The city of Franklin Mayor, John Nelson, called an emergency meeting with the owners of the Rock Sports Complex on Friday to come up with a concrete plan and timeline for addressing noise issues.”We don’t agree with everything quite yet, but we agree on a lot. We have the starts of an MOU between us and the city,” said Mike Zimmerman, CEO of Roc Ventures. A memo of understanding signaled that Roc Ventures was prepared to compromise following the emergency, closed-door meeting at the Rock Sports Complex.”We have identified the issues, we are going to put together a timeline, and then that timeline will be held by Mr. Zimmerman,” said city of Franklin Mayor John Nelson.Nelson called the meeting to address growing complaints from neighbors about the noise at the complex.Many neighbors have shot late-night video, telling WISN 12 News the noise is out of control. “It’s the equivalent of standing 50 feet from a freight train. So that’s how loud it is,” said Dana Gindt, who lives nearby.Alderman Jason Craig represents the sixth district in Franklin, which houses the complex.WISN 12 news reporter Kendall Keys asked how often he receives complaints about Ballpark Commons.”Any time that there’s a Milkmen game,” Craig said. “So it is a pretty consistent thing.”Those concerns were compounded by a $200,000 county-funded sound study that revealed fireworks and some live music and the complex violated Franklin’s noise ordinances.Zimmerman said he does not believe those ordinances apply to the complex.”We are in no violation,” Zimmerman said. “We sit in our own district. It’s a PDD and we set these rules back when we purchased it. We have up to 79 decibels. And I think that’s the big issue is, although we’re not in violation, clearly it’s becoming an issue for the nearby residents.”To appease the neighbors, Zimmerman said they’re willing to change. The first step may be as simple as turning the volume down.”If we do anything within the stadium, we’ve decided to turn down the music, turn down the speakers. Those are things that we’ve already decided to do. But again, I don’t know that that’s, those are small in comparison. We really want to try to solve this thing,” Zimmerman said.Milwaukee County Supervisor Patti Logsdon said she’s drafting up a resolution to bring to the board to sue the owners, Roc Ventures, for violating the county’s 2017 developer agreement.Zimmerman said he has not heard from the county supervisors and says his focus is coming to an agreement with the city. When asked about a potential lawsuit, Zimmerman said so far, he has not heard from the county supervisors and that his focus is on coming to an agreement with the city. Nelson said they plan to draft a timeline and hear from residents at an Oct. 4 common council meeting.
The city of Franklin Mayor, John Nelson, called an emergency meeting with the owners of the Rock Sports Complex on Friday to come up with a concrete plan and timeline for addressing noise issues.
“We don’t agree with everything quite yet, but we agree on a lot. We have the starts of an MOU between us and the city,” said Mike Zimmerman, CEO of Roc Ventures.
A memo of understanding signaled that Roc Ventures was prepared to compromise following the emergency, closed-door meeting at the Rock Sports Complex.
“We have identified the issues, we are going to put together a timeline, and then that timeline will be held by Mr. Zimmerman,” said city of Franklin Mayor John Nelson.
Nelson called the meeting to address growing complaints from neighbors about the noise at the complex.
Many neighbors have shot late-night video, telling WISN 12 News the noise is out of control.
“It’s the equivalent of standing 50 feet from a freight train. So that’s how loud it is,” said Dana Gindt, who lives nearby.
Alderman Jason Craig represents the sixth district in Franklin, which houses the complex.
WISN 12 news reporter Kendall Keys asked how often he receives complaints about Ballpark Commons.
“Any time that there’s a Milkmen game,” Craig said. “So it is a pretty consistent thing.”
Those concerns were compounded by a $200,000 county-funded sound study that revealed fireworks and some live music and the complex violated Franklin’s noise ordinances.
Zimmerman said he does not believe those ordinances apply to the complex.
“We are in no violation,” Zimmerman said. “We sit in our own district. It’s a PDD and we set these rules back when we purchased it. We have up to 79 decibels. And I think that’s the big issue is, although we’re not in violation, clearly it’s becoming an issue for the nearby residents.”
To appease the neighbors, Zimmerman said they’re willing to change. The first step may be as simple as turning the volume down.
“If we do anything within the stadium, we’ve decided to turn down the music, turn down the speakers. Those are things that we’ve already decided to do. But again, I don’t know that that’s, those are small in comparison. We really want to try to solve this thing,” Zimmerman said.
Milwaukee County Supervisor Patti Logsdon said she’s drafting up a resolution to bring to the board to sue the owners, Roc Ventures, for violating the county’s 2017 developer agreement.
Zimmerman said he has not heard from the county supervisors and says his focus is coming to an agreement with the city.
When asked about a potential lawsuit, Zimmerman said so far, he has not heard from the county supervisors and that his focus is on coming to an agreement with the city.
Nelson said they plan to draft a timeline and hear from residents at an Oct. 4 common council meeting.
