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She noted that a couple of speakers tonight came to several of the Task Force meetings, and one resident stated that the noise levels now can be too high. She encouraged the Commission to give consideration to those residents during its deliberation on the Guidelines. Commissioner Pearce asked Ms. Bourg, as a Task Force member, what her impression was of the conversation regarding the decibel levels. Ms. Bourg replied that it was impressive to know that they are logarithmic, which explains some of the issues they have with Friday night concerts. She stated that the presentation by the consultant was excellent; it gave them a lot of information and, any questions asked were answered. She indicated that she just thinks it is difficult because people want more vitality and want to get there too fast. She added that it's too bad that enforcement will be based on complaints, which has a negative sort of aspect to it. She indicated that she wouid prefer to try a little bit first, see how that works, and then go to the next level, rather than going there all at once and then having to draw back. Chair Pentin asked Ms. Bourg, in connection with dBA, if "try a little bit" means raising the level from 70 dBA to 71 or 72 dBA as opposed to the suggestion to raise it from 70 to 74 dBA. Ms. Bourg replied that it could be. She continued that one other concern she has is the late hour and adding Thursday night because just by walking Downtown, she knows a lot of families live down there, including school children, and Friday is still a workday for a lot of people. She indicated that she agreed with the speaker who said he did not mind anything happening indoors such as music, piano, or string, and that would be great for coming home late at night or after an event downtown. Commissioner Blank disclosed that he served on a Task Force with Bonnie Krichbaum but that they did not discuss this subject and that he did not know Ms. Krichbaum was going to be at tonight's meeting. Bonnie Krichbaum thanked everybody who worked on the Guidelines and made recommendations and stated that she thinks it is just so important to keep the conversation open at all times. She noted that the Guidelines have been referred to tonight as recommendations and inquired what that meant: Is this advisory? Is this legally binding? Is this even enforceable? She questioned the difference between "Guidelines" and "Policy," and what it means for enforcement. Ms. Krichbaum expressed concerned about seven days a week because there are school children and working people who will be impacted. She noted that some of them are up at 5:30 in the morning and hearing a lot of noise or music until 11:00 p.m. at night is going to change their life. She also questioned why louder is more vital. She indicated that she believes a lot of the residents would want answers to the same questions. She noted that they all love and support the Downtown and that they all go Downtown all the time, but she is concerned about making a huge expansion of vitality. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, September 12, 2012 Page 21 of 35