The Woodstock Inn has threatened legal action against neighbor and former Village Trustee Bob Pear for his efforts, on behalf of neighbors, to monitor the decibel level of bands playing at the Inn.
In a short note to Pear, shared with Woodstock Early Bird, the Woodstock Inn’s General Manager Werner Graef accused Pear of abusive behavior to an Inn employee and questioned his monitoring of noise levels from the property line of the Inn, saying he is not the designated enforcer. This followed Pear’s monitoring of last Saturday’s outdoor wedding music, in which he found levels to be consistently well above the 70 decibel level allowed in existing Village ordinance and despite the fact that compared to decibel readings for other wedding bands, this one was “quieter.”
Pear wrote to a group of neighbors last week (neighbors who share his concerns about noise pollution in the Village) that he had gotten his readings but said he asked Woodstock Police Officer Peter Mantello to confirm, for the record, what those were. On scene, at the property line, Mantello did confirm them and also tried to assist with bringing down the levels by asking Inn Security personnel if there was something they could do and if they might ask the band to reduce their output to ordinance-approved levels.
Woodstock Early Bird thinks it is really bad road to go down threatening legal action against neighbors since this particular neighbor, Bob Pear, informally represents at least a dozen — if not more — Village residents who seek factual proof of what they already sense, that the decibel level of entertainment in the Village is consistently getting beyond acceptable limits as codified in existing ordinances.
Perhaps the Woodstock Inn and the Village Trustees might think twice about stirring up trouble and of the advisability of creating the need for a class-action lawsuit by residents against their failure to abide by or enforce existing ordinance? We are pretty sure that would make for some bad public relations at the very least and some unnecessary legal expenses about which taxpayers would scream at the very most.
Standing in a public place, on a sidewalk at the property line, to take meter readings and asking both police and the Inn manager on duty for assistance with a local issue is certainly “by the book” — As to employees who don’t like being called out for the Inn’s activities, perhaps they might wish to step down as managers if they are unable to handle uncomfortable situations without calling out “abuse” to their superiors. Bob Pear may be consistently tenacious — even obnoxiously so — in his efforts to help the neighborhood, but he is NOT abusive.
Perhaps the Woodstock Inn should take care of some its internal issues before it starts threatening legal action against those who live and work here. We understand that nothing has been done to resolve an employee conflict — with allegations of abuse and sex discrimination — that left one of Woodstock’s best restaurant employees without a job. Has the still-employed subject of that conflict — a male boss – had any action taken so that he will not be equally abusive in the future to other employees and colleagues? Not that we’ve heard. Maybe we should boycott dining or staying at Inn establishments until we know it is a more hospitable work environment and one that is more respectful of its neighbors?
There’s a lot of dirty laundry out there that Woodstock Early Bird does NOT and will not air. But we think The Woodstock Inn should learn to play a little nicer with its neighbors and settle its own internal issues before threatening legal action against anyone. The Inn — its managers and others — may not like Bob Pear, but make no mistake he is not acting alone in his search for facts and has the full backing of a considerable number of people in his efforts to keep the quality of life in the Village tolerable.
For the record, we will also now report that Pear measured the decibel level of the band playing on a recent Wednesday evening on the Norman Williams Public Library lawn for what was called “Zucchini-Fest”. Although the music was provided by a popular local band and played to a couple dozen or so people, the decibel level — as measured by Pear — and certainly heard and sensed by neighbors – was consistently over the 70 db limit.
Essentially the Norman Williams Public Library, of all places, was in violation of existing noise ordinance. Ironic, isn’t it?
Bottom line: No one is enforcing existing, established limits. Instead, those who care and are concerned about quality of life and noise pollution are subject to mocking editorials from The Vermont Standard from puerile, in-need-of-editing, non-residents of the Village, who boldly and arrogantly suggest we all leave. Kinda’ hilarious, no?
What will happen when every home in Woodstock is for sale and it looks like a ghost town because it is no longer livable? The Woodstock Inn, The Woodstock Chamber of Commerce and the Village Trustees will have trouble getting anyone to visit, let alone live here, pay taxes or plan a big profitable wedding or business conference.
And, OMG, the new double-decker parking garages placed at great expense will remain empty shells of concrete.
The Village Trustees, led by Chair Candace Coburn, who — it should be stated for the record every time she votes — worked more than 20 years for the Woodstock Inn, have gone on record as saying they are (and always will be?) in support of the Inn and its activities.
Fact is most folks DO support the Inn. Woodstock Early Bird was employed there full-time for several years herself.
But, as Woodstock Early Bird has already stated, the Village Trustees ignore neighbors and Village residents at their peril. Side with The Woodstock Inn in threatening legal action for the right to have existing ordinance enforced? That’s asking for a fight you don’t want to have. Because it’s more than one person who will be in the fight.
The sort of threat offered by Mr. Graef to Bob Pear will bring just the sort of publicity to Woodstock we expect most would find unseemly. But it’s a new era here now, one that seems to support a free-for-all carnival “me-first” atmosphere where respect and civility for public discussion and one’s neighbors is no longer held in high regard.
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 