Pickleball, Swallows Nest on Blanding list

by David Boyle
News Director
Members of the Blanding City Council discussed pickleball courts and the historic Swallow’s Nest at their latest meeting on December 12.
The Swallows Nest is a small historic building used by Albert R Lyman, the town’s first settler, for his writings. The building is located near the city visitor center.
Reporting on the previous Blanding City Council meeting, the San Juan Record erroneously stated that the council approved a grant from the county for the Swallows Nest. 
However, in reality, the council gave advice and consent for Recreation Director David Palmer to move forward in an attempt to receive a grant through the county by the end of the year.
In the December 12 meeting, council member Kellen Nielson reported that the county discovered they couldn’t use funds for the Swallows Nest, but that the city could look into possible state funds.
At the meeting, Palmer also reported that the week previous the Swallows Nest had been vandalized, with the door kicked in with such force to break not only the door, but the frame.
Palmer spent a Saturday sealing up the building. He added, when asked, that the building is insured.
At the meeting, members of the council also discussed the pickleball courts currently being installed through a Community Development Block Grant. At a previous meeting, members of the council heard some concerns with the courts from two city residents.
New city manager Trent Herring explained that some of those concerns should be resolved when the courts are finished.
For example, one comment was concerned about the height of the nets, but Herring explained that the city won’t finish stringing the nets up to the right height until the courts are painted this Spring.
The city needs to wait for 24 hours of weather above 50 degrees to paint the lines on the courts.
Other concerns do remain, including the height of the fences surrounding the courts. Residents expressed concern about the four-foot tall fences, meaning they’ll have to chase balls that bounce outside the fence line.
Herring shared that Ben Muhlestein had gotten some rough quotes that extending the fence from four feet to eight feet would cost $15,000.
Another concern expressed by citizens is the number of entry points into the courts. Looking at the design, city staff felt that gates were mostly adequate but that the courts could be served with a gate connecting courts two and three.
City staff also shared that a previous change of the orientation of the courts through the CDBG process took a long amount of time. One suggestion is that the city close out the grant process and build a higher fence and install another gate – if wanted – after the process is closed.
Another city staffer thought the process wouldn’t necessarily impact the grant and could be done faster.
In informal discussion, members of the council generally expressed support for installing an eight-foot fence.
Council members signaled their advice and consent for city staff to look into the cost of the contractor putting in an eight-foot fence, and how that might impact the grant, in hopes of fully completing the project and having a grand opening in the spring.
At the meeting, members of the council and city staff also shared thanks and said goodbye to Council member Len Gasser, who will complete his term at the end of December.
Council members Erik Grover and Cheryl Bowers both signaled their intent to run for the San Juan County Commission seat in District 1. The filing period for 2024 elections is January 2 through January 8, with primaries in June and the general election in November.