FM board volleys on new tennis courts

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The pickleball courts wiped out the tennis courts and we’re using this maybe two months out of the year. Maybe partnering with the city, we might be able to get some of the costs shared.””

FMCSD Director Paul Wilkerson

FORT MADISON – A long conversation about whether or not to move forward with a plan to replace the tennis courts at the Fort Madison High School ended with an approval to move forward with professional design services.
The Fort Madison Community School Board with the two director-elects Rachelle Dravis and Chad Savage in the audience, approved a $68,750 professional services contract with DLR Group out of Des Moines.
Nic Chiri, Director of Maintenance and Operations, is moving forward with plans to replace the six courts that are deteriorating to the point where one director said it’s a safety hazard.
Chiri said the request was a contract amendment with DLR that would allow professional design of the new courts. That would be needed for the district to apply for a $200,000 grant from the United States Tennis Association (USTA).
Chiri said the project will cost close to $700,000 to replace all six courts. If approved for the grant, the district’s cost would be roughly half a million. He said the district will get 10 to 12 years out of the courts before they are resurfaced, unless they go to a higher grade concrete base and that would push the cost to around $900,000, but would last about 30 years.
Current plans would be to build the six in a four and two format northwest of where the current courts are and get them finished and then demolish the current facility.
Director Kelly Nelton, who was the lone vote against the measure, asked how many students were playing tennis. Director Mio Santiago said the program, which is a shared program with Holy Trinity Catholic, had about 20 girls and around 10 boys this past year. The girls’ program has been moved to the fall with MaShelle Knipe just finishing her first year as head coach. The boys’ program is in the spring and will be coached this year by Chuck Banks.
“I guess I would like to see more detail on the whole thing before we would approve professional services,” Nelton said.
Chiri said the design phase is $48,000 and the grant requires the courts to be designed professionally. The rest of the professional services is administration, site visits, and bidding.
He pointed to other schools that saw increased costs for trying to cut corners on design.
Director Paul Wilkerson, a current member of the Fort Madison Parks and Rec Board, asked if there was any chance the school district could work with the city in getting the project funded.
“This really doesn't have anything to do with the $68,750, but has there been any thought to partnering with the city,” he asked. “The pickleball courts wiped out the tennis courts and we’re using this maybe two months out of the year. Maybe partnering with the city, we might be able to get some of the costs shared.”
“What, historically, has the city helped us with,” Director Brad Menke asked.
“There’s always a first,” Wilkerson said.
Nelton asked Chiri if the courts were unusable and if the district was not going to have a tennis program.
He said, operationally, they could try to patch the surfaces which have crevices more than two inches wide, but he said he wouldn’t put his name on it.
“I could have a professional come look at them and say this is what it will cost to recoat them and I guarantee you it will be quarter of a million just to band-aid it. Either you pay $500,000 with this grant and get what tennis courts should look like or you try to save money and come up with another plan,” Chiri said.
Menke said in 10 years you’re gonna pay another $200,000 to resurface it so the district should consider the more durable concrete.
Business Director Sandy Elmore said the plan was to use PPEL (Physical Plant and Equipment Levy) funds to pay for the work.
“We currently have them. As far as priorities, I thought when this was brought up two years ago, the consensus of the board to Jeff (FM Activities Director Jeff Lamb) was to go ahead and pursue it,” Elmore said. “Maybe I misunderstood.”
Menke said last year it was a “hard no”.
Santiago said the difference is the potential grant funding. Chiri said the $200,000 is a conservative estimate.
The school needs to have six courts at least to hold district events and typically tennis plays 1-6 seed singles matches and three doubles matches so six courts works better for timelines without any lights planned for the facility.
The board voted 5-1 to approve the contract amendment and move forward with the tennis court replacement project.
Prior to voting on the measure, Menke said it was a hard pill to swallow.
“We have $500,000 to do something with the baseball field that hasn’t had anything done in the last 10 years, but they redid the tennis courts 10 years ago. That’s a hard pill to swallow,” he said.
“You got 22 to 30 kids each year that are going out for that. Do you have more in baseball? And we move softball over (to Baxter Sports Complex) and I know we spend money over there. Man, that’s hard.”
Director Heather Huebner asked if you could still have a team without a facility. Superintendent Mark Wolter said you can but you’d just play everything on the road.
Board president Josh Wykert said the board was only voting on the professional services agreement and not the entire project. Additional discussion could be had on the project depending on funding.
The work is supposed to be completed by August of 2026.