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Resident questions enforcement and decibel checks in proposed noise ordinance
Summary
During public comment Fred Koch asked who will enforce draft ordinance 648.17 (peace disturbance) and whether the city will use certified decibel meters; Director of Law Schneider replied the draft carries a criminal penalty and sits in the peace disturbance chapter.
A resident used the council’s public-comment period to press officials on enforcement of a draft noise ordinance and on consistency with other local noise-related rules.
Mr. Fred Koch (11687 Woodview Boulevard) asked who would enforce draft ordinance 648.17 — identified in the discussion as a peace-disturbance provision — and whether the city would use a certified decibel meter to measure a 60-decibel threshold. "Who is going to enforce it?" Koch asked. "Are they going to have a certified meter, to be recording this noise ordinance?"
Council President Tom Rounds noted the ordinance was still in draft form. Director of Law Schneider replied that the provision carries a criminal penalty and is included in the city’s general offenses under the peace disturbance chapter. Koch compared text in related ordinances (648.15 and 648.16) and questioned why the draft sets an 8 a.m. start time for residents when contractor activity can begin earlier; he also gave a practical example that garbage trucks sometimes start routes near 6:00 a.m. and said he had not seen enforcement in similar circumstances.
Council did not take action on the draft ordinance at the meeting; officials acknowledged the draft status and said the council would consider the concerns raised.
