Discovery Bay to invest in Community Center grounds improvement

“I’m excited,” said CSD Director Ashley Porter. “We have Hofmann money that’s been set aside and meant for the community center … we have done the pool and now we need to start cleaning up some of the areas around the pool area.”

The staff report presented during the meeting stated the town’s plan is to take the “nonfunctional, unimproved eye-sore of wasted space” behind the northeast corner of the Community Center Building and make it attractive and usable. The design presented to the board outlines a functional, drought-tolerant space suitable for outdoor board meetings that can be enjoyed by adults and children year-round.

The project is divided into two parts. The first portion will create a shaded area where families can sit, with musical fixtures for children to play with, a sitting wall and boulders, beach ball bollards and patio furniture.

The second portion calls for taking the larger area abutting the northeast corner of the Community Center and turning it into a multi-use area with additional seating and shade for residents to congregate and relax. This location will also serve to host outdoor board meetings, movie nights and other special events.

“The design is a good combination of cleaning stuff up and making it useful for kids,” said Porter. “I want to make sure we have things for families and Monica, our Recreation Programs Supervisor, has presented that … It just enhances everything so our community as a whole, not just a portion, can enjoy it.”

The Town of Discovery Bay was awarded $1.3 million in 2019 from the Hofmann Building Company as part of a settlement with the caveat the money must be used specifically on the community center.

During the same meeting, the board also unanimously approved the extension of a resolution establishing priority use for the community center pickleball courts. First priority will be given to town events, second to paid rentals, third to the general public, and fourth to Discovery Bay Recreation and Sports, Inc. (DBRSI), a local pickleball club.

According to the staff report, the limited priority use was granted to DBRSI as an acknowledgement of the group’s contributions to the community center’s pickleball courts. They contributed $30,000 to their construction when two tennis courts were converted to six pickleball courts. They’ve also funded a shade structure and several benches.

DBRSI President Chris Sullivan expressed disappointment at the vote. He said his club had hoped the board would agree not to rent the courts out on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon when they have their busiest open play hours.

“We were asking for second- or third-level priority for Saturday mornings from eight to 12,” Sullivan said after the meeting. “The decision didn’t make sense to me, especially considering the money we have poured into the courts there. We would just like to see the courts not be rented out from under our feet Saturday mornings, and we would of course always welcome anyone to come play for free.”

Board President Kevin Graves said the board acted on the information it had.

“Prior to voting on the resolution, the Parks and Recreation Committee advised the board they had met with the pickleballers and this was their recommendation,” Graves said. “Without any representation at the meeting of the pickleballers, the board took the recommendation of the Parks and Recreation Committee unanimously to extend the resolution.”

For more information on the grounds improvement project, board meetings, agendas and minutes, visit www.todb.ca.gov.

For more information on DBSRI, visit their pickleball Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dbpickleball/.