‘Really disappointing’: Port Moody council vexed at staff over slow progress on pickleball courts, dog park

Port Moody council expressed frustration with city staff due the slow progress on two priority capital projects: a new pickleball facility behind city hall and a dog management strategy.

The projects, which were both approved years ago, have still not been completed. Staff notified council on June 10 that additional budget allocations were now required.

“This is really disappointing,” said Mayor Meghan Lahti. “These two decisions were made at the early days of this council . . . it’s really frustrating to give direction and then not see it (happen).”

During the first quarter of 2025, finance and parks staff conducted a review of active capital projects, with the goal of assessing needs, alignment with strategic priorities, deliverability and budget allocations.

As a result, 21 projects approved from 2017 to 2024 were scuttled due to redundancies, saving around $100,000 annually; 15 were folded into similar existing projects; and seven required additional funding – including the pickleball facility and dog strategy.

The estimated budget for construction of the former has doubled, requiring an additional $150,000; while the latter’s budget has jumped from $30,000 to $50,000. Both are funded through the Growing Communities Fund.

Costs have increased for the pickleball facility due to increased construction and material costs since the original estimate was given in 2021/2022, as well as archaeological investigation cost estimates being “considerably higher than anticipated.”

Additional funding for the dog management strategy is required for short-term implementation of existing facilities and infrastructure.

While Lahti said she understood the cost increases, she was vexed by the delays and lack of communication from staff.

After asking when the pickleball facility’s construction would be completed, Kim Law, acting general manager of engineering and operations, said staff are in the early design phase. 

He noted the archaeological investigation requires permits as the site has high archeological potential, which can take between six months and a year to be approved. Staff have yet to apply.

It was not the answer the mayor was looking for.

“We asked for this three years ago. Why did this not come forward at the time? Why are we only now just making those applications? Why has this been sitting there for this amount of time, and now we’re being told it’s another six months?”

City manager Anna Mathewson, while not excusing the delays, noted that staff did present a short term strategy for tennis and pickleball last year, which ate up staff resources and capacity.

“It’s not like we’re just starting the project now,” she said. “This project has been underway for a little while, and we’ve been navigating with some of the Indigenous advising . . . over the last few months.”

Lahti expressed similar frustration over the dog management strategy, noting that a pilot project for an off-leash dog area in Bert Flinn Park – which has been folded into the dog management strategy – was one of the very first items approved by council after the election.

Coun. Kyla Knowles, who chairs the Parks and Environment Committee, said she also brought up the same concerns over delays to the pilot project at a recent meeting.

Erin Embley, director of environment and parks, said due to the broader scope of the strategy, the primary issue has been finding enough staff time to complete the work.

She noted, however, that staff intend to present a report by the end of the month.

Coun. Samantha Agtarap also voiced concerns over a lack of progress on a number of other priority capital projects funded through the Growing Community Fund. 

Port Moody received $6.7 million from the provincial grant, intended for infrastructure and amenities projects to accommodate population growth.  

Agtarap noted that some projects in the report have “zero activity.”

“We’ve given direction . . . so a little bit disappointed to see that we’re a bit behind on some of these things,” she said. “The purpose of that fund was to [support] projects that benefit our community, and it’s just taking a long time.”

Mathewson, however, noted that completion percentages in the report are “a little misleading,” and work is underway.

“We’re very aware that these are priority projects. We’re doing our best to fit them in with the workload,” she said. 

Paul Rockwood, general manager of finance, noted the city has a policy in place which triggers an investigation when a project has not started within three years of it being approved.

Coun. Callan Morrison said that reporting timeline was “way too long.” 

He said if council has approves funding towards a project and it stagnates, not only do costs go up, but the allocated funds become trapped instead of being utilized elsewhere.

“I want to know which ones haven’t started earlier, rather than three years down the road,” he said. “I think that we should be having a conversation as a council about how long that time frame should be.”

Coun. Kyla Knowles agreed, stating departments which have incomplete high priority projects on the books should complete them before approaching council with new budgetary asks.

Rockwood noted that finance staff are embarking on a new capital planning reporting process, in which progress would be reported quarterly.