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Resident returns to council with repeated noise complaint; police and staff discuss mitigation options
Summary
A resident who has repeatedly raised nighttime bass from a Cypress Street bar told council the sound now includes strong low frequencies that decibel meters often do not detect; council discussed insulation, speaker reorientation, grants and stronger ordinance enforcement and agreed to pursue inspections and further action.
Miss Flores, a longtime Pecos resident, returned to the city podium on Nov. 13 to press the council again about loud music and low-frequency bass coming from a nearby bar on Cypress Street. She said the noise wakes her nightly and described mitigation measures she had tried, including speaking to the bar manager.
“From what I've seen, is, plywood. Those are not noise deterrents at all,” Miss Flores said, asking whether the venue’s sound system is grandfathered and whether recent remodels explain the change in noise levels.
Council members and staff discussed the technical challenge of measuring low-frequency bass, noting that standard decibel meters can under-report low frequencies even when residents feel the sound. A staff member said police had taken decibel readings that generally fell between 57 and 65 dB at Cypress Street but acknowledged the bass component can be felt without producing high decibel meter readings.
Council discussed options including asking the venue to reorient speakers, requiring insulation or sound abatement as a condition of future permits, pursuing grants to help the business with acoustic improvements, increasing code-enforcement follow-up, and documenting incidents with time-stamped logs and officer visit reports. Council asked staff to inspect the site and report back with options.
No ordinance change or enforcement penalty was adopted at the meeting; council directed staff to pursue inspection and further discussion at a future meeting.
