Clarksburg Trying Out Pickleball
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — After a lengthy discussion over pickleball last week, the Select Board voted to allow temporary tape lines for the game to be taped on the basketball court.
Newly elected board member Robert Norcross has been advocating to use part of the basketball court for pickleball for the past year. Norcross, also a member of the Council on Aging, said the sport was popular and could help attract more members.
Last year, he had wanted to paint lines on the court at Town Field but the Select Board balked at the idea. Then board member Danielle Luchi had objected to painting the court without determining the appropriate materials to use and questioned the community's ability to use the court. Now town treasurer, she raised the same objections last week.
"Are we just going to allow Bob to pick up spray paint?" she asked. Norcross responded that he had spoken to his former colleagues at state Transportation Department was told he only needed to use non-skid paint.
"It's just lines on the court," he said, pointing out that other communities including Adams had multiuse courts, particularly for pickleball and tennis. The COA would purchase a portable net for use on the court and would share it with those playing basketball.
Chair Jeffrey Levanos thought the sharing would work since it seemed that younger people tended to be there later in the day. But he also questioned with how this would work as a community court since it was on the Town Field.
"What would we do for the townspeople?" he asked. "What do we do if the townspeople want to use it?"
Norcross said anyone could buy a portable net and paddles and use the court. But others at the meeting didn't think asking taxpayers to buy their own net to use a town facility seemed right. A quick search online shows portable pickleball nets tend run about $100 and up.
"That's a community space ... and you can't put a permanent net in place," said Luchi. "It's sort of not fair to everyone in the community."
The board discussed placing a net in a storage container at the field, or at Town Hall or the Community Center. There was also a brief conversation of using leftover asphalt to pave a section of the road leading behind the center, or why the COA members couldn't use the five courts in North Adams.
"We want to do things more in Clarksburg," said Norcross. "We're thinking about what we can do to attract younger people."
He said the COA represented more than 500 residents but acknowledged that only about eight have so far evinced interest in pickleball, although he expected more if a court was set up.
The discussion got heated at times with Norcross getting frustrated that he couldn't simply paint some lines and called Luchi "an obstacle."
"You make it sound like the whole town's against you but we're not," said Levanos.
He and board member Daniel Haskins were leery of doing anything permanent to the basketball court for a small group. They voted to allow for taping the court to measure the interest and, if there was, how to move forward. A new pickleball court was estimated to cost about $30,000 and could be a future option if the town wanted one.
There was a lot of back and forth during the meeting, so much so that Town Clerk Marilyn Gomeau felt she had to speak up, saying she, Luchi and the new employees who had come into Town Hall after last year's debacle had "worked our butts off" to get the town back in shape.
"If it wasn't for Danielle this town would be in receivership," she said. "You've got a great team. We work hard everyday to keep this town going. ... I will not work as town clerk under these circumstances."
In other business, the board voted to appoint Ronald Boucher to the Council on Aging. This appointment had been held off from the last meeting because the board had no list of who was on the COA or their terms. They did not have it this meeting either but went forward in appointing Boucher to a three-year term. Norcross pushed for it saying the board didn't have enough people.
• The board also made the annual appointments as follows: B.J. Church, building inspector and zoning officer; Kyle Hurlbut, cemetery commissioner; Norman Rolnick, sewer connection inspector; KP Law, town counsel; Michael Williams, emergency management director; Carlyle "Chip" Chesbro, emergency management response and fire warden; Kevin Hempstead, fire/police; Carl McKinney, Northern Berkshire Solid Waste District representative, and Jeffrey Levanos as alternate; Allan Reutlinger and Tracy Pierce, Board of Assessors; Stephen Meranti, Recreation Committee; Marilyn Gomeau, Board of Registrars clerk; election workers: Jeanne Moulthrop, John Fosser, Arlene Vachereau, Debbie Bua, Susan Brandon, Chuck LeWitt, Carla Fosser, Carol Martin, Deb Rosselli, Laurie Boudreau, Maryrose Calnan, Janice Evans and Marguerite Slade.
Police officers: Sgt. Peter Wheeler, Peter Kirchmann, Todd Winthrop, Natasha Antona, Christopher Ware and Jeffrey Mullen.
Three-year appointments: Jason Morin, Board of Appeals, and Jeanne Moulthrop, Historical Commission.
• There are still a number of vacant positions. Anyone interested should contact Town Hall. The posts are: one-year terms on the Hoosac Water Quality District and Board of Assessors; one and two-year alternates on the Conservation Commission; two-year terms on the ADA Commission and Recreation Committee; and three-year term on the Conservation Commission.
• The board also approved a contract with a Northbrough textile recyler to site two collection boxes at Town Hall. Textiles will be banned from the waste stream beginning in November. The community will get 7 cents a pound for the collections.
• The board approved raising fees for municipal certificates from $25 to $50 and one-time demand fees from $5 to $30. Luchi said these fees are comparable with other communities. It also approved using $16,000 in infrastructure money to purchase a used pickup for the highway department.
