TENNIS COURTS IN DISREPAIR on Iron Mountain’s north side near Stanton Street will be converted into new pickleball courts with the aid of a donation secured through the Dickinson Area Community Foundation. Iron Mountain City Council hopes to award a contract for the project next month. (Theresa Proudfit/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — New pickleball courts will replace deteriorated tennis courts on Iron Mountain’s north side under a plan approved by the city council Monday.

The Dickinson Area Community Foundation has a donor who will provide significant funding for the renovation, roughly estimated at $50,000, said Jordan Stanchina, city manager.

“The north side tennis courts are in terrible condition and were selected to be removed and replaced with four new pickleball courts,” he said. “Through the donor, we’ll be able to do that.”

Pickleball is a ball-and-paddle game played over a net on a badminton-sized court. Four pickleball courts can be easily be placed within the dimensions of the two current tennis courts, Stanchina said.

The city will seek bids for the pickleball project, along with the previously approved reconstruction of the east side tennis courts. The tennis project is aided by a $58,000 Recreation Passport grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, with the city providing a $20,000 match.

Coleman Engineering is preparing bid specifications for both projects and the goal is to award a contract at the council’s June 4 meeting.

Council member Pam Maule remarked that a playground near the north side courts, off Stanton Street, needs an upgrade. There are no plans, however, to fund improvements at this time.

The east side project involves four tennis courts near Eastside Field.

In other action Monday, the council:

— Heard Stanchina report the Michigan Department of Transportation will mill and pave Stephenson Avenue from Michigan Avenue north to Kent Street. “This is welcomed news, as the microsurface placed on a few years ago is rapidly deteriorating,” he said. The work is slated for early August.

— Approved the sale of the fire department’s 1990 Pierce pumper to the Caspian-Gaastra Fire Department for $12,622. Although it was the only bid for the surplus equipment, the offer exceeded the established $12,000 minimum.

— Agreed to seek proposals for Geographic Information System parcel mapping. The finished project will allow residents, developers and city staff to see lot lines on an aerial map, with each parcel tied to its tax identification number. Norway and Breitung Township have complete GIS mapping available on their respective websites and Kingsford should be online soon, Stanchina said. The estimated cost is $40,000.

— Approved $2,500 for the Lake Antoine Association to treat the lake for invasive aquatic vegetation. That amount is down from contributions of $3,500 in recent years, as only about 4 acres will need treatment this year, said Jeff Jayne, association secretary-treasurer. “The treatments are working. As a consequence, we won’t be spending as much this year,” he said. Over the past 13 years, the association has paid a contractor about $235,000 for treatments to combat Eurasian watermilfoil and hybrid watermilfoil, which at one time covered roughly 52 acres, or 7 percent of the lake.

The council also gave its permission for the treatments, which will be done by Cason & Associates LLC of Berlin, Wis., using the herbicide 2,4-D as monitored and approved by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. City approval was needed because DEQ now requires consent from lake “bottomlands” owners in proposed treatment areas. Dickinson County also has authorized the treatment.

— Will have a letter sent encouraging the Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District to continue building homes using student labor through its building trades program. “So that we don’t eliminate something that has proven time and time again to work,” council member Bill Revord said. In Iron Mountain alone, the program has produced 28 homes with a total taxable value of more than $2.5 million. “This is a substantial tax base, based on the efforts of the kids in that class,” Revord said. The ISD plans to continue the program but may no longer do complete homes to be sold.

— OK’d a contract with Morin Excavating of Niagara, Wis., for sewer repairs at East F Street and Park Avenue, and East F and Van Buren Street, at a cost of $7,850. Bacco Construction Co. of Iron Mountain is scheduled to begin paving work on East F, along with the Pine Mountain subdivision, on May 14.

— Authorized buying a Kubota GR2120-2-54 riding mower for the parks department for $8,289 from UP Kubota of Marquette, the low bidder.

— Learned that construction has begun on a new Dollar General Store at U.S. 2 and Blaine Street. The 1.5-acre site was acquired from the city for $175,000.

— Agreed, as in past years, to close a portion of the city-owned parking lot across from Dickinson County Library for the weekly farmers market from 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays from June 2 through Oct. 20.

— Adopted a resolution in support of Bike to Work and National Bicycle Month. The resolution notes that creating bicycle-friendly communities has been shown to improve citizens’ health, well-being and quality of life.

— Noted that the spring household waste drop-off will take place Thursday, Friday and Saturday in front of the Department of Public Works, 125 N. Stephenson Ave. City residents who receive garbage service may use the free drop-off for standard household trash items. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday.