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Date: 7/5/2023
HADLEY — Concerns and complaints from a succession of neighbors living close to the Young Men’s Club of Hadley dominated the public comment portion of the June 21 Select Board meeting.
The discussion, a follow-up to the June 7 meeting where the board had initiated a public hearing on alleged violations by the private club on East Street as a potential status change to the organizations liquor license came under consideration.
The continuation of public comment concerned activities and incidents described by community members.
Frank Aquandro lives near the club and told the board that the club’s events have gotten too big and cause problems for those living in close proximity.
“There’s noise,” he said. “There’s issues with the [University of Massachusetts] events which happen in the spring and the fall”
Aquandro said the noise levels have reached 90 decibels at times when the permitted levels are 50 or 60 decibels. “I’ve spoken with people up and down the streets who say their floors are bouncing, the chandeliers are rocking, he said.
He said the crowds afterwards are a problem with some using his house address as their Uber pickup location.
Aquandro said he was not pleased with police response when he called them and said he was told simply that there was an event scheduled. He asked the board to get the club to turn the music down and to have police enforce the laws.
A series of residents appeared before the board to speak about noise and traffic issues in regard to the club’s events as well as people staying in the neighborhood overnight.
“The noise is unbearable,” one resident told the board. “These sound systems are huge.”
The club’s recent “Grass is Greener” event was cited by several community members speaking before the board as causing issues with noise, car and foot traffic in their neighborhood.
“Please help us enjoy our lives, that’s all we’re asking,” the same resident told the board.
Resident John Mieczkowski spoke in favor of the club.
“I’ve been working with the Young Men’s Club and the town for 30, 40 years,” he said. “I want the board to look at what they’re doing for this community, the good.”
East Street resident Amy Brady said she has no issues with club and told the board she has gone to many events there but there’s a problem.
“The last couple of years the concerts have been excessive and loud,” she said. “The UMass students with the buses, they do litter and they do speed or they walk and they relieve themselves on people’s lawns.”
“For those of us that live on the actual street, it kind of sucks when there are concerts,” Brady continued. “And yes, it’s only 10 hours or it’s only five hours but it’s the repercussions afterwards, it’s being outside and needing to pick up trash in the yard or having to yell at someone for speeding.”
Select Board member Joyce Chunglo said Hadley doesn’t have a bylaw for noises from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and she also expected most people in town had been to club at one time or another.
It was pointed out that unreasonable noise is prohibited 24/7 within the town.
“We should all try to work together to make it all feasible for people,” she said. “Three or four events a year, doing what we can do and making sure there is good communication between the Young Men’s Club and police and fire and the board of health, we need to keep them all on board and I would like to see us move in that direction.”
Representatives from the club were in attendance and advised the board they were listening and they want to be good neighbors.
The board agreed to take the comments under advisement for further discussion.