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Board to issue public memo, study arena sound after resident complaints ahead of rodeo season
Summary
Park County Fairgrounds and Parks Board directed the Master Plan Committee to draft options and public messaging about sound at the arena after the board received complaints; the board will publish a memo before the first rodeo to acknowledge concerns and outline next steps.
Board members spent substantial time on April 16 discussing complaints about arena sound and how the board should respond before rodeo season.
Morgan told the board she received a letter from Grant Gager, identified in the meeting as a city manager, requesting the board look into sound issues at the fairgrounds. Morgan said the Master Plan Committee had already begun reviewing technical causes such as speaker placement and wiring and recommended preparing a public memo to acknowledge concerns and summarize potential solutions the committee is investigating.
Why it matters: nearby residents and attendees have raised noise concerns. The board wants to show it is listening and to set expectations before louder events begin.
Key points from the discussion
• Public memo and timeline: Board members proposed a short public statement to be issued before the first major arena events (board discussion referenced the first arena event on June 30 as an early measurement opportunity). The memo would acknowledge complaints, describe steps the Master Plan Committee is taking (including seeking sound‑engineering assessments and collecting resident accounts), and explain that noise reduction work is a longer-term project.
• Technical and enforcement limits: Board members noted there are two sources of amplified sound to consider — the fairgrounds’ installed sound system (which the county can control) and event promoters’ or rodeo organizers’ supplemental systems (which the county cannot directly police when brought in by outside groups). The board discussed seeking options from sound engineers and possibly measuring decibel levels at daytime events as a baseline.
• Community outreach and data gathering: Morgan offered to help the committee call complainants to detail their concerns (bass, overall volume, time of day) and suggested the board consider mapping complaint locations to better understand patterns.
• Next steps: The Master Plan Committee will draft a public memo and a list of potential engineering options; the board expects to review the memo at the next meeting and to publish a statement before the main rodeo season if ready.
Quotations and attributions
Morgan reported she had already received correspondence asking the board to look into sound problems and said the Master Plan Committee had considered “placement of poles and how things are actually hooked up.”
Clarifying details
• Letter requesting review: Letter from Grant Gager (city manager) asking the board to investigate arena sound, as reported by Morgan.
• Early event for measurement: June 30 (wild-horse and burro sale) identified as an arena event where decibel measurements could be taken; the July rodeo was identified as a louder event later in the season.
What the board will do next
The Master Plan Committee will draft a short public memo describing the problem, possible solutions being evaluated, and a timeline for follow-up; the board will consider publishing that memo before the first major arena events.
