By Andy Sevilla

Buda city leaders will revisit their special events package and potentially make changes to the regulations after concerns of noise and fireworks exploded on the dais.

“What I’m wanting to do is to make sure that all our ordinances apply equally to all,” council member George Hahn said at the Dec. 16 meeting. “…I want to make sure our special events packets match our ordinances.”

Hahn voiced concern with different points of sound measure for parks, private property and public streets. 

“In terms of the [decibels] measurement, it would make sense for there to be some consistency,” council member Eileen Altmiller said.

The city’s noise ordinance presently instructs that noise generated on public right-of-way be measured from a distance of at least 300 feet from the source of the sound; while sound levels for parks and private property be measured from the property boundary.

For council member Bobby Lane, sound measures should be taken directly from the source. He said that is where the noise is coming from and will be the loudest.

Lane said his concern lies in the varying decibel readings over different distances. He said measurement readings taken from the property line of a home and one from a park will vary due to distance, even if the source is producing the same sound decibels.

The city attorney, however, cautioned that to legally enforce noise violations, measurements have to be taken from a point where law enforcement can legally be. In a 200-acre ranch, an officer would need a search warrant to measure decibels directly at the source, he said as an example.

Buda council members directed staff to bring back a revised special events package removing any fireworks provisions in the application, as only the city has authority to conduct fireworks shows within the city limits, and clarifying sound decibel measurements.