A noise ordinance could be one of the first issues considered by Fairfield County Council in 2008.

During the summer of 2006, Council gave first and second reading approval to the ordinance. The proposal did not reappear on the Council’s agenda until Monday night at a worksession.

The proposed ordinance was amended during the worksession, providing for minimum fines of $100 and a maximum fine of $200 for the first offense and a maximum fine of $250 for a second or subsequent offenses.

To become law, there must be a public hearing on the issue and a third vote of approval by Council.

Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Keith Lewis said that officers would have no problems enforcing the law, it is passed. It was Lewis who first asked Council to change the noise ordinance.

“Since the first of June of this year, we have had 28 noise calls,” Lewis told the Council. “Of those 28, we gave warnings to two of them and the rest of them were what we call unfounded. A lot of times people will call us when they hear gun shots and we can’t find it or hear it any more. And fireworks.”

The proposal, Council Chairman David Ferguson stated, must be such that “the first time you talk to somebody and the second time they ride to jail with you.”

The proposed ordinance makes illegal “any unreasonably loud, disturbing or unnecessary noise which causes material distress, discomfort or injury to persons of ordinary sensibilities in the immediate vicinity thereof.”

The law would also make illegal the construction, erection, excavation, demolition, alteration or repair of any building outside of the hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. Also covered by the proposal is the playing of any radio, phonograph or other musical instrument in such a manner as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of persons of ordinary sensibilities in any dwelling, hotel or type of residence. Animal noise is also affected by the proposal.