Dear Council members with copy to city arborist Jilian Keller,
Tonight, I found out that our police department does not enforce the noise
ordinance when the source is a PG&E contractor, even when the noise is due
to routine maintenance. Im hoping this is something that city council
members can take up.
On Fremont tonight, weve had (until after 12:30am), two cherry pickers
with chainsaws, strong generator-powered lighting, and at least one wood
chipper. All of these operated intermittently for hours clearly audible
from inside my house on Arbor with the double-paned windows all closed.
I walked by at about 11:30pm and saw the cherry pickers trimming trees near
power lines. I asked a man with the crew if something had happened like a
tree limb fallen on a power line and he said no. He told me that they were
doing "routine maintenance" on tree limbs around the power lines.
My husband called the non-emergency number for the police to report the
noise ordinance violation. He described the chainsaws, generator, etc. They
seemed interested initially and wanted the location. When he mentioned that
the workers appear to be PG&E contractors, the officer on the line
responded that if its for PG&E, "we dont ask them to stop". My husband
told her that the workers stated that they were doing routine maintenance
but still, the officer said that wor for PG&E is allowed to continue.
I understand that the law requires that cities not interfere with utilities
doing emergency work for good reason but that is not the situation here.
This is work that could have been done during regular hours. If Menlo Park
allows disruptive work be be carried out in the middle of the night to suit
contractor scheduling and economics in non-emergency situations, Menlo Park
could become a preferred location for contractors looking to maximize
their equipment utilization or use nighttime hours to catch up when they
are falling behind in their schedules.
Does Menlo Park have a formal policy permitting this kind of routine
maintenance work late at night? If so, can you tell me the basis for the
policy?
Thank you,
Julie Remold
Arbor Road
