As Valdosta State University students prepare to go back to class, the drinking establishments in Remerton are gearing up for a return to form.

Anticipating this, the Remerton City Council is working toward a new noise ordinance with hopes that it will please both the bar owners and area residents.

The Atlanta firm CDAI Innovative Design Solutions has presented its results from the noise study to council members to help develop the ordinance.

The study was conducted the weekend before Thanksgiving on Nov. 21-23, a day after VSU had ceased classes for the holiday.

In a letter to Remerton Police Chief Mike Terrell, the firm details how the information was measured and compiled, while also giving the city advice on how best to proceed with the data.

During the weekend, the noise in Remerton was gauged, measurements were taken at a number of positions around and between the entertainment venues and residential dwellings in the block between West Gordon Street, Baytree Place, Myrtle Street and Plum Street.

Thirty-two sets of measurement data were obtained on Saturday and Sunday between the hours of midnight and 2:30 a.m. Measurement samples were taken every one-tenth of a second for six minutes.

Complaints from both residents and council members prompted the study, though the results charted by the firm do not project high noise levels.

“While it had been anticipated that the measurements would yield representative worst case (or near worst case) noise levels, from all reports (including your staff as well as the nearby residents), the levels being produced during the measurements were not as loud as those often experienced in the area,” CDAI Innovative Design Solutions President F. Rogers Dixson wrote in the survey.

This may be explained by a decrease in bar patrons as is typical when VSU closes for a holiday.

The sound was measured using frequency weighting, which filters out sound that is below the range of human hearing. This, however, can be misused, the study states. Improper selection and use of frequency weighting can lead to improper results.

CDAI measured the noise using C-Weighting (dBC) and A-Weighting (dBA), the latter of which is commonly used in noise ordinances and significantly understates the problem.

C-Weighting, the study states, more accurately represents the problem noise, while filtering very low frequency energy so it does not skew results. The firm suggested that Remerton use C-Weighting when developing a noise ordinance.

The data compiled over two nights indicates that the difference between the two integration periods is minimal, though the noise increases as the hour gets later. This is consistent with the practice that many bands employ of increasing their loudness as the evening progresses, the study states.

The study does not name the particular outdoor area being measured but rather assigns each one a number. Using the C-Weighting, the sound varied from 12:50 a.m. until 2:37 a.m. at all seven locations. Each noise measurement was taken at a different time at each location.