City staff are moving ahead with plans to bring more pickleball courts to North Delta.
At their June 24 regular meeting, council authorized staff to initiate a competitive bidding process for the construction of pickleball courts at the Chalmers Park, Dennison and Cromie parks.
According to the report prepared by the Parks, Recreation and Culture Department, a total of eight courts will be constructed in Chalmers Park and four courts will be constructed in Dennison Park.
At Cromie Park, the existing tennis courts will be resurfaced to include pickleball court play lines.
An additional two tennis courts will also be added at Chalmers Park.
The projected cost for the work is $1,152,000.
READ MORE: Delta looking to add over 30 dedicated pickleball courts by 2022
While Coun. Jeannie Kanakos said she supported the project, she noted that only 27 people attended the three public consultation meetings held on May 29 and 30, and on June 3.
Kanakos then asked how the project fits with the overall strategy for parks, recreation and culture in the community.
“I really get the sense that we’re funding a lot of different things,” she said. “I’d like to really have a sense and an assurance that there’s a strategic plan that’s funded.”
Delta’s director of parks, recreation and culture, Ken Kuntz, replied that Mayor George Harvie and the Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission are currently working on a four-year plan for sport-related improvements in the community.
“That plan has been the subject of a couple sport summits hosted by the mayor,” Kuntz said, adding that the plan will come back to council at a future meeting.
In the meantime, he said, the city needs to “catch up with supplying pickleball courts for this community that virtually had nothing in comparison to tennis courts.”
editor@northdeltareporter.com
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