Dear Neighbors,

I live at 63 Main Street.  If you are like me, you are regularly awakened in the middle of the night by the backup alarm for the snow removers that remove snow from the village parking lot on main street and at other locations throughout the village.  I work long hours out of my home which is made very difficult on days that I am awakened at 4 am or earlier and prevented from returning to sleep because of the hour+ duration of the beeping. I’m sure that you have similar reasons for wanting to sleep through the night throughout the winter months. 

Recently, I purchased a decibel reader which registered at 72 dB at my third-floor window, right next to my head. This is similar to a vacuum cleaner next to your ear for a prolonged period of time, but with a more annoying and repetitive pitch.  For additional context, my actual wake-up alarm on my phone registered at 73dB.  Extended exposure to levels above 55-60 dB is generally considered disturbing. 

This is completely unnecessary.  While the need for the alarm has been explained as a federal regulation, this is false and does not take place in other nearby jurisdictions. Here is the link to OSHA regulations that support this:  https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/1980-07-11.     

In addition to following the guidance of OSHA, which does not require an alarm at all, the village has many options, including removing snow by moving in a circle with very little back up, or doing so at a time that does not disturb resident’s sleep in the middle of the night.  

Previous efforts to address this with our village manager and mayor have been unsuccessful, so I'm asking for your help.  Please join me in signing a petition to help me resolve this community issue. 

Other action steps you can take is to email mayorrabideau@saranaclakeny.gov and/or manager@saranaclakeny.gov directly.  You may also call Saranac Lake Police at 518-891-4428 and file a noise complaint. My understanding is that many noise complaints trigger action with local businesses, so the village operations ought to be held to the same standard. 

Thanks for your help!

Chrissie Wais

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