current news

Dear PTPC Members:

The Board met last week to reconsider the Mountain View Proposal to the City. PTPC had previously submitted the proposal, which included resurfacing the slab at Mountain View with three courts, one being a multi-use court, to the Parks, Recreation, and Trees Advisory Board (PRTAB), and they approved it. Since then, some members have suggested an alternative plan, which was enthusiastically supported at a Special Meeting on October 12.

This revised plan involved acid washing or sandblasting the current courts at Mountain View, which would help with the footing and not cost much. So the PTPC Facilities Committee (Eric Seder, Lynn Pierle, Jim Dow) met with Steve King, Public Works Director, and two civil engineer Club members. Steve’s opinion is that sandblasting and/or acid washing might cause the cement to deteriorate faster than if we left it alone, making the surface unplayable and more costly to replace. In addition, this process will not ameliorate the hard surface of the concrete whereas a complete resurface will make it more playable. The message the Facilities Committee received from Steve is that it is important for the Club to do this right. If we can, with our fundraising, put an outstanding product in place, then it could very well translate into more courts nearby with the City as a potential donor partner.

The Facilities Committee also mentioned the issue of 3 courts vs. 4 courts with Steve King in the meeting. Steve said that if we want to pursue the 4-court option, it will put us back to square one, which means redoing the whole plan, going back to get approval from the Y and PRTAB again, and then submitting it to the City Council. Doing this would likely cast some doubts as to the effectiveness of our organization and may not inspire confidence from the City. As stated above, Steve advises that a higher quality product would be important for the City to support additional PTPC projects. The 3-court option as proposed would be a higher quality product for two reasons:  1) there will be more separation (12 feet) between the courts, with fencing in between; 2) the play would be safer because balls would not be rolling onto the other courts. This project would be a facility that we all can be proud of.

The Board realizes that the members and other players would like to see as many new courts as possible, the sooner the better. After a vigorous discussion, the Board voted to continue with the proposal that PRTAB and the Y have already approved, with resurfacing and building three quality pickleball courts. The vote was unanimous. The Board believes that this will lay the groundwork for more, state-of-the-art pickleball courts in the future.

-PTPC Board