2017.09.12 CC Agenda C - Laserfiche WebLink

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6 enough about pickleball but he really appreciates the tennis courts. It means a lot to him.  John Niedfeldt Thomas, 2553 15th Street NW, just east of the park. Outside of the mailing area. He is an avid tennis player. Build a nice house, larger on the tax roll. Chose to do it there because we got a great lot and the tennis courts were an important part of why we built it. A National U.S. Association Tennis member and when he heard about this meeting said, hey, we love tennis, and what do you know about pickleball in residential communities. You heard already about the noise factor, which can be mitigated with certain balls, but overall the sport is a noisy sport. Palm Desert, California has banned pickleball, despite the large number of retirees there, because of the noise. They brought it in and then let it go. Pickleball is a great sport. It is popular with seniors, less court to cover, it’s fun and can have a good social time. It is nothing against pickleball itself, but where it is located in this proposal. It’s about the noise. The example of pickleball in Shoreview, where there are tennis and pickleball courts together and there are more pickleball players than tennis players, is because the tennis players are being driven out by the noise of pickleball. They go elsewhere to find a court. There are alternatives to pickleball, it is called Pop Tennis. Played on a 60 ft court. Played with a paddle and a quiet soft ball, like a tennis ball. It is being played in many places. There are benefits to Pop Tennis. The net is the same height as tennis, you can use the same court just add Pop Tennis lines to the existing tennis court and either standard tennis or Pop Tennis players can play. The courts are very well used despite the drastic need for repair. It is not really fair to say we should ditch these courts because they are not being used and turn it over to pickleball when folks may be choosing to go elsewhere to play on a better court. As a league tennis player, the Mounds View courts are often out of commission in the evening because tennis leagues reserve those. Irondale doesn’t have those leagues and there are other courts to play on. Pickleball is growing. There are 18 million people around the country still playing tennis. It would be nice to know the numbers for tennis and for pickleball before making a decision. He has self-interest because it is at the end of his street. He will not hear pickleball where he lives, but the folks in the radius around the park will absolutely hear it. The best they can do is mitigate the sound. Perhaps Pop Tennis would be a good alternative. But he does not see the necessity to ditch the courts that are there and bring in that noise.  Jeff Enfield, 5871 Arthur St NE, Fridley, play tennis there two to three times per week. Often both courts are being used, so he has to go somewhere else. Prefer to play there. It is 3 blocks from his house. Walk the dog by there 4 to 5 times per week, there is always someone there. Pickleball, great. Build the court somewhere else, but don’t take the tennis courts away.  Rich Morse, 1405 29th Ave NW, I probably have the only house in New Brighton that does not have air conditioning. He is about 100-150 yards from the courts. Their windows are open all the time. He really does not want to hear the plink, plink, plink of the pickleball courts. To compare to a referee whistle is ludicrous because the frequency of how often the ref blows a whistle is nowhere near the frequency of the pickleball. We hear