Full Council Meeting

We were in city council until 11 pm last night. While most would have considered the agenda as light on substance we spent an inordinate time re-discussing the Port of Long Beach's Middle Harbor Project and all the ornaments several members (warring factions that is) of the council would like see added.

After that we launched into a vigorous (and repeated) discussion about whether or not we should put further restrictions on when construction can take place. It was suggested by a council committee that the time be restricted to 9 am to 4pm.

Only problem with the new proposed hours is that no one bothered to talk with the construction industry about what these changes would do to contractors who are trying to keep it together financially in this terrible economy.

To my surprise several representatives of the construction industry appeared at the council meeting and basically said what I just wrote.

The changes were sent back to committee where hopefully we can inject some common sense.

Do I care about noise in neighborhoods? Absolutely. I actually suffer from tinnitis which is a constant ringing in my ears. Doctors don't really know what causes it but some of the problem is early exposure to loud noise or certain types of medications.

Anyway. I'd love to have it quiet throughout the city. But the biggest complaints I receive are about city vehicles -- trash trucks, street sweepers and water trucks -- making noise at all hours of the day. The other complaints are about the helicopters which make a lot of noise over Wardlow Avenue.

But before we launch off at a particular industry, let's be reasonable and see how we can reduce the noise that the city generates.