After Town Meeting this fall provided the votes necessary to continue with the design of pickleball courts at Burchard Park, it is now time for a public input meeting for the construction. The Recreation Master Plan Steering Committee invites you to learn about and provide input for the proposed courts on January 18 at 7 pm via Zoom. In editorial comment-land, I will say that I hope there will be an in-person meeting some day as well as I think the interaction is better there. Also, sometimes there are cookies.

Now, in a surprise move (or a surprise to me, anyway, not having attended the recent 7 am RMPSC meetings), there is an additional proposal for the demolition and reconstruction of tennis and basketball courts at Burchard Park. I will say that the Owl is somewhat nonplussed at this addition but will hold judgment (as if anyone cares for strigine comment–reminder, this is a blog…not “real” news).

Regarding the pickleball proposal, as a reminder, six pickleball courts will be located near the southwest parking area. Several changes have been made to the concept shared last fall. Design is being funded through the Community Preservation Act.

In addition to pickleball, the RMPSC is proposing a demolition and reconstruction of the existing tennis and basketball courts as part of the same project. The courts have experienced excessive surface and foundational cracking. The damage is too severe to be remedied through a standard re-surfacing and can become hazardous in the near future. Doing both at the same time will result in substantial cost savings for the town. Design for this portion is being funded through the Recreation Department enterprise fund.

You can view the current draft of the plan here.

The meeting will take place Wednesday, January 18, 7 PM via Zoom, with log-in information available on the agenda.  Please consider attending and giving your polite and constructive feedback.

And for no particular reason, let me just add “go ‘cats!”