Tuesday evening’s alders Legislation Committee meeting.
A resolution to equip trash hauling vehicles with GPS trackers to monitor pre-dawn noise passed out of the Legislation Committee of the Board of Alders, on its third try.
The unanimous vote happened during a brief Tuesday evening online hearing, which was closed to public testimony and instead focused on discussion amongst the alders of the proposal.
The proposal would amend the city’s noise ordinance to require commercial waste collectors to provide GPS data if someone complains about early trash pick-up.
Right now city law prohibits collectors from working before 5 a.m. In practice, the prohibition is unenforceable because it requires city employees to witness the violations, which take place before they’re awake and at work.
Committee Vice-Chair Alder Richard Furlow called the measure “a simple change that makes a big difference” in people’s ability to sleep in the pre-dawn hours downtown.
The committee held its first public hearing on the matter in December, and another public hearing last month. The committee alders didn’t vote during their April meeting on the issue; instead, they sent it back for revisions and a third meeting.
Previously, only the chief of police could enforce the ordinance, which many alders in the previous hearing felt would lead to an unenforceable law. The new version of the proposal expands this power to the city’s chief administrative officer or a designee.
Dixwell Alder Jeanette L. Morrison previously opposed the proposal due to how it might change traffic patterns in the city if trash collectors start work later. She said Tuesday night that she now supports it because of how trash collectors making noise earlier than allowed under law might disrupt the sleep of New Haveners.
“People need to respect people,” Morrison said. “As alders, we do have a responsibility to make sure that people feel respected. I am in support of this item.”
East Rock Alder Charles Decker, the committee chair, praised the sponsors of the bill — Downtown Alders Eli Sabin and Abigail Roth, Dwight Alder Frank Douglass, Hill Alder Ron Hurt, and Fair Haven Alder Jose Crespo — for working on the proposal and amending it to its final form, calling the effort “constituent service in one of its purest forms.”
“It has been quite a journey getting here,” he added.
The proposal, which passed out of committee, now goes before the full Board of Alders for debate and a final vote.