A plethora of pickleball players presented public comment to the Pagosa Springs Town Council at its most recent meeting.
“Wow, we have a house full,” Mayor Don Volger observed. “Now, raise your hand if you’re here for the pickleball issue.”
Every seat in the audience gallery was full and a small crowd had formed at the door of the council chambers. Almost every hand went up, which made everyone laugh.
The mayor went over the guidelines for public comment and explained that the item wasn’t on the agenda, so the council could only listen without discussing the matter or making any decisions.
However, since there was so much interest, the mayor promised to make sure it gets on the next agenda. Town Manager Greg Schulte confirmed this week that it will be on the agenda for July 7.
Heidi Moller, the local ambassador for the USA Pickleball Association, was the first audience member to speak. She offered the council a handout and thanked the town and the parks department for letting the pickleball players use the Ross Aragon Community Center and South Pagosa Park.
“For me, it’s a real thrill to watch people learn how to play pickleball,” Moller began. “It takes about 15 minutes and they go, ‘Ahhh! I get it.’ Then in another 15 or 20 minutes they are just really into the game.”
When pickleball started here in 2010, there were only five people playing, but now Moller said there are 93 people on her email list, 23 of those email contacts are couples, and the number is constantly growing. She just had five new people join that day.
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