Bay Council recap: noise ordinance turns up again

The guest portion at the top of last night’s Bay Council agenda took up most of the council meeting’s first two hours.

The marquee topic was noise (read: loud music at bars), which brought out several bar keeps and at least one musician, plus various neighbors.

Apparently the city’s rules are as outdated as an 8 track and when the council tried a few years ago to write something current it didn’t get anywhere. As it stands now, you have to file a charge against the noise maker and the complaint goes to court. Calling the police to shut some place down doesn’t do it.

One resident pointed out that there is a state law on the books regarding noise that could apply in the meantime. Another described late night “ear splitting music” and hoped for a compromise between bars and residents.

One bar owner congratulated himself for voluntarily closing at 2 a.m. Sunday morning and even earlier on other nights, and he drew applause from the crowd for warning against going down a “slippery slope” of regulatory overreach.

Chief DeNardo was asked to head an informal group to come up with said compromise for the council’s consideration.

The public forum speaker said he wishes money was being spent on grass cutting and other services in the outer ward. Councilman Reed felt his pain. He said there are 56 piles of trash waiting for pickup in Ward 3 alone. (I know where one is: right around the corner from where I’m writing this.)

Sounds like there’s a workshop coming up on Thursday. Stay tuned.