Anger bubbles over at Franklin Common Council meeting as neighbors criticize draft plan for noise abatement

FRANKLIN, Wis. (CBS 58) -- On Tuesday night, Oct. 3, the City of Franklin and ROC Ventures unveiled the first plans to mitigate sound levels coming from the Rock Sports Complex.

It comes after years of noise complaints from neighbors who live as far as a mile and a half away from the complex.

Neighbors who spoke during the public comment portion of Tuesday night's meeting were overwhelmingly against this first proposal, saying it does not do much at all to address the issues. They let loose during public comment, urging the common council to reject the proposal.

A frustrated neighbor named Claire said she did not plan to speak but was compelled to do so because she was angry with a lack of action. She asked Mayor John Nelson directly, "What kind of city is this? It's a joke."

Nelson responded to her, saying, "I would never refer to this fine city as a joke. Ever." Someone in the audience replied, "The way things are being handled is a joke." Nelson said, "Well, that's not what was said."

Emotions ran high as the complaints stacked up. Later in the meeting, Nelson objected to hints that he and members of the common council were taking money from ROC Ventures. The man at the podium shouted at him, "Mr. Mayor, this is public comment. Your job is to listen to my comment and not respond." Nelson argued back, "Public lies? Come on. You're saying I'm unethical? You're ridiculous. You're ridiculous."

Neighbor after neighbor lined up to take shots at the memorandum of understanding between ROC Ventures and the City of Franklin.

Tom Kowalski said, "I don't think there is good faith anymore."

The MOU covers eight key points, some of which we've covered before, like installing acoustic fencing to absorb the sound or redirecting the speakers.

But to that point, neighbor Andy Pelky said, "This item on here, like, 'move the speakers so that they point at the audience,' why wasn't this already done?"

Several other items drew even sharper criticism.

Andy Kleist said, "There is consistently no consideration for the impact on families for miles around this development."

Among the other items in the draft: a plan to negotiate a new agreement on acceptable decibel levels based on the type of event.

And a proposal to shift operation of the existing sound monitors from ROC Ventures to the city, and to make the measurements publicly available.

But many people don't think that's enough.

Steven Green pleaded to the council, "Please show these people mercy in your decision."

After public comment, ROC Ventures owner and CEO Michael Zimmerman spoke about the plan, addressed some of the neighbors head-on, and urged the council to look for a resolution that helps the business.

Zimmerman said to the council, "You guys, respectfully, will come and go. We will not. If we're going to negotiate with the city in good faith, what we do ask for is terms that allow for us to run our business."

Alderman Jason Craig said, "This is a really good first step. This is a very good place to begin." Later he added, "I'm really looking forward to seeing a more refined version of this, where both sides are saying, 'Is this a win for all sides involved?'"

After the meeting, Zimmerman told us, "You know, I think emotions were high. And I think once we can get through that and people feel like they can be heard, and we actually can look at the MOU with bright eyes, I think we'll be fine."

The MOU says both sides want the new terms in place by the start of the 2024 Milkmen baseball season. That would likely be sometime in mid-May.