes to roads and those sidewalks that we won’t encounter these types of issues.
Leitch added that while staff hadn’t anticipated the extensive reconstruction for Parkside Park, all efforts contributed to the asset management plan to aid the municipality in decades to come.
“The vast majority of our projects are done within budget, and the odd time these things do happen: we recover, we document, we learn from our steps, and we move forward,” Leitch stated.
The Parkside Park tennis and pickleball court capital project update report can be viewed on the agenda page on the Township of Tiny website.
Archives of council meetings are available to view on the township’s YouTube channel.
