A mess

Wellington Tennis Courts still not completed; site left a mess

Residents and visitors alike have been questioning the state of the tennis courts in Wellington. The delay on completion is one concern, but the other is the state that the site is being left in. Concerned residents have gone over and tried to clean up the mess, but it is a much larger problem than that. Garbage lying around for days and piled so close to the park’s swingset that it has been unusable for weeks. The remnants of the crews’ lunches seen strewn about the ground and parking lot. Equipment left overnight looking like the staff just dropped it and left.

What appears to be a petroleum-based product is visible on the grounds after a heavy rain.

Rob Garden lives across the street from the tennis courts and was concerned enough to write a letter to the County, for which he has yet to receive a response. His concern is that the company doing the work has let chemicals and other substances contaminate the surrounding park area. Garden is requesting that the County shed some light on what remediation methods the resurfacing company is obligated to undertake to clean the area after the work is completed.

“It’s a complete mess over there and it’s unsafe for any of our children to play. It is unacceptable to keep a site looking like that. Especially considering it’s a County park,” says Garden.

Councillor Jim Dunlop does say that steps are being taken to clean up the site. He also says that work on the court should be completed in the next two weeks. He admits that there was a delay in getting some materials shipped in, but that was also the same answer given a month previous.

Many questions have arisen. Was there not enough supervision? What was it about this court that made things go off the rails? Why was the resurfacing company seemingly never there in the afternoons? In our current world of liability, it is hard to comprehend how this can happen.

Mississauga-based company, Court Surface Specialists was awarded the tender to restore Picton, Bloomfield and Wellington’s courts in the amount of $237,084. Picton and Bloomfield courts have been completed.

As of press time, neither the County, nor Court Surface Specialists have responded to The Times’ questions.