Public Safety Advisory Committee May 6, 2008 6:30 PM

1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Wroblewski called the meeting to order at 6:46 PM. Committee Members present for the meeting were: Chairperson Gerard Wroblewski Member Eric Green Member Tim Shadle Member Chira Chiramanaphand Committee members absent from the meeting were: Member Sarah Fuller Member Mary Walsh Member Tracy Wilson

Vice-Chair Sam Gabr Member Carrie McDowell

Also present were the following staff members: Street Superintendent Jim Grimstead Directorate of Community Services Tony Chiotakis Police Chief Ira Jones

Fire Chief Todd Wright Support Services Coordinator Shannon Fonville Police Captain Gary Britt

2. AGENDA ADOPTION ACTION: Member Tim Shadle made a motion to adopt the agenda. Member Eric Green seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES April 1, 2008 ACTION: Member Shadle made a motion to approve the minutes. Member Chira Chiramanaphand seconded the motion which passed unanimously. 4. PRESENTATIONS • Welcome New Member Mary Walsh Support Services Coordinator Shannon Fonville stated that she emailed Mary in regard to her lack of attendance as mentioned at the last meeting. Support Services Coordinator Fonville stated that if

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she did not show up at this meeting, then her membership would be canceled. She stated that she would send Mary Walsh an official letter to cancel her membership.

5. PUBLIC COMMENT No Public Comment 6. OLD BUSINESS • Noise Ordinance Revised Document Support Services Coordinator Fonville stated that she received two changes and went through Cary’s Ordinance to apply those changes. She stated that she went through the document to make the decibel levels uniform. Member Eric Green stated that it would be easier to enforce if the decibel levels were consistent. Member Tim Shadle asked what was the difference between the different decibel levels. Member Shadle stated that he thought 50 decibel levels was a little bit high for evening Time. Police Chief Ira Jones presented the committee with example s of decibel levels that he retrieved from the Safety and Risk Manager. Directorate Tony Chiotakis stated that an electric grass trimmer would be an example of a sound of 60 db. Member Green asked Support Services Coordinator Fonville why she changed the decibel levels to the levels that she did. Support Services Coordinator Fonville stated that she made the changes based on the recommendations that she received via email. She stated that Member Green did not specify the decibel levels in his email, but she received a follow-up email from Directorate Chiotakis that did state specific levels. She stated that she made her changes based on these two emails. Directorate Chiotakis stated that he looked at the list to see what would be acceptable night time decibel levels. Member Green stated that his recommendation would be to set the decibel levels lower at night and if no one disagree with it, then it would not be a problem. Directorate Chiotakis stated that it may not be a good idea to set the decibel levels too low. Directorate Chiotakis stated that if people did not like the noise, then they would call the police anyway. He stated that we get into the situation of what is acceptable to each individual person. Member Shadle asked if we could put a statement in the ordinance in regard to the enforcement being a penalty if a person reaches a certain decibel level, but the police can always ask them to turn it down.

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Captain Gary Britt stated the more complex we make the ordinance, the harder it would be to get a conviction in court. Member Shadle stated that he thought a decibel meter would give us more concrete evidence. Police Chief Jones stated that certain things would not register on a decibel meter such as kids running or someone in an apartment on a floor above you, etc. He stated that it would register something like a large party. Directorate Chiotakis stated that we could do a little more research on what decibel levels are appropriate. Member Shadle stated that we may want to go back and look at the specifics on why Cary had their decibel levels set at a certain level. Member Shadle stated that he had a question about section on Construction. He stated that it sounded like we were saying there was no construction on Sundays. Chairperson Wroblewski stated that residents could get a permit. Member Shadle stated that he would agree that the hours on a Sunday need to be pushed out and limited for Construction on Sundays. He stated that he thought the parameters in the ordinance were too tight. Directorate Chiotakis stated that ordinances should typically strike at a balance of what’s acceptable. He stated that we could not allow commercial construction in residential areas on Sundays. Police Chief Jones stated that our current policy allows construction on Sunday from 12 noon to 9:00 PM on Sunday. Chairperson Wroblewski stated that our revision could be to shorten our hours from 12 noon to 5:00 PM. Directorate Chiotakis stated that he thought the language should be taken out of our old ordinance and placed into the new ordinance. Chairperson Wroblewski stated that he was okay with making the hours from 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Directorate Chiotakis stated that we should do more research on the staff level in regard to decibel levels. He stated that staff could possibly borrow a decibel meter and do some preliminary trials with decibel levels. Member Shadle asked if the committee was towards going to a specific decibel level. Chairperson Wroblewski stated that he liked this direction. Directorate Chiotakis stated that his question would be whether we are setting the allowable decibel levels in the normal hours too low. He stated that we should do a little more research to get additional examples and bring back information to the committee. Chairperson Wroblewski stated that he was fine with the decibel levels being 60.

