By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The city of Great Bend and other local municipalities have noise ordinances to ensure a civil society that serves the needs of everyone. Unincorporated areas in Barton County are not protected by such regulations. Wednesday morning, Barton County commissioners heard from two residents who are pushing for such a regulation. Tracy Zahnter has lived in her home south of Great Bend for 31 years, and suffered from noise pollution for 20 of those years. She asked the commission for some recourse.
"Everybody I've talked to has called the sheriff multiple times a night," she said. "We're literally wasting their time. They've got to come out because we've called but they can't do anything. They can't fine them. They can't do anything, literally, because there's no ordinance in the county."
Zahnter said her family has spent $10,000 on triple-pane windows to keep out noise. They've spent nights in hotels to avoid the loud music. Another neighbor said he cannot have company outside, and it's nearly impossible to watch television or sleep with the windows open. Both report the ongoing loud music can last until four or six in the morning, sometimes going for 10 straight hours. County Counselor Patrick Hoffman said governing noise can be difficult.
"Legally, the gray area we usually run into is the definition of loud and whether or not we have to measure with decibels," he said. "I'm optimistic we can draft something that can hopefully allow law enforcement to go out there and give a lawful order to turn off the music, and if they don't comply with that, that can lead to other repercussions."
The commission plans to review a possible regulation during an upcoming meeting. With several changes on the horizon, the next Barton County Commission meeting will be held at 1500 Kansas Ave at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 11.