10-19-2015 Planning Commission Packet

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday, September 21, 2015 6:30 o'clock p.m. Tim Parsons, TWC, stated his company has designed and constructed hundreds of these facilities and that the Larsons are going above and beyond the usual standards that most dog daycare facilities follow. Parsons stated in his view the Larsons have hit all the highlights of the facility. Parsons stated the decibel plan shows the perimeter of the building. Parsons noted no dogs will be boarded outside and no dogs will be able to be outside without a staff person. Parsons stated to address the 24/7 barking,that will not be the case. Parson stated in the center of the solid circle is a dog. If the dog were to be in that space barking, the graph shows that a barking dog makes a 100 decibel sound, which is kind of an average. The typical wall construction is rated at 50 decibels. Parsons stated this particular building is a concrete block structure and the Larsons will be adding metal furring strips, rigid insulation, and gyp board to cut down sound transfer. There will also be additional insulation added to the roof. The net effect of this is considered an STC, which is a sound transmission class. The wall and roof would have a rating of 50. If you take the sound of a barking dog at 100, subtract whatever STC rating the sound passes through, that would be the sound you hear outside. Parsons stated the first radius shown on the graph is a 50-foot radius. What that is depicting is that for a dog that is inside the facility barking between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., any interior barking dog would have a 15 decibel effect for someone standing out in their back yard. Parsons stated the equivalent of a 15 decibel sound is rustling leaves. Parsons stated as you move further out to the next circle,the decibel level is down to eight, which is the equivalent of a whisper. The other circles on the left side represent the radius at 50, 100 and 150 feet for a dog if they were barking in the outside play area. In that situation,the barking is only being reduced by distance. Parsons stated the first radius is 65, which corresponds to the sound of traffic. The next radius is at 100 feet and the next radius is at 150 feet. Parsons stated in general the graph is showing as you get further from the source of the noise,the decibel level decreases. Barnhart stated high traffic is 50 decibels, a whisper is 30 decibels, and rustling leaves is 20 decibels according to the material submitted. Thiesse stated he does not believe measuring decibels is a linear calculation. Barnhart stated conversational speech is 60,inside a subway car is 95,using a computer is 40, and the hum of a refrigerator is 50. Thiesse stated when the Twins won the World Series,the decibel level was 125. Thiesse stated in his view it is not a straight line correlation. Lemke asked if there is any way to increase the soundproofing. Parsons stated items such as the mattresses, the pillows, the rubber flooring, and the sound absorptive panels from a material ar construction standpoint will help to absarb sound. The interior of the building will have insulation, gyp board, and concrete block, which will also help cut those sounds down. Parsons stated the whole strategy is to break the number of dogs into subgroups and play groups, which is safer for the dogs as well as for staff. When the dogs are together in the inside spaces in the smaller groups, the dogs will not have the tendency to bark as a strange dog might. Parsons stated there is some Page 25 of 46