VIENNA — The Vienna City Council discussed updates on projects around town during its Oct. 16 meeting.

South Ward Alderman Brenda Davis said she had heard feedback from the public about what the city could do with the tennis courts going forward.

The tennis and basketball courts at Vienna City Park received new concrete earlier this fall after they had gotten into a state of disrepair. At the August city meeting, the aldermen had discussed possibly using the redone court for something other than tennis.

The residents had told Brenda Davis that they did not think the aldermen realized how many people use the tennis court. They suggested that the city poll residents before deciding what to do with the space.

Utilities Superintendent Shon Westart said the city would have time to decide how to use the court because he did not plan to have someone paint it until next spring.

Brenda Davis said someone had told her that one group of non-competitive tennis players in town had discussed the court. The group did not think the court would need an expensive overlay. They did not mind playing on the concrete as long as it had the lines needed to play tennis.

Westart emphasized that the concrete project was to fix both the tennis court and the basketball court. The basketball court is already open. He said the equipment is still there to put up the tennis net if residents want to use it before the paint job in the spring. If anyone wants to play tennis, they can call City Hall to ask them to put up the net.

North Ward Alderman Rita Juergens asked if bicycles would damage the concrete.

Westart said bicycles would not really damage the surface. Previous concerns had been about bicycles leaving black marks on paint. For now, the court is very slick.

“I thought it looked great,” Westart said about the new concrete. “I’m really happy with it.”

Later, Mayor Tim Schell asked if Westart had any updates on the site of the old hat factory on Chestnut Street. Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency began work to demolish the hat factory and remove and replace soil contaminated by what the agency said is “volatile organic compounds, primarily perchloroethylene (PCE).” Exposure to PCE can have both short-term and long-term health effects on people.

Demolition occurred in March. Over the summer, crews excavated the site and replaced the soil. Westart said the next phase of the project, the remediation of three contaminated drinking wells, is happening now. The wells are on the site of the old hat factory.

Brenda Davis said she had gone to see the progress at the site and “it looked really nice.”

Juergens said she would like the city to inquire about making it into a park. Westart said he could look into it.

The city council also discussed housing in town.

Westart said the city might want to consider adopting zoning regulations because he did not think additional housing would be a good idea.

Schell said he had concerns about what more housing might do to the local school district. He worried an influx of additional students might put a “big stress” on the school. He said it would also create a need for more city employees.

“We have a lot of empty lots right here in town that we can’t get people to build on,” Schell said. He said it might be worth it to look into zoning some areas for industrial use.

Also at the meeting, City Clerk Karen Dudenhoeffer said many checks go in and out of City Hall. She often has to get in touch with aldermen outside of regular business hours. She asked the aldermen to consider raising the minimum dollar amounts for two signatures on checks instead of one. The bank had told her the city could change the signature rules on its account.

Brenda Davis asked if $200 worked as a new threshold.

Dudenhoeffer said she would not mind going higher, but the decision came down to what is comfortable to the aldermen.

Juegens said she did not want to go as high as $500 for the minimum.

South Ward Alderman Chuck Davis suggested $300. The aldermen approved a motion to allow the city to use a single alderman’s signature to sign checks worth $300 or less. All checks of greater value require the signatures of at least two aldermen.