A recently completed and highly enjoyed by the Crothersville community—Music In The Park hosted by the Crothersville Parks Board— was met with a resident’s formal complaint, it was announced at the Oct. 6 Crothersville Town Council meeting.
Leslie Horton of 308 West Walnut Street, lodged the complaint of “extreme, unreasonable six hours of low frequency bass”, according to town council president Terry Richey. Horton lives 1,600 feet from the Countryside Park and complained that the event was a town-wide disruption.
“The town has an obligation to make sure future events have reasonable decibel levels and hard cut-off times,” Richey read from the complaint.
When Richey inquired to Chief of Police Jonathan Tabor of how many complaints of excessive noise his department received, he replied “The only call I got was from the complainant.”
Richey acknowledged that the town has no noise ordinance nor equipment to detect when there could be a citable violation.
The council president noted that her mother lives about two blocks south of the Hortons (on Myers Street) and said “My mother didn’t hear anything.”
Tabor said the event did go about 20 minutes past the scheduled 11 p.m. closing.
Other council members pointed to the Red, White & Blue Festival with music and fireworks that received no complaint of excessive noise. And it was pointed out that other communities have regular, weekly noise during the summer such as the Brownstown Speedway and Twin Cities Speedway in North Vernon.
However, the council agreed to encourage specific cut-off times for community events going forward.
In other matters the council heard a presentation from Michael Kleinpeter, president of Kleinpeter Consulting, on how their firm could assist the town with grant writing.
The Whiteland based consulting and grant writing firm has been involved with assisting 130 communities in Indiana and Kentucky including nearby Scottsburg and Medora.
“Many in our organization have worked for OCRA (Office of Community and Rural Affairs) so we are keenly aware of their concerns and methodology,” said Kleinpeter.
Kleinpeter, who is a Jackson County native and a graduate of Seymour High School, said that the town would be beginning a Phase Two of the water project some of which would be eligible for an OCRA grant.
“But first the community is going to have to complete an income survey,” he said.
Clerk-Treasurer Danieta Foster said that last income survey was around 10 years ago and would need to be updated.
“Income surveys are only good for OCRA for four years,” Kleinpeter related.
Kleinpeter told the council that his firm’s fee was $5,000 to get started, $5,000 to submit a grant and then 8% administration fee of the amount of the grant.
To expedite the firm’s work for the community, the council unanimously approved spending $5,000 to get the firm to work on the needed income survey.
In other business, the council approved second reading of a $638,000 General Obligation Bond, a loan to be paid back with property tax revenue. The GOB would be used to finance: street light improvements, acquisition of holiday decor and sidewalk improvements; police vehicles, equipment and related items, parks capital improvements; a lift for the utility department; and other equipment and maintenance items as determined by the Town, according to a legal notice published on page 4 in this week’s Times.
The bonds will have a final maturity no later than January 15, 2030, and will bear interest at a rate not exceeding 6% per annum, the exact rate or rates to be determined by bidding.
In another matter, the council began discussions on amending the ordinance outlining streets on which semi tractor-trailers cannot operate. However, not wanting to impede town residents who drive semi tractors, the council is seeking an exemption for local truckers to drive their trailer-less semi tractor home and park in their driveway.
Additional discussion will continue at the council’s November meeting.
A Halloween parade for only golf carts and side by sides is planned for 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, beginning and ending at the school. The parade route will be announced later, according to councilman Chad Wilson. Trick or treating in the community will be from 6-9 p.m. on Halloween.
