Mass Gatherings Law Reconsidered
by David Flint
Stephentown is still wrestling with the problem of how to welcome large events such as Disc Jam (scheduled this year for June 9-12) and Fractalfest (coming up on July 8-10) and yet keep the noise down so residents can get some sleep at night.[private]The Town Board has become exasperated trying to negotiate with these festivals, more notably with the Bella Terra Music Festival earlier, and still ending up with a barrage of complaints from residents about extremely loud noise into the wee hours of the morning, even on work days. This led to the Board drafting a Mass Gatherings law in an effort to get some control over the situation.
At a public hearing last week the draft was not well received by most of those in attendance. Residents started out with concerns about the definition of a mass gathering as a public or private event likely to attract more than 300 people. A private wedding reception at the Fire Hall, they said, could easily have 300 people. Kyle Gardner said he had had six cattle sorting events at Cinch m Up Stables in the past year that exceeded that number. If he had to pay the stipulated permit fee of $1,000 each time, he could not afford it.
Janet Atwater noted that an application for a permit had to be filed 60 days prior to an event but the Town Board was given no time limit in which to act on it. People would be required to submit a detailed plan, without any form given, that covers among other things, parking, traffic control, crowd control, provisions for public safety, sanitation, water supply, fire protection, EMS facilities and refuse removal and cleanup. She thought $1,000 was pretty steep for someone who just wanted to hold a party, but the provision to waive the fee “at the discretion of the Town Board” was arbitrary and susceptible to playing favorites. The language about posting a $1,500 surety bond, she said, was too vague. Quiet times are stipulated in the draft but Atwater wondered how “loud noises” would be measured and who would determine if violations were occurring.
Atwater also thought it was clear that the law was aimed at one family in town, the Gardner family, who are the only ones hosting the festivals in question. The law as written, she thought was way too complicated for the average person, and yet if there is to be a law it should be for the entire town, not just one family. Atwater felt that a signed contract with festival organizers could accomplish what the Board wanted. “I understand why people want to be able to sleep at night,” she said, “but I don’t think we have to do all this rigamarole for that.”
A number of people spoke up about the need for diminishing the noise, especially late at night, and everyone seemed to be in agreement on that, but consensus seemed to be also in agreement with Atwater’s comments about the excessive complexity of the draft law.
At a second public hearing prior to the regular Town Board meeting on March 21, Town Supervisor Larry Eckhardt said that the previous hearing had taken the Board “back to the drawing board.” They were now in that mode and would try to simplify their response to the noise problem. Councilman PJ Roder said they had pretty much scrapped the draft law and were now looking at a 3-paragraph draft of a document dealing with some kind of enforced quiet time. People in attendance seemed to agree that there needs to be a quiet time designated. How to define quiet, what hours should be included and how to enforce that quiet time are questions remaining to be answered.
Councilman Bill Jennings noted that you can call the State Police or Sheriff about a loud party going on and they will respond, but they can’t take any action regarding just noise if the Town has no noise ordinance. The Board has avoided a noise ordinance because they don’t want to run into all kinds of problems with someone’s noisy lawn mower or tractor.
Neil Gardner said he had no problem with a quiet time being designated at festivals he hosts. “People will have to abide by it or I will pull the plug,” he said.
Disc Jam organizer Anthony Scavone said that he also was not opposed to a quiet time, although he believed it should apply to everyone, and he could arrange his festival’s schedule to accommodate what the Town wanted.
Robert Lumbra representing Fractal Tribe said that a total ban of any noise at night would cause his festival to look elsewhere. But he was working on a noise containment plan and would hire a noise control officer to enforce it. This person’s sole job, he said, would be to contain and control noise and his decisions would override the authority of anyone else in the festival.
Win Means, a resident of Cemetery Hill Road, proposed some wording for whatever law or regulation the Board comes up with to deal with violations of quiet times. Rather than going to court for an injunction as proposed in the draft law, he proposed that any violation result in the immediate revocation of the permit. Notice would be served on the organizers or the landowner by the Town Constable as soon as practical after the violation.
Pulling the permit, however, could result in trouble with “1,500 ticked off people” wandering around town, in the opinion expressed by Billy Hammersmith.
Eckhardt said the Board was not done with this and will continue to take comments from the public and anyone interested. They will also look at Lumbra’s noise containment plan and will put together another draft of something for another public hearing scheduled for Monday, April 11 at 7:15 pm.
Hope For Adequate Internet Service In Stephentown?
At the regular meeting following the public hearing, a question was asked about the possibility of upgraded internet service. Councilman Gerry Robinson, who is heading up the Technology And Infrastructure Subcommittee of the Comprehensive Plan Committee, said there is a possibility something good could come out of the proposed merger of Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications, now under review by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The merger has been approved by the State Public Service Commission conditional on the provision of affordable upgraded internet service in rural areas they serve. The internet download speed would have to be at least 25 megabits per second (Mbps) whereas Fairpoint’s DSL now generally provides 3 Mbps, and the cost would have to be kept down to $60 per month. The problem is Stephentown does not currently have a cable franchise. Robinson said the Town would be looking into getting one.
Robinson said that the Governor’s Broadband For All initiative might also be an avenue for improved internet service. This $500 million program funded from bank settlements is intended to get the private sector to expand high-speed broadband access in underserved and unserved areas. It’s probably too late to get in on the first round of this funding but the Town will be investigating what the Regional Economic Development Council is doing and whether there might be some Rensselaer County initiatives forthcoming.
Councilman Bill Jennings said that Fairpoint also has funding from the FCC’s Connect America Fund to upgrade internet service in underserved areas to a level of 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. The problem, however, in Stephentown, Jennings said, is that the current wired infrastructure could never accommodate more than 10 down and 1 up. We will need all new infrastructure here to take full advantage of these funds.
Resolutions
The Board passed the following resolutions:
• Public Hearing to be held on Monday, April 11 at 7 pm on a proposed local law providing for the defense and indemnity of Town officers, employees and other persons providing service to the Town.
• Public Hearing to be held on Monday, April 11 at 7:15 pm on a proposed Mass Gatherings/Quiet Time law.
• Public Hearing to be held on Monday, April 18 on a proposed law regulating the opening of streets and sidewalks.
• Appointment of Bruce Fairweather and Art Karis to the Zoning Board of Appeals, Fairweather’s term to expire on December 31, 2020 and Karis’ term to expire on December 31, 2019.
• Appointment of Thomas Morelli to the Planning Board for a term to expire on December 31, 2020. The Planning Board met last week and voted on Derrick Gardner being the new Chairman of that Board.
Deposits And Spending
The Town Clerk turned over the sum of $511 to the Supervisor for the month of February. The Transfer Station deposited a total of $4,628.
The Board audited and approved claims in the amount of $41,210.93 from the General Account and $34,366.60 from the Highway Account.
The Board set its next workshop meeting for Monday, April 11 to be preceded by public hearings at 7 and 7:15 pm and their next regular meeting for Monday, April 18, preceded by a public hearing at 7 pm.[/private]