Some meetings in Provincetown are in person, some are online, and some are both. Click on the meeting you want to attend on the calendar at provincetown-ma.gov for a link to an agenda and details.
Thursday, June 23
- School Committee, 5 p.m., Provincetown Schools
- Public Pier Corp. Board, 5 p.m.
- Planning Board, 6 p.m., Town Hall
Monday, June 27
Select Board, 6 p.m., Town Hall
Tuesday, June 28
- Licensing Board, 5:15 p.m., Town Hall
Conversation Starters
Hating on Pickleball
“We need to move the pickleball courts as far out of town as possible,” John Golden told his fellow select board members on June 13, “because this is going to be a continual problem.”
Golden’s pickleball tirade did not come out of thin air. Earlier in the meeting two citizens called in from the West End, where they live next to the pickleball courts on Nickerson Street.
“It is driving us nuts,” one of them, Roger Secours, told the select board.
He said the recreation commission did not adequately research the consequences of the popular game. Neighborhood lawsuits over pickleball noise have been legion throughout the U.S. and Canada.
“It is affecting my mental and physical health, I’ll tell you that right now,” Secours added.
Since a basketball court was striped for pickleball in 2021, those living around Nickerson Street have lobbed continual complaints at the recreation commission, which has tried to limit the hours of pickleball play and renovate other courts in the East End and at Motta Field. So far, that has not gone well. The East End residents played defense and blocked the renovation of basketball courts in their neighborhood. The long-planned Motta Field renovation of tennis courts to include pickleball has also timed out because of neighborhood concerns.
Those living at the Seashore Point condominiums won’t want pickleball courts nearby at Motta Field, Golden said.
“I am not interested in how upset pickleball players will be,” Golden continued, “because this is really upsetting to people in town.”
Select board member Louise Venden asked that the select board put pickleball on a future meeting agenda. The recreation commission and town staff will be invited. —K.C. Myers
