Fines in limbo

After 18 months of prodding city officials to fight noise and crime in his East Oak Street neighborhood, Seymour resident Jody Caviness thought he was making progress.

The city passed a noise ordinance last year and council members agreed to create a fine schedule for noise and nuisance violations. But they have yet to approve that schedule.

Caviness is tired of waiting.

"Disturbances lead to a lot of things around here, shootings, stabbings, prostitution, rape," Caviness said of his neighborhood. "We need some help. I'm not happy about the delay."

Neither is Police Chief Bill Abbott, who says the fines will help officers better enforce the law.

"Is this going to be a cure-all? No," Abbott said of the ordinance. "But it would be a help. It's just one more tool to use to warn people."

In late July, the Governmental Affairs Committee introduced an ordinance to amend the city's existing fine structure for violations, adding fees for noise and nuisance violations. Council members tabled their vote in order to better understand the changes and to review possible discrepancies in other fees, such as parking.

During a regular meeting earlier this week, council members again tabled their decision, saying they still weren't clear on the ordinance.

"I still have many questions about the different fine structures and think we need more discussion," Councilman Andy Hagedorn said. He also serves as chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee.

One of the main problems he has with the ordinance is the fines listed for parking violations, which he said need to be broken into individual offenses.

According to the proposed ordinance, a first violation of parking regulations is $50, second violation is $75 and third violation is $100.

Abbott said the amounts vary, however, depending on the violation, and fines for two-hour parking are significantly less than $50. He added fines for some violations, such as parking in a handicapped spot or blocking a driveway, are $50, but two-hour parking tickets will remain $3 if paid the day the ticket is issued or $5 if paid later.

"This was not to change anything already in place," Abbott said. "The only reason I brought this up was to get fees added for creating a public nuisance and disturbing the peace."

City attorney Rodney Farrow said while researching the city's fine structure he found no breakdown of fees for individual parking regulations.

Caviness still blames Hagedorn for the holdup, saying he isn't taking care of the problem.

Hagedorn said he approves of the proposed fines for noise and nuisance violations, which are $100 for the first violation, $250 for the second violation and $500 for a third violation, but he's not convinced the ordinance will solve Caviness' problems.

"Can you not write tickets right now for prostitution?" Hagedorn asked Abbott. "How is this going to change anything like that?"

Abbott said the ordinance will make it easier to write a citation because officers won't need as much proof to do so.

Councilman Jim Rebber agreed with Hagedorn that council needed more information before passing the ordinance.

"I think this needs more work," Rebber said. "We need to find out specifically what we need to do. I'm concerned that this is too broad and confusing. My vote would be to send it back to governmental affairs."

Councilman Lloyd Hudson said he agreed under the stipulation that the committee would soon meet and hammer out a solution.

"The committee needs to meet so this doesn't drag on much longer," Hudson said.

In other business

Also Monday:

Council unanimously approved on second reading an ordinance to amend city code to prohibit parking in the 500 block of West Brown Street and to make the 400 block of West Brown two-hour parking from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Schneck Medical Center requested the change in parking.

 Council members approved on second reading an ordinance to annex property as requested by Motels of Seymour LLC for the new Fairfield Inn at 333 N. Sandy Creek Drive.