The Muncie Board of Works is putting a moratorium on giving out exemptions to the city’s noise ordinance for the rest of the year.  As IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports, the board has been making changes after a larger-than-expected permitted event resulted in a deadly shooting this summer.

Board of Works Chair Ted Baker says the move is to confer with the police and the city council.

“We just want to make sure that we keep our community safe.  That’s the number one issue.”

The Muncie board is working on changes stemming from an approved exemption of a July party that was supposed to include 75 people and run until 9:00 PM.  But that night, police have estimated up to 1,000 people were at the outdoor gathering when shots rang out just after 1:00 AM.

In August, the board agreed to prohibit noise exemptions after midnight.  It also began to require Muncie Police Department approval of each event before the board would approve.

Late last month, the board denied a noise exemption for a Ball State University fraternity party in an off-campus neighborhood on Muncie police chief Nathan Sloan’s recommendation.

“I researched the call log for the Carson address in question and found 11 calls for service between 2022 and 2023.  At least seven of those calls were noise-related, and two mentioned having a permit.”

Baker says at the end of the year, there’s usually fewer requests for exemptions anyway.

The board will still approve requests for road closures around 2023 events if the police department also approves.

Stephanie Wiechmann is our Managing Editor and “All Things Considered” Host.  Contact her at slwiechmann@bsu.edu.