SOUTH WHIDBEY: Parks district chooses bid for pickleball courts
The Whidbey News-Times published this story by Kira Erickson on their web page on 2025-07-22 19:54:16.
Kira Erickson reports from the South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District board meeting of Wed., July 16, 2025 for the South Whidbey Record. Read the whole story.
Construction is expected to begin soon on a highly anticipated outdoor project on South Whidbey.
During a meeting last week, South Whidbey Parks and Recreation commissioners authorized the selection of a contractor to build six pickleball courts at the South Whidbey Sports Complex on Langley Road…. The new courts are funded by a $451,800 grant from the state Recreation and Conservation Office, $54,000 in community donations raised by Whidbey Island Pickleball and $8,800 from the South Whidbey Project, a nonprofit founded by three high school alumni. Executive Director Brian Tomisser explained that an additional $172,100 was allocated to the pickleball courts from other projects, bringing the total available funds to $686,700.
The dilemma the parks and rec commissioners faced was whether to include or remove certain aspects of the project to fit within the budget. The alternate bid items, as they are called, are sports court resurfacing and installing curbing around the courts. If both are accepted, Tomisser explained, that will bring the project’s contingency fund to about $27,000. Without doing the curbing, the contingency fund grows to $60,000.
In the end, the commissioners decided to include both alternate bid items, which costs $545,818. The rest of the project’s budget goes toward architect fees, Island County fees, cultural resources, a traffic study and legal fees.
Groundbreaking is planned for mid-August and the courts are expected to be complete by Halloween.
They Said It
Commissioner Krista Loercher said she was somewhat alarmed to have a contingency fund that is less than 5% of the project’s total budget. Commissioner Matt Simms expressed a similar sentiment, saying that it’s unrealistic it would be sufficient. But at the same time, he supported the curbing and resurfacing improvements.
Tomisser said he saw both sides, since this wasn’t something that could be added later to the courts but could also be a way to save money if not included.
On the Ballot in November 2025
| SOUTH WHIDBEY PARKS AND RECREATION DISTRICT |
|---|
| Proposition No 1, Renewal of Regular Property Tax Levy for Maintenance & Operations – four-year levy (2026-2029) |
| Commissioner, Position 2 Erik Jokinen, the incumbent |
| Commissioner, Position 3 Jake Grevé, the incumbent |
| Commissioner, Position 5 Matthew Simms, the incumbent |
