LOWER MERION — Lower Merion commissioners are expected to approve a $181,890 plan to renovate and reconfigure the basketball courts at Wynnewood Valley Park.
During a recent finance committee meeting, the commissioners recommended approving the contract to Mayfield Site Contractors, Inc. to conduct the work.
The work includes the complete removal of the existing basketball court, grading or reorienting a new basketball court 90 degrees so it fits in the topography better. There will also be new fencing and stormwater features, including a rain garden.
Wynenwood Valley Park is located along Remington Road in the Penn Wynne section.
Commissioner Scott Zelov asked who would maintain the rain garden.
Ernie McNeely, township manager, said there really isn’t much maintenance for rain gardens.
“The idea of a rain garden is that there’s not much maintenance required of it. It takes stormwater from the basketball court and soaks it into the ground,” McNeely said.
Commissioner Rick Churchill, who represents the area of Penn Wynne where the park is located, said there is a Friends of the Wynnewood Valley Park that could probably handle any necessary maintenance.
“Thank you very much for pointing that out. Friends groups do really add great value to our parks,” Zelov responded.
Churchill said that with the court currently configured, if a basketball goes over the fence, it will end up in the nearby creek. Under the new configuration, the ball will just go into the grass.
The winning bid came in $28,110, or 13%, less than the township’s estimated construction budget of $210,000. There is also $3,000 of contingencies that will only be used if and when directed by the township.
The project was initially awarded to another contractor. However, when they failed to mobilize several months after the township issued the Notice to Proceed, the contract was mutually terminated for nonperformance.
The commissioners are expected to vote on the renovations at their next meeting on Oct. 22.