Iris Shoemaker doesn’t like it when trucks use Jake Brakes, and she took her disenchantment about the matter to the council on July 14.

Shoemaker spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, and she was eventually joined by her husband, Mike, at the podium. Council had a relatively light agenda, with just four items that required action.

During the public forum, Iris Shoemaker said she might be considered a representative from her neighborhood, as she said she lived on Branchwood Road, and said residents’ concern centered on the “ever-increasing amount of noise” along Clark Street, especially with the Jake Brakes on the large trucks that come through town.

“Until the last few years, (noise) was there, but it wasn’t at the volume that we’re having here lately,” she said.

She appreciates the ag economy the city has, but the businesses are bringing in more trucks. She and neighbors want something to be done about the noise, and a couple of neighbors have said that they will look for a new place if something doesn’t happen.

“And they moved to our town by their choice - not for a job, just (because) they thought we were a good community to be in,” she said. “So, I’d like for them to continue to think that.”

Iris Shoemaker said there should not be a Jake Brake issue because those brakes are usually used on inclines in mountainous areas and hilly spaces, and “we live on the prairie.” She said if they are driving the posted speed limit, there shouldn’t be any need for the noise.

She said he and Mike went around town on a “recon mission” to find entrance signs about noise.

“So if maybe that could be looked at, that would be super,” Mike said about signs, as he described a Jake Brake noise being similar to an M-80 sound. He said there was a noise ordinance sign on Highway 22 and it was “so twisted” that he could barely see it. 

In an email to the Ledger, City Manager Bruce Slagle provided some information on the city code that covers noise issues, as the code mentions it is unlawful for someone to willfully “make, continue or cause to be made or continued any loud, unnecessary or unusual noise or any noise which disturbs, injures or endangers the health, peace or safety of others within the city.” A specific act is the use of Jake Brakes, which the code said the sound “created by the use of jJake brakes is unnecessary within the city limits except when used in the event of an imminent danger of accident.”

Slagle said public works employees will check on and if necessary post more signage (Engine Brakes Prohibited), and public safety officers will watch and listen during normal patrols and if they catch someone, that driver can receive a ticket.

Also during the public comment period, Gary Biggers spoke about a drainage problem on his business property in the 500 block of North Jefferson Street. Biggers owns the building and his son operates the business, Biggers Grafix and Tint. Drew Williford, public works director and city engineer, said in an email that the city is working on the issue, “moving forward to concrete this area and better slope the adjacent concrete to mitigate stormwater concerns for Mr. Biggers, those using (a) public sidewalk, and the property to the north.”

Among the items approved by council at the meeting:

• An ordinance amending zoning regarding industrial districts of the code of the city of Mexico. The council agenda memo stated that in an effort to improve code enforcement regulations, city staff identified and recommended updates to the city’s code of ordinances. Many of those have already been adopted by council, the agenda stated, but one part of the first group of edits needed to go to the Planning Commission first. “This proposed ordinance amendment adds the definition and conditions of auto wrecking yards into Chapter 42, which is the chapter for zoning. These are the exact regulations we previously had, just in a different location in the code, so we are simply maintaining our current guidelines. These regulations ensure such uses are appropriately screened, maintained, and operated in a manner that minimizes negative impacts on neighboring properties and public spaces. These updates support the City of Mexico’s ongoing efforts to maintain orderly land use, promote public health and safety, and preserve the appearance and character of neighborhoods,” the agenda memo stated.