Murrysville tennis club looks to add outdoor courts, host sanctioned tournaments

The Murrysville Racquet Club would like to add a half-dozen outdoor courts to its Norbatrol Court property, giving it the ability to host U.S. Tennis Association tournaments.

“We’re looking to have six courts because that’s the standard by which the USTA governs the type of tournaments they’d like to host,” said Brian Almeter of design firm Fahringer McCarty & Grey. “The intent is that the outdoor courts will be used during the summer months and the indoor courts will be used in the winter.”

Developer Arshad Hafeez emphasized the importance of a good drainage system in maintaining the outdoor courts.

“A lot of times, they just slap on some asphalt and paint it,” he said. “But our drainage system is going to help, and we’re going to cover the outdoor courts in the winter. We think they will last about 10 years.”

Hafeez added that the USTA requires a certain maintenance schedule for tournament-sanctioned venues.

The outdoor courts will be open from dawn to dusk. There are no plans for bleachers or other seating.

During a public hearing at Wednesday’s Murrysville Council meeting, one of the conditions proposed for the project is that Hafeez come back before council if he does decide to add seating someday.

The racquet club property is bordered by Turtle Creek to the south and the Westmoreland Heritage Trail to the north.

Tennis’s profile in Murrysville got a recent boost this spring with Franklin Regional’s Anup Nadesan and Advait Kulkarni earning the school’s first WPIAL doubles tennis championship.

Alternate road surfacing

Council also voted unanimously Wednesday night to advertise for an alternate road surfacing project on Mamont Road. Chief Administrator Jim Morrison said the surfacing is essentially a seal coat.

“What we try to do is extend the life of roads that have been paved recently,” Morrison said. “We’ve done Wiestertown Road and Pleasant Valley Road the past two years, and it’s worked out very well. So we’re going to try it one more year on Mamont, and then make a decision on whether to make it part of our annual road program.”

Other business

• Council voted unanimously to approve stormwater management changes to Villa Ciano, a previously approved, 23-lot subdivision along Cline Hollow Road.

• Council voted unanimously to advertise an ordinance accepting new rights of way along Silvis and Bollinger roads. The roads will be widened as part of the conditions imposed on Olympus Energy’s Titan well pad, the first fracking well to be approved in Murrysville.

• Council entered into an excess maintenance agreement with Eastern Gas Transmisison & Storage for their use of just under six miles of Murrysville roads during the replacement of an existing natural gas pipeline.

Morrison said the majority of work would take place along Hills Church Road.