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Directorate Chiotakis stated that under the permits section, section 8 and 22-105, we may need to change the language to read with the Wake County Fire Marshal instead of the Chief of Police. Directorate Chiotakis stated under 22-108 D, according to our noise ordinance this would exclude us from having fireworks at Day in the Park. He stated that we need to come up with some language that allows the Town to host these events for a short duration. He stated that once we come up with a language, we could run this by the Town manager. Chairperson Wroblewski asked if the penalties in section 22-111 were all Cary’s. He stated that this section needs to reflect Morrisville’s statutes. Police Chief Jones stated that he talked with the Chief and she stated that she would send him information in regard to penalties. He stated that Morrisville does not collect money for penalties. Directorate Chiotakis stated that staff would get more information on sound levels and look at language for special events that are approved, and how we will implement these changes. He stated that if it was okay with the committee, staff would make these changes and send it to the Town Manager. Directorate Chiotakis stated that once the ordinance went to the briefing process, it would be a good idea to have committee members there to talk it out. • Operating Procedures for Public Comment Chairperson Wroblewski asked Directorate Chiotakis if the operating procedures applied to all of the Town committees. Directorate Chiotakis stated that those were the Board’s operating guidelines but he suggested to the committee that they adopt the Board’s guidelines. Chairperson Wroblewski stated that he liked the guidelines. Member Shadle asked if a citizen wanted to be added to the agenda, could the committee a lot them a longer timeframe. Directorate Chiotakis stated that the Chairperson’s role is to formulate and approve the agenda. He stated that if the Chairperson chose to put the citizen’s topic on the agenda, then it would be a regular topic for discussion. He stated that the members of the committee could decide the time limit for the discussion. Directorate Chiotakis stated that in regard to walk-in citizens, typically the committee would not amend the agenda after it has been accepted by the committee. He stated that if someone from the public had a topic that required more time for discussion, then the Chairperson could choose to table the discussion until the next meeting. ACTION: Member Shadle made a motion to adopt the Board’s guidelines for public comments with a verbiage change where is specifies the Mayor and to change the Commissioner’s to the name of the Public Safety Committee. Member Green seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

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7. STAFF COMMENTS Police Chief Jones introduced Captain Gary Britt to the committee. He stated that Captain Britt will be taking over the patrol division. Fire Chief Todd Wright stated that the Fire Department received their Aerial replacement. He stated that the committee could see a demonstration of the equipment in the June meeting. Directorate Chiotakis stated that the committee could have their meeting at Station 2 if everyone wanted to see the demonstration. The committee agreed that they were okay with having their meeting at Station 2. Street Superintendent Jim Grimstead stated that the roadwork and elevation are tied in at the intersection of Davis Drive and Morrisville Carpenter Road, then the hump will be taken out. He stated that he did not have a definitive completion date for this project. Street Superintendent Grimstead stated that they were going to be doing another traffic study in Savannah within the next few weeks. He stated that he would get with Support Services Coordinator Fonville to relay information to the HOA. 8. COMMITTEE COMMENTS Member Shadle asked if there were any ordinances in regard to people running in the street. Police Chief Jones stated that there was not ordinance for this. Member Shadle asked if there was anything the Town could do to prevent this. Police Chief Jones stated that unfortunately, there is no law to prevent this. Chairperson Wroblewski stated that maybe we could put a comment in the Morrisville Connection. Directorate Chiotakis stated that it was a good idea and the committee could put an article together to give to Stacie. Chairperson Wroblewski stated that on Crabtree Crossing, on the side walk at approximately 50 yards, by the dog waste station, a drain is collapsed. He stated that there was another collapsed drain at Kelton Square. Member Green stated that at Church Street and McCrimmon Parkway there is a huge hole. Street Superintendent Grimstead stated that he would check this out.

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9. ADJOURNMENT ACTION: Chairperson Wroblewski adjourned the meeting at 8:08 PM.

____________________________________ Chairperson Gerard Wroblewski

________________________________ Secretary to the Committee

___________________________________ Date

________________________________ Date

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