During the past eighteen months the City Council has studied the City's current noise ordinances. This study included  presentations from staff concerning various issues and proposed amendments on September 25, 2017, April 16, 2018, May 14, 2018 and September 17, 2018. These presentations included discussion on various noise issues and proposed amendments. During the April 16, 2018, worksession staff recommended that a professional consultant be retained to study the City's noise ordinances, prepare a report and present recommendations to the Council at a worksession. The Council concurred with this recommendation and directed staff to proceed.

During early summer of 2018 the City retained Dan Autenrieth, Ph.D,Assistant Professor and Industrial Hygiene Program Manager within the Montana Tech Safety, Health and Industrial Hygiene Department, to evaluate the City's noise ordinances and report his findings/recommendations to the Council. Dr. Autenrieth prepared his report which was also posted on the City's website and a public comment period on the report was provided from . A copy of this report is attached to this memorandum as Attachment A. Dr Autenrieth presented his evaluation and recommendations to the Council during the September 17, 2018, Council worksession, a pdf format of he PowerPoint (PPT) presented by Dr Autenrieth during this worksession is attached to this memorandum as Attachment B. Dr Autenrieth's report and PPT contain how and what he studied, including public comment, and his recommended changes to the City's current noise ordinances.

As a result of the September 17, 2018, presentation Council directed staff to prepare the recommended amendments to the noise ordinances. The goal was to bring those amendments back to the Council for consideration during the first half of calendar year 2019.During early 2019 staff consulted and collaborated with Dr Autenrieth in drafting the proposed amendments to the noise ordinance. The proposed amendments include Dr Autenrieth's recommended changes and are indicated by strikethroughs and underlines in the attached draft ordinance labeled as Attachment C.

A brief summary of the major proposed amendments based upon previous Council discussions and directions will be discussed with the Council during the staff presentation on this item.

City Council may:

• Approve the proposed amendments to the current noise ordinances, or,
• Make additional or different amendments, or,
• Disapprove the proposed amendments.

There will be some training required of Billings police officers however this training will be provided by Dr Autenrieth and Montana Tech graduate students at a nominal cost.

Staff recommends that the Council hold a public hearing on First Reading and approve the amendments proposed by Dr Autenrieth and staff.