Pickleball court project in Ken-Caryl moves forward on permits and electrical easement; residents urge caution

District staff briefed the board on the Community Park pickleball court project, recalling that the construction of five courts was approved in 2025 and explaining that the project requires an Xcel Energy easement to install a new transformer and upgraded electrical service for lighting.

Staff explained the permitting path to the board: a revised trip-generation (traffic) memo requested by the county is being finalized, and the site plan and grading permits must be approved before construction. Staff said the electrical easement is part of Xcel’s process and that the board or a designated representative must sign permitting documents to allow utility work to proceed.

On cost and schedule, staff reported the contractor (AeroJ Landscape and Construction / AJI) has received payments of about $55,000 so far and that the project retains roughly $36,000 in contingency. Staff said that once county land-use approvals and grading permits are obtained, active construction could take as little as two months.

Several residents urged caution before continuing construction. Jan Russo (public comment) said the county site-approval process requires a full traffic and parking analysis that includes all existing park uses and nearby uses, and warned the board not to proceed in advance of confirmed mitigation and funding for off-site impacts: “Please don't do that until you address the issues that need to be addressed,” she said, citing parking, lighting and grading concerns.

Staff response: Chad and project staff acknowledged the outstanding county comments and said they are completing the required traffic study and coordinating with Xcel and ActiveNet/finance systems to minimize service interruptions during the bank transition. Staff emphasized they will not start construction until county permits and utility work are fully authorized.

Next steps: staff will finish the county-required traffic analysis and coordinate with Xcel on the easement and technical integration; the board discussed and later approved related administrative delegations elsewhere on the agenda to facilitate permitting work.

Note on figures: dollar amounts above reflect what staff stated in the meeting transcript (payments to contractor and contingency). Some contract totals and larger budget-line descriptions in the spoken record were unclear or partially garbled in the transcript; staff documents in the meeting packet should be consulted for exact contract totals and line-item budget details.