McCordsville Town Hall
Daily Reporter file photo
McCORDSVILLE – McCordsville Town Council tabled its new noise ordinance draft until the next council meeting to allow for more work to be done, including a work session set for a later date.
John Price, town council member, has been working closely on amending the old noise ordinance for the town and said that the committee was able to meet with an external noise expert on March 22 to provide some guidance.
The committee consists of Price, town councilor and lead; Paul Casey, police chief; Erik Pullman, building commissioner; Tim Gropp, town manager; Blair Borrmann, resident; and Beth Copeland, legal counsel.
Price said that while they are making progress, there are still working on finding a solution to some differences town councilmen have on the noise ordinance, such as decibel levels.
“The principal issues we’re wrestling with is what are the decibel levels that should be applied and what times,” said Price at the meeting. “And do we stick with the decibel A level reading or do we switch over to a different filter, decibel C, that’s more responsible for the low bass sounds.”
With the unanimous vote to table the ordinance until the next meeting to allow for more work to be done, a few residents spoke on the topic during the public comment period of the town council meeting.
One resident shared that he and his wife just moved to Vintner’s Park in the last few months to be closer to family but was not aware of the level of noise that would come from Daniel’s Vineyard.
While he said he is not familiar with the noise ordinance due to being a new resident, he does know that the sounds are “very heavy.”
“It’s to the point where you can’t even talk in the living room without being overridden by the noise that comes from that,” he said.
The resident then suggested the town consider providing muffling of the noise, such as a mound of dirt to help keep the noise in or heavier vegetation.
He also said that they were not made aware of the noise levels until after the purchase of their new home, mentioning the neighbors were not made aware at all.
Greg Brewer, town council president, said that the noise was a concern, and he thought that those officials with Vintner’s Park would disclose the winery would have live music events at times.
As far as what was officially said, Gropp said they are currently looking into documentation.
“Several people remember various conversations, but over a long approval process sometimes you must go back and look at the approved documents and minutes,” Gropp said. “The ordinance is tabled for now and council will be setting a works session for both the noise ordinance and the special events ordinance to see if they can find a compromise.”
Brewer said that with the concerns brought up and the ordinance, it’s a work in progress, and that “it’s not something that’s falling on deaf ears. We’re definitely looking at all the different alternatives and solutions we can.”
