A noise reduction ordinance was recently voted down by the Greene County Supervisors.

At their Monday meeting, a first reading for the ordinance was ultimately denied with a 2-2 vote.  The two “no” votes were from Supervisors Tom Contner and Mick Burkett.  The proposed ordinance would prohibit anyone from using an engine brake, from 10pm to 6am, to decelerate any vehicle that results in excessive noise, unless it prevents imminent danger.

Contner said he disagreed with the ordinance for several reasons.  He felt it would be hard to enforce and there’s already an excessive noise ordinance established by the state.  Another reason, Contner pointed out, was that he didn’t like how one person can get an ordinance change for their situation.

Supervisor Chair John Muir and Vice-Chair Guy Richardson voted in favor of the ordinance.  Muir said he thought everyone was okay with it once the curfew was put in place.

“I’m just very comfortable that it shouldn’t effect the guys in the County who are harvesting grain and most of them are considerate of the residences and things as they go by.  I wasn’t shocked, I was a little surprised because I thought maybe we could all agree that we could live with this ordinance in this form.”

The ordinance specifically targets individuals who are driving semis at night time that are not from the area.  It also allows local law enforcement to issue citations to violators.  The issue was first brought up by Churdan resident Shane Olsen.

Because Supervisor Dawn Rudolph wasn’t at this week’s meeting, the ordinance will be on next week’s agenda for another attempt to pass the first of three required readings.