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4 <br /> <br />young families in our neighborhood. She is deeply grateful for <br />Councilmember Burg and whoever else pushed for the letter to let us <br />know what was going on. The City needs to be transparent and consider <br />keeping the tennis court. I heard on the video that there is $76 ,000 in a <br />fund for the City (maybe to use in 2020), it was hard to hear, some of that <br />money was earmarked for the tennis court; potentially for pickleball. I’m <br />asking that you take that money and if you feel the need to resurface the <br />tennis court, then do that. That is what we are asking. <br /> Mark Reker, 2950 18th Street NW, I consider myself to be in the Hidden <br />Oaks Park neighborhood, even though I was outside of the mailing area. I <br />consider it a neighborhood park that goes down to 14 th Street and maybe <br />further. The letter did not come to him. He is the unnamed person who <br />asked for the outdoor pickleball courts. He did not specifically say they <br />needed to be in Hidden Oaks Park, but in looking at the layout of the parks <br />in New Brighton, that was the best fit for the outdoor pickleball courts in <br />New Brighton. He wanted to summarize reasons for outdoor pickleball <br />courts. <br />o There is a very high interest in pickleball in New Brighton. I have <br />been a leader in the Northwest area. There have been at times 14- <br />15 people waiting to play at the Community Center and Highview <br />and I have experienced this first hand. <br />o The Shoreview area pickleball club started out in 2014 when they <br />added there 6 permanent courts and had 155 members. It grew to <br />274 in 2015, 319 in 2016, and over 20 0 by May of this year already. <br />There is definitely interest and demand for it. New Brighton has <br />done well in the past and ask that they step up and move forward <br />with that. At Shoreview’s 6 courts; I play there often, there are <br />often 10-15 people waiting. I need to explain to folks that it is not <br />like tennis where you find a friend to go play. What is attractive to <br />pickleball players is a pick up time. Need to have 4 – 6 courts so <br />you can get people in and then you rotate in. You play 10-15 <br />minutes a piece and you rotate in. You meet a lot of different <br />people. It is a social event. That is what I have been driving New <br />Brighton to do; what other communities are doing. I ask that we <br />continue to go there. <br />o Regarding park utilization. Resources in New Brighton are tight. <br />Parks are tight, the footprint is tight. If you set up an outdoor <br />pickleball court like I described with 6 courts where people can do <br />pickup games, you will have a 10x to 20x park visit increase versus <br />a tennis player. This is based on information from Shoreview. They <br />have 2 tennis courts (which is the same footprint at 6 pickleball <br />courts). They showed a few 100 tennis players showing up and <br />there will be 5000 pickleball players over the Minnesota season. It <br />is pretty efficient park utilization. We need to look at that. Parks are <br />precious. I’m not sure they are as heavily used as some of these <br />people say. I drive by that park as well. <br />o There are zero outdoor pickleball courts right now and there are 8 <br />tennis courts in New Brighton. In addition to that at Irondale there <br />are 8 tennis courts and there are 8 more at Mounds View High <br />School that are available to the public and very accessible to tennis