Council wants feedback from pickle ball players before picking location for new courts

Feedback from pickle ball enthusiasts is needed before the Newton City Council decides where to construct its new courts promised in the park bond referendum.

Newton Community Services Director Brian Laube provided council members with three options of where to build the pickle ball courts: the south side of Aurora Park near the existing tennis courts, the north side of Aurora Park closer to First Avenue or at Maytag Park. The latter of which has its own set of challenges.

Since the $1.6 million park bond referendum — which passed in September 2022 — expressly stated the pickle ball courts be constructed and installed in Aurora Park, the city council would have to put the measure to a vote of the people once again in order to change the location of the courts.

“We can’t just make that call here according to the city attorney,” Laube said.

The location options at Aurora Park also have their drawbacks. Some city council members received emails from residents voicing their concerns about the south side option and its impact to the nearby homes. If constructed in this area, the courts would be very close to houses along South Third Avenue East.

Which could mean noise and lights complaints. Council members were in consensus in December 2022 about the south side location until these concerns were brought to their attention. Laube said staff measured the area and determined it would be a tight location that would require the removal of seven tress.

Of course, the north side option would be farther away from residents and would require fewer trees to remove. Laube said since it is a larger location it does allow for more flexibility when it comes to spacing the courts and adding future amenities. But they are farther away from the tennis courts.

Council member Craig Trotter asked if the courts would interfere with the disc golf course if they were moved to Maytag Park. If the course needed to be modified, Laube said staff could make that happen. Council member Randy Ervin worried moving the courts to Maytag Park would severely delay the projects.

Laube said, “You’re probably putting it off a year, I would say. If you as a council want to decide to keep it at Aurora Park somewhere, I’ll give the go-ahead as soon as I go back and sit down to our engineer and start design work on it very, very soon … We would have it (the Aurora Park courts) out to bid this spring.”

Council liked the south side location in the first place because of its proximity to the restrooms and the parking, Ervin said. Currently there are no future plans to expand parking up by First Avenue East. When Ervin explained this to residents who reached out to him, they said they understood the reasoning.

“My recommendation is we maintain the plan of south of the tennis courts,” Ervin said before Laube noted the city would have to build sidewalks and an accessible route to get to the pickle ball courts. Likely, city staff would have to build a sidewalk down the east side of the tennis courts toward the south.

Other council members were open to the north side option and perhaps even moving them to Maytag Park. Council was particularly intrigued by the space options at Maytag Park and possibly consolidating tennis and pickle ball to their own parks based on overall use by amateurs and school teams.

But council ultimately wanted the opinion of pickle ball players who would use the courts more frequently.

Newton City Administrator Matt Muckler recommended council go this direction. From what he gathered from enthusiasts, they want to hold tournaments. If the city were to add eight to 12 pickle ball courts in the future, it might be better to hold it in one location to better hold tournaments.