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Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes • September 16, 1997 Page 3 1 anywhere to disperse. He stated he had to go to the expense of the noise barrier, what the 2 City calls a fence to protect his property and health. 3 Mr. Preussner stated that if the Commission had a better solution, he would accept it. He 4 stated his property value had dropped and he would not be able to sell his home without 5 revealing this problem. 6 Chair Bergstrom confirmed that Mr. Preussner wanted to install an eighteen foot high fence. 7 Mr. Preussner stated this was the only way to keep the noise out. He stated he has the same 8 situation as people next to a freeway except their barrier is paid for by all the tax payers and 9 he will have to pay for the cost of the barrier himself. 10 Commissioner Gondorchin asked Mr. Preussner if he was aware that the neighbor was 11 planning to install a new air conditioner that would be considerably less noisy. 12 Mr. Preussner stated he had heard that many times but she had not done so. He stated he 13 wanted someone to give him a guarantee that the new unit would be quiet. He noted the 14 neighbor to the south has two air conditioners but they are located in the middle of the house 5 and he cannot hear them on his property, even in the backyard. 16 Commissioner Gondorchin stated he understood the situation but challenged the effectiveness 17 of the fence as a noise barrier. He recommended that Mr. Preussner wait for the installation 18 of the new air conditioner and ask the neighbor to install a berm of shrubbery, etc. around the 19 unit to serve as a barrier and see how the noise level is then. 20 Mr. Preussner stated he had checked the decibel level of the current air conditioner unit and it 21 was over 60 decibels. 22 Commissioner Gondorchin commented that a noise level would not be investigated unless it 23 was over 80 decibels. 24 Mr. Preussner stated the Pollution Agency in St. Paul had stated that in a commercial district 25 they do not allow over a 50 decibel noise level. He noted a new air conditioner may only be 26 40 decibels but located in this corner that would still be very annoying. He stated he had 27 checked the whole neighborhood and no one had an air conditioner located in the corner of 28 the house which reflected the noise to their neighbor. 29 Commissioner Gondorchin asked if this had been a problem for many years. 30 Mr. Preussner stated the problem had started this year. •1 Commissioner Gondorchin asked why the problem had started this year. 6A