Attorney Lynn Jelen briefed the Downtown Development Authority on proposed amendments to the city noise ordinance that would replace much of the current subjective enforcement standard with objective decibel limits.

"We're going from a subjective standard to an objective standard," Jelen said, describing a chart that sets decibel limits for residential, commercial and entertainment-district locations, and explaining the plan for handheld sound meters, consultant training, and a post-adoption warning period before fines are assessed. She told the board a first reading of the ordinance was scheduled that evening before the City Commission and that staff training and implementation were planned for spring after a second reading and meter purchases.

The draft keeps the entertainment district boundaries and hours unchanged but sets differing decibel ceilings for active and quiet hours, creates a clearer map of the entertainment district and tightens definitions in the code. Jelen said certain scenarios would retain a limited subjective test; if a meter cannot be used (for example because it is uncalibrated or windy), officers could still use the plainly audible standard but that test would normally result only in a warning.

Residents and board members pressed staff for specifics on how and where measurements would be taken. A public commenter, John Mallon, said he believed the consultants’ measurements undercounted noise during typical busy nights and urged stronger enforcement: "Your data is not what normally [occurs]," he said, arguing that businesses altered behavior when they knew measurements were taking place.

Board members raised practical questions: would signs be posted at municipal boundaries to notify motorists from neighboring towns, where meters should be positioned relative to property lines (property boundary versus a fixed distance such as 100 feet), and how the code would treat landscape-maintenance equipment and animal noise. Jelen confirmed that for citations officers must record meter readings and include that figure on a citation, and said the animal-noise threshold was reduced in the proposal from 20 minutes to 10 minutes.

The board encouraged a testing and warning period after staff training so the city can adjust decibel numbers if the numbers prove impractical in the field. No formal vote on the ordinance was taken by the DDA; the item was to advance to the City Commission for public hearings.