By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Pickleball noise at Kelly Park seems to be in a normal decibel range.

That was the finding presented to the Warsaw Parks and Recreation Board at its meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 17.

Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department Superintendent Larry Plummer said he and Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department Maintenance Director Shaun Gardner measured the sound.

The decibel reading was done in response to a complaint by Judy Heiman at the board’s meeting in September. Heiman, who lives right by Kelly Park, said the noise from the play has affected her quality of life.

Plummer said he and Gardner took the measurements on Wednesday, Oct. 11.

“All the courts were being used. There were four people on every court out there,” he said. “And we went to the … spot … right at the edge of Judy’s property. The highest decibel ever recorded was 50 decibels … The next property over was 52 decibels.”

“The third property over was 57 decibels and at the corner of the basketball courts which is directly right behind the (pickleball) courts, it was 60 decibels with a spike of 65 decibels,” said Plummer. “We were at each location approximately five minutes and in our observation normal talking between Shaun and I was at 68 decibels. We had a trash truck on Baker Street that was at 70 decibels.”

“I was able to talk to one of the (other) residents that live directly behind the courts, and they have no problem with the courts, said that it didn’t bother them,” said Plummer.

Board President Steve Haines said he looked up information from the World Health Organization regarding decibel levels.

“Residential areas like (the one by Kelly Park), 55 to 60 (decibels) is the normal outside range during the day,” said Haines.

Board Member Michelle Boxell said perhaps Heiman wasn’t bothered so much by the loudness of the sound as the consistency of it.

Plummer also presented information to the board regarding costs to put in electronic gates at courts to partially restrict playtime and put a building over the courts to block out sound. Both were suggestions made by Heiman at the September meeting to control the noise.

He said the gates were quoted at “between $13,000 and $20,000 per (each one).”

Plummer said a quote he received for a building was more than $1.356 million due to allowing for it to be tall enough over the courts “to accommodate tennis” and have needed features of lighting, insulation and more.

The board agreed to take no action on suggested changes to Kelly Park and wait to see if Heiman would respond. She wasn’t present at the meeting.

Center Lake Trail

The board also heard a quick update on the Center Lake Recreational Trail project from Plummer.

“The trail continues to progress on time,” he said. “Sections of the 10-foot sidewalks are poured. The retaining wall has all been put in.”

“We got the concrete slabs in for the kayak kiosks. The kiosks have been moved onto the slabs, so it’s going to take shape here in the next couple of weeks,” Plummer added.

He noted a $1 million donation from the Sasso family was given for the trail project.

In response to a question, Plummer said the trail project was set to be done by Friday, Dec. 8, but it may be completed before then.

‘Light Up the Night’

The board also heard about plans for the Christmas event “Light Up the Night” from Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department Recreation Director Stephanie Schaefer.

She said the event would be 6-8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, at Central Park.

In addition to the light display, there will be goodie bags, glow necklaces and Santa and Mrs. Claus.

In response to a question, Schaefer said pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus will not be inside the Zimmer Biomet Center Lake Pavilion.

In other business, the board:

• Agreed to install six statues donated by the late Milton and Marie Holmgrain, with two planned for Bixler Park, three at Ker Park and one by Krebs Trailhead.
• Heard seasonal laborer Isaiah Owens was the September team member of the month.

The board’s next meeting is 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21, at Warsaw City Hall.