I read with disappointment the editorial in the April 1 Telegraph questioning the vote by aldermen to ban all amplified sound within the boundaries of Greeley Park, with few exceptions.

Close to 20 years ago, the Board of Aldermen was presented with an award-winning bandshell design. Aldermen approved those plans. It was an enclosed shell. The plan was never built and an unfinished unapproved shell was thrown up. The original plans “disappeared.”

Prior to the shell, there was a mobile bandstand, which was placed on the opposite side of Concord Street. There was no amplification and it was not placed on top of houses.

The city erected the unapproved plans on the opposite side of the street within 500 feet of homes. Abutters were never notified about the project. The city never finished the shell. The shell is so faulty that the noise levels are higher in neighboring homes than in the park.

The city refused to conduct a noise study during concert events as they knew the results would hurt the city. What they did was do a noise study using prerecorded white noise from a CD player.

I heard a very low level noise in my home and noticed a person in my yard. He informed me he was conducting a noise study. I told him this was not the blasting noise we get during loud concerts. He told my not to worry about it. The noise study concluded there was not intrusive noise.

Due to this fraud, I was forced to spend a large sum of money to conduct a noise study during a concert. The sound engineer was disappointed that the city was dishonest enough to conduct a noise study in which the results were predetermined. The noise study done during a concert found intrusive levels of noise.

Had your newspaper chosen to have fair coverage you would have sent a reporter to the committee of infrastructure to get the full story from neighbors.

Let me explain the steps neighbors have taken to work with the city.

We had the noise ordinance exclude the bandshell. The reason this happened was that aldermen heard from neighbors who couldn’t plan events at their homes in the summer, could not put their children to bed, and were forced to hear heavy metal music played for nine hours at a time. I had one family event during which there was a loud band for many hours and they were using foul language.

The neighbors noticed several years ago the Rotary wanted to give $300,000 to the city. I called city officials and suggested rather than build Rotary Common Park they should finish the band shell at the Greeley Park. City officials never returned my calls. I called a member of the Rotary to suggest they finish the shell. They chose to start the new project and not finish the shell.

The city did nothing in order to comply with the noise ordinance and refused to enforce the law.

The neighbors continue to pay full taxes, not be able to use their yards, and receive unequal protection under the law.

Alderman Diane Sheehan knew none of the neighbors. She heard of this problem and did her best to come to a resolution. She was willing to propose a ban on all amplification. It was the neighbors who suggested an exemption for the city’s Summer Fun program.

Aldermen heard the steps neighbors had taken to resolve the issue. They understood the gravity of the situation and chose to provide relief to the neighbors.

Families will still be able to listen to amplified concerts and events sponsored by the city. They will enjoy concerts, movies, and similar amplified events all summer. The neighbors will not be forced to listen to blasting concerts and may for the first time in years be able to use their yards. This is a win-win situation.

The neighbors have been reasonable; the city has been unreasonable. If the neighbors took the city to court, a judge would likely ban all events at the shell given the dishonest and dishonorable conduct on the part of the city.

The editorial did stir the pot because you failed to do the research. You placed sensationalism before journalism.

Tracy Pappas is a resident of Nashua.