Hi, everyone,

Thanks again for signing and supporting the petition to restore the Piney Wood closing time to 9 p.m.

I submitted the petition of more than 300 (!) signatures on 12/23 to the head of DPR, the assistant city manager overseeing that department, and the council member in District 3 (Piney Wood's location). As part of the submission I requested that DPR provide a point of contact for the issue, a timeline for review and decisions, and a 30-minute meeting in the next couple of weeks. Here's the response I received:

Thank you for reaching out and for taking the time to engage in the civic process by sharing your concerns and requests regarding the Piney Wood pickleball court hours. We appreciate the thoughtful input provided by you and the 304 individuals who signed the petition.

This message confirms that we have received your email and the attached petition. Staff will review as part of our ongoing consideration of court operations and community impacts.

Thank you again for your engagement and for your interest in working collaboratively with Durham

Wade Walcutt

Director

While I appreciate the confirmation, there isn't much to go on and yesterday emailed Wade Walcutt for information on timing; I'm awaiting a response.

I'll send an update when I know more; if we don't hear anything in the next two weeks I'll turn up the heat to get a response.

In the meantime, if anyone is or knows a sound engineer or someone knowledgeable about sound mitigation, please let me know (text me at 434-987-2067); I'd like to explore solutions independent of DPR. And if anyone's interested in joining me in conversations with DPR, assuming they happen, please reach out to me.

Thanks!

Andy