The El Dorado Works Board is expected today to hear a funding request of more than $86,600 to cover another component in an ongoing effort to improve city parks.

Since the El Dorado Parks and Playgrounds Commission last met in regular session on Aug. 23, the EWB has added to its agenda a funding proposal to upgrade the tennis courts in Mellor Park.

The meeting will be held at 5:15 p.m. today in the Council Chamber of City Hall.

While discussing the matter last week, EPPC chairman Ken Goudy told commissioners that a contractor has expressed interest in and availability to do the work within the next several weeks and that the project needs to be bid.

The work entails resurfacing and repairing cracks in all six tennis courts and converting the three courts on the south end (upper courts) of the facility into eight pickleball courts.

The three north (lower) courts will be filled, leveled and resurfaced for tennis.

The job also includes sanding, cleaning, repainting, replacing the nets and adding windscreens.

The work is estimated at $86,640, not including prep and other work — fencing, lighting and ground leveling — that will be performed by the Department of Public Works.

Goudy noted that the EPPC has long discussed the prioritizing the Mellor Park tennis court improvements in the next phase of a master plan to improve city parks.

“We had a hard time getting bids just to do anything over there,” Goudy said.

“There’s a window of opportunity here because these people can probably come in here sometime in the latter part of September and do this,” he continued. “Otherwise, it may be a year out.”

Work to draft the plan began in the fall of 2018 when commissioners toured several city parks to identify and assess needs.

In the ensuing months, they also solicited feedback from the public to help develop a master plan to improve city parks.

Park improvements that have been done within the past two years have mostly been funded by the El Dorado Works tax.

The one-cent city sales tax is administered by the EWB and is dedicated to economic development, municipal infrastructure and quality-of-life projects.

Over the past two years, the EWB and El Dorado City Council have approved:

• A total of $186,740 to pave the recreational trail surrounding Lions Club Municipal Golf Course ($166,000); purchase a powered lawn sweeper ($16,346) for LCMGC; and purchase and install five, park-style, charcoal BBQ grills for Neel, Mattocks, Mellor, Mosby and Old City parks…