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Factory's noise,lights bother Millville neighbors By
Myrica Hawker MILLVILLE -- Most of the seats in the Millville City offices were filled at Thursday night's City Council meeting when a group of residents turned out to complain about noise and lighting ordinance violations by Silicone Plastics. A letter explaining the laws and ordinances the residents believe Silicone Plastics, located at 97 W. 300 South, is violating was presented to the council by Sidney Smith. The letter was written by Tyrone Lewis, who lives near Silicone Plastics. According to his daughter Holly Lewis, Tyrone Lewis has "done about 50 hours of research about all these laws." One complaint residents have is the noise they hear from employees and machinery, said Holly Lewis. Another resident in the neighborhood, Debbie Blotter, said that they are bothered by the noise 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Blotter asked the council if someone could come out between midnight and 4 a.m. to measure the sound decibels. Mayor Gale Hall said that the city would have someone, such as the Health Department, come out multiple times and try to measure the sound levels at different times of the day. Residents were also concerned that the lights surrounding the business shine brightly into their homes. Steven Miller, an owner of Silicone Plastics, had previously been informed of this problem and has taken some action to fix it. "We've tinted the lights. The lights have been painted with a reflective paint," said Miller. Some residents are still concerned that the tint has not done enough to fix the problem. Holly Lewis said other problems include the noise produced by Silicone Plastics' trucks when they come for loading and unloading. She said the trucks create congestion on the street and interfere with the school bus being able to pick up children in the neighborhood. The violation of noise and lighting ordinances, as well as a requirement to put in fencing to lessen sound, are holding up the acquisition of the building permits for the expansions Silicon Plastics has planned. Silicone Plastics, a company that makes plastic injection molding, wants to add a canopy to their dock for better storage and to buy adjoining land to build a new parking lot. Neighbors believe the business should be able to operate between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., as Tyrone Lewis says is required by the commercial zoning regulation that applies to Silicone Plastics. Miller said it would be strange if a business in a commercial zone could not operate 24 hours a day. A public hearing on the issue involving Silicone Plastics will be held Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. On the agenda for the council meeting on Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. is the selection
of a council member to replace Council Member Jamie Skeen.
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