A proposed noise ordinance and street paving were the main topics of discussion at the City of Alpine’s regularly scheduled council meeting on July 20.

Interim City Manager Megan Antrim announced there might be changes to the city’s noise ordinance, indicating the police department had received several complaints from residents about noise emanating from several businesses around town, some with outdoor live music stages and others with deejays.

“We want to encourage people to come out to events, and we want them to enjoy the local establishments, but we do have issues with establishments and the noise throughout the city,” said Antrim.

Antrim noted some of the issues to be examined would be decibel levels, and questioned who was responsible for controlling the noise levels that affect residential neighborhoods. The proposed ordinance will be open for public comment at the next council meeting, and it will have clear stipulations to resolve the noise issue.

Police Chief Robert Martin said the police department had recently received 15 phone calls regarding a single live band, and the complaints came in from 10:30 p.m.-1 a.m.

Next up, Antrim presented finance and paving updates. Regarding finance, she said sales tax revenue was significantly higher than other years, and added that sales taxes were the city’s second biggest revenue producer after property taxes.

She then said the seal coat project for street repairs was currently underway, but admitted there had been some setbacks. She said paving contractor Jarratt Dirt Work and Paving would be working on different phases and sections of the city, and some streets would be skipped because of infrastructure issues where utilities would need to be replaced. She also pointed out that seal coating or paving couldn’t be done on wet roads, and said Jarratt would be working with the city on planning for paving and infrastructure.

“We love the rain, but it does prolong our process,” said Antrim. “We have infrastructure that has to be addressed before we have them come in and pull the road up. We are working together to get the resources we need to make these repairs. We are working with the utilities department so that we will accomplish a lot more than anticipated despite our setbacks this year.”

Finally, Mayor Andy Ramos recognized and congratulated city employee Johnny Galvan for his 27-year tenure, as Galvan had announced his retirement this month. Galvan was not present at the meeting, but Ramos had a certificate of achievement for Galvan, who mainly worked at the municipal airport.

The next regularly scheduled city council meeting is set for Tuesday, Aug. 3, at 5:30 p.m. in the city council chambers via Zoom videoconference, and on the YouTube link on the city website.