Good News For Taxpayers And Tennis Players At New Winn Brook Court

Photo: The Winn Brook courts will see a fifth court coming by the fall of 2022

The multitude of Belmont’s tennis players – including the Belmont High School squads – received good news on Monday, Feb. 28 when the Select Board heard the town finalized the contract for the construction of a new court at the Winn Brook Fields on Cross Street.

And taxpayers will feel good that the project will return nearly $50,000 to the town’s Community Preservation Committee.

Speaking before the Belmont Select Board, Department of Public Works Director Jay Marcotte said the project was approved for $190,000 at last year’s annual Town Meeting so the high school tennis program will have the minimum of five courts to play varsity matches. And after a request for proposal process beginning in January that attracted four bidders, Marcotte brought the board the low bid from Vermont Recreational Services of Monroe, NH to install the court and perimeter fencing after the end of the school year with ground being broken in July. The court will open in the fall.

“We will absolutely notify the neighborhood prior to construction going on,” said Marcotte.

Marcotte said Vermont is well known by the town as it installed the PQ courts off of Trapelo Road and did partial court work at Grove Street and Winn Brook.

And for taxpayers, Vermont Recreational’s bid is $139,991.

“This is great news and the price came in great which these days. The way construction costs have gone, I always expect then to be higher so the fact it’s lower is awesome,” said Chair Adam Dash as the board approved the low bid unanimously.

Meeting/Vote On Winn Brook Tennis Court Expansion, Wednesday, Feb. 10

Photo: Design of the two proposals for courts at Winn Brook

The Belmont Recreation Commission will host a second public ZOOM meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 6 p.m., via Zoom, to discuss and solicit feedback on the Community Preservation Act (CPA) request to add additional tennis court/courts at Winn Brook Playground.

The court/courts would be added in the area between Joey’s Park playground and the existing tennis courts, to add one to two additional courts. See designs below.

There is a need for additional court/courts to meet the requirements of the Belmont High School tennis program that will utilize the Winn Brook courts for practices and matches. The additional court/courts will also add to the available courts for the public when not being utilized by the High School program.

Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87474795595?pwd=M1Z1TXVmS2ZCT1ZzQml6TDI0YVUyQT09
Passcode: 481165
iPhone one-tap:
US: +19292056099, 87474795595#,,,,481165# or +13017158592,,87474795595#,,,,481165#
Or Telephone:
Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 929 205 6099 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215
8782 or +1 346 248 7799
Webinar ID: 874 7479 5595
Passcode: 481165

Winn Brook Tennis Courts Renovation Bid Under Budget

Photo: Winn Brook Tennis Courts.

The Community Preservation Committee will be receiving a chunk of change back into its coffers after the town accepted the lowest qualified bid for the renovation of the Winn Brook Tennis Courts. 

Century Paving and Construction of Fall River was awarded the contract to replace the four tennis courts adjacent to the Winn Brook School, according to Jay Marcotte, the town’s director of the Department of Public Works. It was the low bid of the 16 firms submitting proposals for the job; he told the Board of Selectmen on Monday, April 5.

The work will begin on April 17 with a completion date of mid-June.

The good news is Century’s estimated cost of $231,100 with a 10 percent contingency – totaling $289,000 – is below the $325,000 the CPC granted and Town Meeting approved last year to repair the courts. 

If the job is completed as expected, the $36,000 in savings will be transferred back into the CPC’s budget, said Marcotte.