On August 29, the proposed noise ordinance was defeated at a town hall meeting by a vote of 254 to 129. The meeting, held in the Senior Center parking lot under cloudy skies, was at times contentious, particularly during the selection of the meeting moderator.

The initial vote for John McCartney as moderator failed. The crowd nominated Anthony Yorio, and a subsequent vote made him the m oderator. After that initial period of tension, the meeting progressed smoothly and quickly.

When Mr. Yorio’s motion to bring the question to the floor for discussion was voted on and approved, a motion was made to call the question. This was seconded and approved, as was the subsequent motion to vote on the proposal.

Voting was conducted by paper ballot. The ballots we re tallied by the elected Town Registrars (one Democrat and one Republican), and verified by the Town Clerk and Assistant Town Clerk.

When asked to give her reaction to the defeat of the resolution, First Selectman Pat Del Monaco said that she was “Disappointed. There are people in town with excessive noise issues, and this makes it difficult for them. It will be difficult to enforce complaints.”

Over the past several years, the Town has received many complaints of excessive noise from residents living both on the lake and in town. At a public hearing on April 20 about the proposed ordinance, Ms. Del Monaco noted that the police had a hard time handling these incidents as they were unable to do anything but tell the offenders to quiet down. Once the police had gone, the noise volume would increase to its previous level. The issue was the same on the lake, where the Candlewood Lake Authority Marine Patrol (CLAMP) had the sample problem as the police in that they had no authority but to tell the offenders to quiet down.

Over the years, there have been several attempts to draft and approve a noise ordinance. All have been voted down.

By Greg Slomba