HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-07-07-NAC-min.pdfTown of Lexington, MA
Noise Advisory Committee (NAC)
Minutes of Meeting, July 7, 2026
The meeting of the Noise Advisory Committee ("NAC") was held in person and on Zoom in the
Select Board Room of the Town Office Building on Tuesday July 7, 2026, at 7:03 PM.
NAC Members Present: Barbara Katzenberg (BK), Chair, Benjamin Lees (BL), Laura Rosen
(LR), Elaine Rudell (ER, online), and Joe Pato (JP), Select Board Liaison -Mark Sandeen
1. Announcements
• No August meeting
2. Review of Police Department noise complaints:
• BK & BL visited Captain Chris Barry in PD on July 7. GLB complaints were 9 for Q1 and
75 for Q2. Few actual GLBs identified, some gone -on -arrival, some actually electric, and
some other gas -powered equipment. Some citations were given out, mostly to
homeowners. Main concern will be fall. Code compliance office who gets to choose
when to work has not been around much. Captain Barry hopes he will be more present
in the fall during the time when intensity of use will be greatest.
• Follow up with Captain in advance of fall clean-up on enforcement plan.
3. NAC queries to portal
• Note submitted by someone concerned about a neighbor who leaves on their motorcycle
early in the AM. (Also complained to police.) Discussion: there is no time of use
limitations on use of motorcycles or other vehicles in Lexington. State law exists around
muffler modifications. But unlikely to violate noise bylaw.
• A representative from 10 McGuire Rd (Lexington Labs) wants to have amplified music
for lunchtime events for building tenants. This was not reviewed before the start of the
season and in any case would not be a NAC duty to approve. The correspondent was
advised to follow up with Town Manager's office or possibly the Select Board.
4. State of MA Noise Policy Discussion document (March 2026)
• Comment period closed but no change to state law yet
• BK highlighted the following suggested changes to State Law 310 CMR 7.10.
o MassDEP seeks comments on establishing guidance that would presume that
sound levels of 40 dBA are acceptable for sensitive receptors and below which
the "no more than 10 dBA above ambient" criterion would not apply.
o MassDEP believes it is reasonable to clarify that compliance with the noise
regulations should be based at the location where people are or could be
adversely affected (e.g., residences, schools, day care facilities, elder care
facilities, hospitals) and apply the noise policy criteria at the location of the
existing sensitive receptors rather than the sound source's property line.
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o Use of the lowest 1 -hour L90 sound level out of 7 days of sound monitoring can
result in very low ambient sound level from which a developer must design a
project so that it does not increase sound levels at its property line more than 10
dBA over ambient. The lowest 1 -hour L90 is not representative of typical
background sound. Current acoustical consulting practice is to establish
background based on the average of lowest hourly L90s sound levels measured
during each daytime and nighttime period at nearby representative receptor
locations (e.g., residential dwellings). Other approaches include basing
background on the average of all hourly L90 sound levels measured for each
nighttime and daytime period. MassDEP is proposing to use the average of
lowest hourly L90s.
• Discussion:
o BL notes that the 10 db > ambient in state law is not intended to determine is the
noise too loud but rather does the state agency needed to take action. But in
Lexington we treat it as the way to tell if a noise is too loud.
o BL: Generally seem to allow more development in places where it might currently
make things more difficult.
o BK: Current law and our bylaw focus on noise at the property line, but they say
about "sensitive receptors" (where people can hear) but we know where the
property line is but your houses change more quickly which would change where
it would be.
o BK: My main concern was that the new proposed law was going to be more
stringent in which case we would want to reflect it in our bylaw but seeing as it
isn't I think we can probably ignore these changes if they are enacted.
5. High School Building Project
• MS We need to keep up with noise & vibration associated with the high school
(geothermal well drilling and pounding piles to prepare in the very "peaty" soil
• MS: NAC should be on the list of when abutters are notified. Ask Department of Public
Facilities.(Mike Cronin, Mark Barrett)
6. Review of Minutes
• Approval of May 5 minutes EL moved, LR seconded and approved unanimously
7: Adjourn A motion to adjourn was made by BL at 8:02, seconded by ER and
approved unanimously.
Respectfully submitted, BK