JEFFERSON — Noise levels in Jefferson have raised several issues for the Jefferson City Council.

During the City Council’s work session on Monday, the group received an overview of the existing noise ordinance in comparison to other cities.

"In most cases, Jefferson’s ordinance is as restrictive or more restrictive than the noise ordinances in other comparable areas," said John Ward, city manager to the council.

"In our existing ordinance, all noise is treated the same and has to be lowered to a certain level after 10 p.m."

Besides some residents complaining that various businesses are consistently violating the city’s noise ordinances, the other problem with the ordinance is that noise levels are measured from the property line of the receiving area.

The receiving property’s zoning can affect the acceptable noise level — residential zonings have lower noise levels than commercial properties.

"In some cases, properties appear to be residential, but they actually have a commercial zoning, so the noise level would be measured based on commercial standards," Ward said.

After hearing from several residents about the current noise ordinance, Ward was instructed to assess the downtown area to determine if there are any commercial properties that should be rezoned to residential.

During the meeting, which was held at the Jefferson Civic Center on Kissam Street, the council also received an update about the cleanup process related to last week’s snowfall.

"We have two trucks out trying to pick up all of the (fallen) limbs, said Jeff Killip, Jefferson public works director.

"We’re working on one ward at a time, but just to give you an idea of how long it will take — it took us one week to clear up everything in just one ward."