Plans are underway to open nine new pickleball courts within Foley city limits later this year.

Situated on city-owned property north of the Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermen's Market and east of Koniar Way, the courts are set to provide residents with enhanced recreational opportunities.

Foley City Council met on Monday, April 15 and  approved funding allocation toward road construction, enabling access to the designated site. Additionally, the council authorized the solicitation of bids for the construction of the courts.

According to David Thompson, Foley's executive director for leisure services, the financing for the court construction will be covered by impact fees. These fees, charged to new developments, aim to offset the augmented demand for municipal services resulting from construction activities.

“This is with impact fee dollars. This is why we collect impact fee dollars, to expand our recreational opportunities,” Thompson said. “We are building nine courts but we're also building sidewalks that go with that and a buffer to make sure that it fits in with what we're doing with the Farmers Market.”

Thompson said the project should be ready to go out to bid by summer and completed later this year. He also stated that city officials are going over plans for the site in order to see if any costs can be cut.

“We want to look back at what has been proposed and see if we can scale back a little bit. We're gonna look at trying to save some of the costs,” Thompson said.

Thompson clarified that road construction costs would be covered by the city's General Fund, as impact fees cannot be allocated for such purposes.

“The road is separate. That’s out of the General Fund,” Thompson stated.

While some road construction tasks were undertaken by municipal street department crews, the remaining project components, including parking lot construction, paving and water detention systems, will be outsourced through a bidding process.