Village of Mahomet Board of Trustees rejected all bids for tennis courts would have been built at Middletown Park and pickleball facilities at 13 Acres Park Tuesday night.
The Village received two bids, ranginging from $780,000 to $884,000 for the six tennis courts with bullpen. Lighting and electrical were not included in the base bids.
The engineers (Farnsworth Group) estimate for the base project was $563,000 and an additional $300,000 for lighting, but the low bid from Petry Khune came in at $780,000 with an additional $394,000 for lighting. Two pickleball courts would have been an additional $1,600.
The Village of Mahomet obtained both the land at Middletown Park and 13 Acres with an agreement with the Mahomet-Seymour School District that requires them to use the $750,000 grant expected from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to build the courts. The Village has yet to receive those funds, which are available for two years.
The Village believes that if the tennis courts are not built within the five years time granted by the school district, they school will extend that agreement. Mahomet Parks and Recreation Director indicated that the school is understanding at this time.
Courts were slated to be ready prior to the 2022 IHSA tennis season. Now the Village plans to open up bidding again later this year to try to secure a vendor prior to the 2023 summer construction season.
The Village did not believe that inflation, which has risen 7.9 percent between February 2021 to February 2022, had much to do with the higher prices, but rather that the bid opening on April 4 was too late in the season. Waldinger said a similar project was approved in Champaign recently.
Due to high demand, MPRD staff painted temporary pickleball courts on the Bridle Leash basketball courts. The Mahomet-Seymour Tennis teams currently practice and compete outside of Mahomet.
