Carefree Truth
Issue #801, December 16, 2019
Issue #801, December 16, 2019
During Call to the Public, Gail Sohler, a rancher from South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming, introduced himself as the owner of one of the largest livestock auction markets in the country, moving over 600,000 head of cattle per year. He is a past president of the Livestock Marketing Association and the international past president for Canada and Mexico. He has sat on a lot of boards. He retired 2 years ago and bought a home in Cave Creek.
Gail Sohler
Photo by Herbert Hitchon
He said that if there is an Ordinance, it is unlawful not to follow it. He sees decibel signs all around, but there are never any arrests. He was used to a lot of noise, running auctions with several hundred head of cattle. But he is a believer in the rule of law. Period. He is not against motorcycles, just against cyclists who don't obey the law. He was headed for the 7 PM Cave Creek Council meeting after leaving Carefree to voice the same complaint. He's been there before.
Mr. Sohler showed the room a decibel meter in his hand. He asked a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) supervisor about enforcement and was told that the deputies don't have decibel meters. Mr. Sohler offered to buy and donate the meters to MCSO for every officer in Carefree and Cave Creek, but he expects them to use the meters. All the cyclists have to do is not rev them, driving people crazy. He lives on Cave Creek Road with some distance from the street and a buffer of trees. Motorcycles and cars with loud mufflers disturb the peace. Period.
Carefree is wonderful for noise compared to Cave Creek, which is getting worse and worse. Mr. Sohler spent most of his life within 11 miles of Sturgis, S.D. Sturgis used to be the main shopping place for all the ranchers in the whole county.
More stores went out of business every year. As the motorcycle activity increased the ranchers stopped coming. It got worse every year. Prostitution, drugs. Stugis hired police from all the towns around when there were bike events. You don't do that if you're not expecting problems. An old adage says that a great percentage of those who ride bikes are very successful people. Don't believe that.
You can't regulate just motorcycles for decibels because cars and trucks can have bad mufflers, although they are not as bad as motorcycles. The majority of cars run at 60-70 decibels. Bikes with straight pipes run at 80-95 decibels He had it all recorded. He did his homework. He wanted to give the Carefree Council some food for thought.
Mayor Les Peterson thanked Mr. Sohler for his insight, reminded him that there is a 3 minute time limit (this was 10 minutes into the comments), and said Carefree is addressing the noise issue. It has not gone unnoticed nor unattended.
Mr. Sohler said he had a comment about the Mayor. He stopped at Town Hall asking if the Mayor were around. Mayor Peterson responded, "You're looking at him". Mr. Sohler said he had the Mayor pegged in less than 10 words. He thought Mayor Peterson "had a hell of a lot of common sense".
Mr. Sohler's house is now for sale. He had 6 people who had the line of credit to buy the house and who loved the house, but said there was no way they would invest their money with that kind of noise. "When it affects your property values, it's time to wake up." He left, repeating that he was going to the Cave Creek Council meeting to give them the same talk.
https://vimeo.com/377426622
During Current Events, Mayor Peterson reported that they met with Sheriff Penzone, his Chief of Enforcement, and a representative from the Governor's Office. Carefree has a problem, particularly with regard to Bike Week. Thousands of motorcycles come up to go to Cave Creek and the only way to get there is through Carefree. This causes great problems in terms of speeding, noise, and suspected DUIs in the middle of the night.
It has been reported that 20 bikers pull up at Carefree Highway and Tom Darlington Drive to make a left hand turn, but it is so backed up. They stop in the intersection and make obscene gestures and comments to people who want to go through the intersection. He did not think the Sheriff's Office had been aware of all these issues. They have focused their deputies within Cave Creek in an effort to keep things under control there. The Mayor told them, "We're here too".
The Governor's Office has offered to fund some of these things. Carefree is asking for substantial additional people to man DUI checkpoints and other place to be determined by MCSO, which will get back to Carefree in early January.
Carefree is aware of the problem. The motorcycles certainly don't help us. There is zero revenue to Carefree. Some residents won't leave their homes during the Bike Week weekends. Mayor Peterson said no one can tell him that they got there at 4 in the afternoon, were going home at 2 AM, and had only 1-1/2 drinks during that time. "So, we're on it and are awaiting further resolution from the Sheriff. They are telling us, 'We'll work with you on this and we will make a change' ".
https://vimeo.com/377434490
On another noise note, John Traynor said he was sure that those on the Council who live near him heard more than just talking the other night.
Photo by Herbert Hitchon
He said that if there is an Ordinance, it is unlawful not to follow it. He sees decibel signs all around, but there are never any arrests. He was used to a lot of noise, running auctions with several hundred head of cattle. But he is a believer in the rule of law. Period. He is not against motorcycles, just against cyclists who don't obey the law. He was headed for the 7 PM Cave Creek Council meeting after leaving Carefree to voice the same complaint. He's been there before.
