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Residents urge council to pursue quiet zone for train horns and question a condo project in old-growth forest
Summary
Two residents during public expression asked council to act on train-horn mitigation using Federal Railroad Administration guidance and raised concerns about removal of old-growth trees for a condo development; one speaker said protesters were met by a police presence.
Two members of the public raised separate concerns at the Sept. 9 Hammond City Council meeting.
Bernard Gully of 11 Seoul Avenue urged the council to pursue a railroad "quiet zone" and distributed a Federal Railroad Administration fact sheet on establishing quiet zones. Gully said trains park very close to his home and that the FRA guidance allows municipalities to establish quiet zones or partial quiet zones under certain conditions. He asked council members to bring the matter to the attention of the relevant railroad authority; his remarks were cut off at three minutes by the time limit.
Mary Shones, who said she lives at 3945 Wabash, criticized city action she described as inconsistent: she said the city hosted an event called a "Lorax lunch" on Aug. 10 while the city is also pursuing tree removal in an old-growth forest to make way for a condo development. Shones said she and others who went to distribute information about the development were met by a line of police officers and that protest activity was constrained while city workers filled council chambers. She said an online survey solicited reasons to support the condo development but did not ask whether residents wanted the project at all.
Neither public comment resulted in formal council action at the Sept. 9 meeting; both speakers asked for follow-up or attention by council members.
