ESCANABA — A discussion about the future of proposed pickleball courts in Escanaba got heated Thursday as one Escanaba City Council member argued the city should be more focused on providing recreational opportunities for youth than catering to pickleball players.

“We’ve got to try to play a little fair here. And the pickleball people are welcome to call me. I don’t really — you can call me, email me. I’m trying to balance this out for the community,” said Council Member Tyler DuBord.

The request before the council was the approval of an application for a grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund for the creation of eight dedicated pickleball courts at Royce Park. If approved, the grant would provide the city with $400,000 for the project, with the city responsible for $140,000 in matching funds, 25% of which would be reimbursable.

Thursday’s request was not the first time that the city had sought grant funding for the creation of courts. However, with the exception of a grant that was tied to the civic center property and included only six courts, all of the prior grants were for both eight pickleball courts and the repaving of at least a basketball court.

One grant request submitted last year included eight pickleball courts, a basketball court repaving, two tennis courts being repaved and upgrades to a playground.

“I’m looking at different age ranges at the park. You’ve got that age range that wants pickleball. I’m looking at … youth that want to play basketball and the younger kids that want to use the playground. So, now we’re taking the priority of repairing or fixing this playground and getting a basketball court up and running and push that youth age group down the line and let’s say ‘Let’s give eight pickleball courts for this group’? No,” said DuBord.

DuBord made a motion to cut the number of pickleball courts down to six and include playground upgrades and a basketball court resurfacing. His motion was seconded by Council Member Ron Beauchamp, but Beauchamp rescinded his motion after concerns were raised that there was no resolution to replace the one presented in support of the grant application.

A motion was then made by Council Member Karen Moore to approve the resolution supporting the grant application as presented. That motion was seconded by Council Member Todd Flath.

“If you had been to all the meetings and listened to these passionate pickleball players, that was why this was a unanimous decision from the recreation board to go with eight courts, because that’s what they would prefer,” said Moore, who serves as the council’s liaison to the recreation advisory board. “And it’s not just something they came and demanded. We asked them what they preferred. They were the ones that came up with the eight courts. So to change it now I think is kind of a slap in the face.”

Prior to the final vote on the issue, it was noted that there has been recent work at the city’s playgrounds. The department of public works recently replaced all 40 swings in the parks, has taken advantage of the warm weather to sandblast and repaint spring riders, and is currently seeking additional grants. City Manager Jim McNeil added to the discussion by saying the city was in early talks about the future of the aging Harbor Hideout play area and was intending to include in-house paving projects to create new basketball courts in the next fiscal year budget.

When the vote was taken, the council was split on whether or not to support the grant request with all eight courts. Moore, Beauchamp and Flath voted in favor of the proposal as presented, and DuBord was joined by Mayor Mark Ammel in its opposition.

In other business the council:

— Held the third of five planned public hearings on the 2024-25 fiscal year budget. No members of the public participated.

— Approved the purchase of a new backup generator for the Escanaba Public Safety Department for an amount not to exceed $125,705. The initial request was for $120,705, but the council added an additional $5,000 to the maximum amount in hopes that the city could get a longer warranty or service plan than the two year warranty in the bid.

— Approved closing the 1200 Block of Ludington Street for Classic Car and Bike Nights throughout the summer as well as the 100 block of South 13th street for other events.

— Approved two separate applications for State Infrastructure Bank loans in the amount of $2,000,000 each. The loans will be used to pay for street reconstruction and repair and for the repair and possible replacement of city storm sewers.

— Approved a bid from Stenberg Brothers of Bark River for providing portable restrooms as needed for city events.

— Approved awarding the Ludington Park concessionaire contract to Sticky Fingers of Gladstone for the 2024 season.

— Approved hiring Monchilov Sewer Services, LLC of Fairgrove Michigan to investigate the city’s existing water services as part of a Drinking Water Asset Management grant.

— Approved the sale of city-owned property to property owners on the west side of South 32nd Street. The city property that will be sold was located between the backs of the privately owned lots and Willow Creek Road and will add roughly 75 feet to the yards of those properties. As part of the agreement, the city will not be responsible for any closing costs and all property owners must disconnect sump pumps from the sanitary sewer and drain the pumps to their backyards. The city will perform inspections to ensure the disconnections occur.