Editors, Vineyard Gazette;

In response to the recent article on Chilmark considering a ban on new pickleball courts, sure, the sound of the paddle striking the ball makes a popping-like noise. The sound travels a bit. But it wouldn’t surprise me if many of the people objecting to the noises emanating from the pickleball courts are some of the same people who hire landscape companies who use ridiculous gas-powered mowers, hedge trimmers and

blowers, which are not only far noisier than the sounds of pickleball but are also hugely polluting as well.

I have switched my working tools to battery-powered ones. The noise from them is but a fraction of what is emitted by gas-powered equipment. I’ve had my mower for six years without a speck of trouble. The blower is certainly as powerful as the polluting ones. The same can be said of the hedge trimmer. No fumes, no pollution.

Is the Chilmark select board (and those of our other towns) willing to outlaw gas-powered lawn-care equipment, or would that actually-worthwhile step be above their pay grade?

Steve Auerbach

Oak Bluffs