Updated as of 6:54 p.m. on Sept. 3 to include video.
After previously hearing from Elon Chief of Police Kelly Blackwelder on July 16, the town council unanimously approved changes to the town’s noise ordinance.
Noise Ordinance
During the July 16 town council meeting, Blackwelder presented proposed changes to the town’s noise ordinance regarding residential neighborhoods and vehicles.
Prior to the approved changes, the noise ordinance originally classified a noise violation as a misdemeanor charge with a fine.
Now with the new approved changes, a noise violation is classified as a civil violation with progressively increasing fines starting at $100. If violations continue, the fine increases to $200 and then $300 if violations continue within a 12-month period. However, police officers can still charge someone with a misdemeanor for a noise ordinance violation.
Mayor Pro Tem Monti Allison said he thinks this change will positively affect the Elon community.
“For some reason, I'm optimistic,” Allison said. “I think it's going to help. There's always going to be the one percentage of the ones you hear about, the people who don't want to comply, don't want to be good, so it's really targeted towards them.”
While Elon Mayor Emily Sharpe was not present at the meeting, she was heavily in favor of adding a civil violation to the noise ordinance.
“I don't want for someone to be prevented from getting a future job because they were loud in college,” Sharpe said during the July 16 meeting.
Now that the changes to the ordinance have been approved, the council wants to make sure that the town and the university are informed of the new changes.
“It's one of the things that the police chief has done a good job with in the past, is working with the University to educate on the changes,” Allison said. “So it's not going to be like tomorrow night, we're going to start writing citations. I think it'll be a conservative effort with them try to make sure no one says, ‘Well, I didn't know.’”
Sustainability Committee
In their first appearance in front of the town council, the sustainability committee proposed an amendment to their budget of $8,000 to $15,000 to bring in a consultant to perform an energy audit.
Town staff Lori Oakley and Isabel Cooper, who are members of the sustainability committee, presented their collected data of Elon’s power usage to the council and said a consultant will help guide Elon toward which sustainability initiatives to pursue.
“We can implement charging stations, but how many, how much do we need?” Cooper said. “What's the best way to do it in the most efficient way? Now, me, personally, I can't do that. But a consultant is going to give you those numbers and give you that professional advice to reach you in the right directions.”
Because Oakley and Cooper did not have a concrete price estimate, the council asked the sustainability committee to come back with a set amount at a later date.
Though not implemented yet, Randy Orwig, chairman of the sustainability committee, said he is excited for the town to invest in sustainability efforts.
“We're really working hard to try to create ultimately sustainable practices,” Orwig said. “If that leads to the ability for us to become closer and closer to carbon free, then great. That's more of a statement of how you practice, because we're under Duke and we're under some kinds of constrictions with that.”
New Business
Toward the end of the meeting, the council announced their first of three neighborhood meetings starting at 6 p.m. on Aug. 27 at the Elon Community Church. These meetings are for citizens of Elon to voice their concerns and ask questions directly to the council. Rodener also announced that the town is conducting a survey for residents and college students in the area to gather feedback on the town. The next town council meeting will be on Sept. 10.