The Sedona City Council unanimously approved a $1.598 million contract with Hope Construction of Flagstaff to convert the north softball field at Posse Grounds Park into eight pickleball courts during its meeting on May 14. Construction is anticipated to begin on Saturday, June 1, and take three months to complete.

“New irrigation, improvements to the existing irrigation system and new turf will be placed west of the courts,” the city council agenda stated. “The existing turf will be salvaged and transported to Ranger Station Park for placement by others. A shared use path will be constructed around this area and connected to the existing path. A gravel parking area with asphalt drive aisle is also included in the scope of this project. Twenty-eight parking stalls will be provided plus two ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant] stalls, for a total of 30 stalls. Irrigation for trees and plants to buffer the parking area from Posse Ground Road will also be installed. The tree and shrub planting will follow under separate contract.”

“The first part will kind of be adding that additional parking lot but Posse Grounds Road will remain open,” Parks and Recreation Manager Josh Frewin said. “So things like our softball league, and some of that will be impacted a little bit and move to the lower field as that construction begins. But other than that, regular park users shouldn’t have much of an impact at all.” 

Participation in softball leagues has been declining nationally and locally. 

“It has been down a little bit, last year. We’re up to seven teams, which is decent. I still would like to get a few more in there, hopefully,” Frewin said.

The department has met the demand for pickleball courts in the meantime by adapting the tennis courts at Posse Grounds to shared use.

“The daily scheduled play is well attended during spring/summer/ fall seasons, averaging 30 players each session, if not more,” the agenda stated. “On days where both a morning and afternoon/ evening session are offered, there can be over 60 players on a single day. Dedicated courts with lights are needed; the current shared use causes conflict due to pickleball being a fast-paced sport. In addition, due to the limited number of courts, it discourages use due to the wait time.”

Assistant Director of Public Works Sandra Phillips noted during the meeting that the cost of the project has increased from an original estimate of $1.4 million. Councilwoman Jessica Williamson asked if the city’s customization requirements had been responsible for the increase in costs and Phillips replied that they had not.

“It’s a significant expenditure. It’s a million-and a- half dollars for eight pickleball courts. That’s astounding,” Williamson said before seconding the motion to approve the contract and voting in favor of it. “I think that that’s something to consider when you consider other items that we talk about, which are more expensive, and also astounding numbers. But when you consider for eight pickleball courts, it’s $1.5 million, I think you need to look when you’re looking at other projects where you are aghast at the cost that you take into account what the cost of doing anything is.”

Frewin also addressed the need to relocate the Yappy Hour program from the softball field due to the health hazards created by off-leash dogs.

“Essentially with Yappy Hour, we need to get off the athletic fields for kind of health reasons and dogs using the bathroom all over the field, then the kids do their soccer camp on it, so Yappy Hour for a bit has been trying to find a new location,” Frewin said. 

He added that a recommendation for the program’s new location will most likely be brought before council within the next few months.