5.e Accepting donation from Scandia Marine Lions
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: July 18, 2017
To: City Council
From: Neil Soltis, Administrator
Re: Lions donation to striping tennis courts for pickleball
Background: At the June City Council meeting the Parks & Recreation Committee presented a
recommendation to hold a pickleball tournament during Taco Daze. The recommendation was
approved by the Council. The Scandia Marine Lions have proposed to donate $750 to cover the
cost of striping the tennis courts for pickleball.
Issue: Should the donation be accepted and the lines for pickleball added to the tennis courts.
Proposal Details: The Lions have contacted Tennis West and received a proposal to stripe the 2
tennis courts at the Community Center for pickleball. The pickleball striping cover a smaller area
and will be blue in color so as not to interfere with playing tennis.
The City’s guidelines for accepting donation valued at $250 or greater use the following criteria to
evaluate whether it is in the City’s best interest to accept the donation.
(1) Is the gift of lasting value to the community?
(2) Does it create potential liability issues for the City? That is, will people walk on it, sit on it, or
under it? Will construction be inspected, is construction up to current standards (ADA
accessible, for example?) Are the materials used acceptable for public construction?
(3) Will some member of the public find the item offensive; can it be construed as having a religious
content, or offending members of a protected class?
(4) What will the potential annual maintenance cost of the gifted object be? Do the costs outweigh
the value of the gift?
(5) Does the gift carry implied duties that the City must perform? What is the cost of performance
of such duties? Does the cost exceed the value of the gift?
(6) If costs, direct or indirect exceed the value of the gift; acceptance of the gift may still be
warranted if a public purpose is being served and all understand the costs as well as the value of
the gift.
(7) Also, does the acceptance of the gift imply that the City will replace the gift when worn out,
destroyed by vandals, etc? If the gift is found to be no longer of use in the future, may the City
at that time, sell, dismantle or convert to another use?
In reviewing the criteria it should be noted that there is a potential implication that the City
continue to maintain the dual use of the courts for tennis and pickleball. It should be noted
that the resurfacing of the courts is included in the 2016-2020 Capital Improvement Plan for
reconstruction in 2018 and is included with the dual striping in the working draft of the 2018 –
2022 Capital Improvement Plan.
Fiscal Impact: In order to provide funds for the payment to Tennis West, the Parks budget should
be increased by $750 for the donation and for the expenditure. The budget adjustment will be
included with any additional needed adjustment later in the year.
Options:
1. Accept the donation
2. Take no action on adding pickleball markings
Recommendation: Option 1