The town of Clymer is continuing to look into establishing a noise ordinance for the town, following ongoing issues of dogs barking downtown all night long. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

CLYMER — Discussions have been ongoing in the town of Clymer regarding a potential town noise ordinance, with discussions becoming more prominent at the June town board meeting following complaints of dogs barking non-stop throughout the night.

Two town residents approached the Town Board with their concerns, as some dogs in the town have been heard barking constantly all night long and often during the day as well. It has been reported to not only be bothering Clymer residents, but Clymer Central School students and staff too when they keep barking during the day.

It was noted that for the town, as an agricultural area there are a few things to consider with the noise ordinance as it would cover everything and not just dogs barking all night many nights in a row.

“Certainly we’re going to look into this,” Town Supervisor Brian Willink said. “I have it on the agenda as a bullet point. I’ve heard and seen that there has been a lot of rumbling around, especially this year is worse than prior years.”

It was also noted that school employees have approached the suspected owners of the dogs to ask them to get them to stop, and that the dogs constantly barking is not something normal or nice to the dogs either. Willink thanked those in attendance for bringing the concerns to the board, saying that they will continue to work on figuring out a noise ordinance and doing their research.

The town’s zoning laws have not been updated in about 30 years. The town of Mina was also said to be working on something similar with a noise ordinance issue as well.

“Again, you try to start changing local laws, and where do you start and where do you stop?” Willink said. “We’re trying to be fair to everybody but I think everybody also has the right to privacy and to not have their privacy invaded by barking dogs and other loud noises.”

Willink acknowledged that the town will likely have to take action when it comes to the current ongoing issue with these dogs, unless the homeowners do so themselves. Being careful with the wording of the noise ordinance was also discussed, along with the border of where it could reach, such as having it specifically for downtown or ending at the edge of the water district. Fireworks have come up in the past when it comes to a noise ordinance as well.

“We’ll do our best to come up with something, and hopefully we’ll be able to get some help,” Willink said. “Maybe if dogs are under duress, maybe that’s the way we start.”

Town board members acknowledged they hear the dogs as well, and Willink can also hear the dogs at his house. A question was raised if they could make the owners muzzle the dogs, and Willink said they would have to have something to stand behind it, either locally or from the state laws. He added he does not know of any laws currently that would help, unless the dogs are really in danger, which he added he does not think is the case.

“Again, do we want a seven page document, or one little section?” Willink said. “Noise is noise. Barking dogs are a distraction, but so are fireworks. Honestly, I’ve gotten probably as many calls on fireworks as I have on dogs.”

For fireworks Willink said mostly people just need to do them as quickly as possible and realize there are kids that are sleeping, kids that are autistic, and barking dogs at strange hours because of the noise. Willink said he will reach out to the town’s attorney, Joel Seachrist, and see if he possibly has an ordinance ready-made that could help the town find a way to deal with the current issue of the dogs barking all night.