Mr. Sohler showed the room a decibel meter in his hand. He asked a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) supervisor about enforcement and was told that the deputies don't have decibel meters. Mr. Sohler offered to buy and donate the meters to MCSO for every officer in Carefree and Cave Creek, but he expects them to use the meters. All the cyclists have to do is not rev them, driving people crazy. He lives on Cave Creek Road with some distance from the street and a buffer of trees. Motorcycles and cars with loud mufflers disturb the peace. Period.
Carefree is wonderful for noise compared to Cave Creek, which is getting worse and worse. Mr. Sohler spent most of his life within 11 miles of Sturgis, S.D. Sturgis used to be the main shopping place for all the ranchers in the whole county.
More stores went out of business every year. As the motorcycle activity increased the ranchers stopped coming. It got worse every year. Prostitution, drugs. Stugis hired police from all the towns around when there were bike events. You don't do that if you're not expecting problems. An old adage says that a great percentage of those who ride bikes are very successful people. Don't believe that.
You can't regulate just motorcycles for decibels because cars and trucks can have bad mufflers, although they are not as bad as motorcycles. The majority of cars run at 60-70 decibels. Bikes with straight pipes run at 80-95 decibels He had it all recorded. He did his homework. He wanted to give the Carefree Council some food for thought.
Mayor Les Peterson thanked Mr. Sohler for his insight, reminded him that there is a 3 minute time limit (this was 10 minutes into the comments), and said Carefree is addressing the noise issue. It has not gone unnoticed nor unattended.
Mr. Sohler said he had a comment about the Mayor. He stopped at Town Hall asking if the Mayor were around. Mayor Peterson responded, "You're looking at him". Mr. Sohler said he had the Mayor pegged in less than 10 words. He thought Mayor Peterson "had a hell of a lot of common sense".
Mr. Sohler's house is now for sale. He had 6 people who had the line of credit to buy the house and who loved the house, but said there was no way they would invest their money with that kind of noise. "When it affects your property values, it's time to wake up." He left, repeating that he was going to the Cave Creek Council meeting to give them the same talk.
https://vimeo.com/377426622
During Current Events, Mayor Peterson reported that they met with Sheriff Penzone, his Chief of Enforcement, and a representative from the Governor's Office. Carefree has a problem, particularly with regard to Bike Week. Thousands of motorcycles come up to go to Cave Creek and the only way to get there is through Carefree. This causes great problems in terms of speeding, noise, and suspected DUIs in the middle of the night.
It has been reported that 20 bikers pull up at Carefree Highway and Tom Darlington Drive to make a left hand turn, but it is so backed up. They stop in the intersection and make obscene gestures and comments to people who want to go through the intersection. He did not think the Sheriff's Office had been aware of all these issues. They have focused their deputies within Cave Creek in an effort to keep things under control there. The Mayor told them, "We're here too".
The Governor's Office has offered to fund some of these things. Carefree is asking for substantial additional people to man DUI checkpoints and other place to be determined by MCSO, which will get back to Carefree in early January.
Carefree is aware of the problem. The motorcycles certainly don't help us. There is zero revenue to Carefree. Some residents won't leave their homes during the Bike Week weekends. Mayor Peterson said no one can tell him that they got there at 4 in the afternoon, were going home at 2 AM, and had only 1-1/2 drinks during that time. "So, we're on it and are awaiting further resolution from the Sheriff. They are telling us, 'We'll work with you on this and we will make a change' ".
https://vimeo.com/377434490
On another noise note, John Traynor said he was sure that those on the Council who live near him heard more than just talking the other night.
John Traynor
Photo by Herbert Hitchon
Just before 9 PM on Monday night, he was quite surprised "when the sky lit up, the windows shook, and the dog almost crapped in the living room". If people had notice of what was going on at Desert Mountain's 7 golf courses, they might have been better prepared, certainly in terms of taking care of their animals, and might have even joined in the revelry which occurs quite often on weeknights and weekends. Loud parties, bright lights on all night long, ruining the desert sky.
But the most disconcerting thing is the lack of notice to residents and perhaps to the Town. If the Town is notified by Scottsdale about a fireworks show, assuming they need a permit to do so, he would hope it would appear in COINS to let residents know, because many live right along that golf course. Mayor Peterson replied, "We were just as surprised as you were."
Mr. Traynor suggested that perhaps someone could advise someone in Scottsdale that they have neighbors. It's not another golf course. It's a peaceful community, or at least it used to be a peaceful community. "Thank you for your time."
https://vimeo.com/377432590
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
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