Noisy neighborhood should soon get relief - KTEN.com - No One Gets You Closer

Noisy neighborhood should soon get relief

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By Meredith Yeomans, Reporter - email

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VAN ALSTYNE, TX -- City council members were discussing complaints over loud noise from new home construction in Georgetown Heights, a neighborhood south of downtown Van Alstyne.

That's when Mayor Kim DeMasters, who lives in the neighborhood, said she feels the construction workers "are not the most desirable people you'd want in your neighborhood before dark or after dark. The majority of them do not speak English. The majority of them play their music…decibels beyond what we should all have to deal with and they can't understand you to tell them to turn it down."

KTEN first brought viewers the story in February.

The comments didn't sit well with Van Alstyne council member Jim Smith.

"That is not the type of comment an elected official should have made," Smith said.

Neighbors we spoke say they don't see the workers as a threat, but some agree the noise has become a nuisance.

But a decision over what to do about the noise was never made the night the remarks were made in February. However, during a city council meeting Tuesday night, a motion passed to restrict the hours for commercial construction.

"For commercial construction, it's from 6am to 8pm Monday through Saturday," council member Kaaren Teuber explained.

Richard Taylor lives across the street from lots where news homes are being built. He says the construction hasn't disturbed him much but because there are plenty of children in the neighborhood, he says the new rules should help.

"I think that's the way it ought to be," he said. "Some people work nights. They have to sleep during the day."

As for those comments made at the council meeting in February, DeMasters issued a statement:

"I apologize for sounding as if a particular group was being singled out. We welcome everyone who wants to work and live here. The council members that prompted this are trying to create a distraction while I am trying to solve a real problem -- construction noise keeping kids up on school nights."

DeMasters declined our request for an interview on Wednesday.

Her term as the city's mayor expires in May. She says she will not seek re-election.