02-06-2023 Park Commission Meeting Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PARK COMMISSION February 6, 2023 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 9 of 14 Bob Jaffray, Barrett Avenue, just down Orchard Road. I think the biggest concerns for me are the sound, the lights, the traffic and what’s going to happen to the area. I was a parent for a long time in youth hockey. There will be lots of traffic, probably up until 10 o'clock, and lights are on. Orchard Road itself will change dramatically. It’s just the change of the area in terms of the setting and solitude. It's just a radical change from what everyone has enjoyed for years, decades. I think it's a wrong decision. There's got to be a better place. I would vote for number three. Henry Brantingham, 3185 County Road 6, said he doesn’t golf and doesn’t live near the course but wanted to give a perspective on community input. I was at the open house. I had 13 seconds to read your summary of the of the comments, one of which was mine. I was gratified to hear that you're heading toward option two until 10 minutes ago. Unless you've got a bunch of people in the wings who are going to stand up and say this is a great idea, we ought to do it, unless you want to completely blow off your community input, it's option three. Forget the workshop. There's no reason unless you want to talk about some other location. That'd be a great workshop. But the golf course is, as far as I'm concerned, based on everything I've heard, it's got to be off the table. Marsha Rokke, 180 Orono Orchard Road, said she has lived 50 years in that house this month. Please don't destroy the golf course. Hockey rink? Do we have to buy a Zamboni then? What if the weather doesn't keep the ice frozen, then it's just too much. This is absolutely an incredibly not appropriate idea. Please go for option three. Or bag the whole thing altogether. Thank you, Gordy, for your comments, and your support. Brian Rasmussen, 1186 Wildhurst Trail said pickleball has changed his life. I think it's an extremely positive thing. And I wonder if it was 100 years ago today, and you guys wanted to put in a golf course there, would the neighbors be saying, well, there's gonna be a lot of traffic, that's gonna affect wildlife, where would we be today? Marsha Rokke, returning to the podium, said she just wanted to add one thing. There was no civic email for this meeting again. And it happens quite frequently. So the public did not get an email, if they're subscribed to it, saying there was a meeting tonight. It's got to be fixed. If you sign up on the listserve to be notified for the meetings, there was no notification. Julie Jones, 3349 Crystal Bay Road, said she and her husband love Pickleball and love golf. I have four kids and they started playing at Orono Golf Course and one of them played Division One golf. I took them sledding all the time at Orono. I have caught a glimpse of the gem. I'm glad you're picking option two. There's really no place in Orono to play pickleball besides on tennis courts that have pickleball lines and it's very, very difficult. Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America. It's grown 40 percent. I'm a member at Lifetime and I played Division One tennis. Tennis players are kind of irked because they're changing tennis courts into pickleball courts, but it's just booming. I think to keep Orono vital you've got to stay with the times and there's a lot of demand and desire to play pickleball and it's not just old people like me, it is inter-generational. I'm hoping some of you have played pickleball with your kids. It's not just