Brick Mayor: The Bands Will Play On

Brick Township municipal officials are working on amendment to the noise ordinance to exempt the township’s high school marching bands from some of its provisions, the Patch has learned.

Mayor John P. Ducey confirmed the move in a phone call late Friday afternoon.

“We want find a way to resolve these issues,” Ducey said.

The move comes in response to conflicts that arose earlier this week when residents of Alexander Avenue called township police to complain about rehearsals by the Brick Memorial High School Marching Band. The responding officers forced the band to end its rehearsal before 8 p.m. on Tuesday, saying the band was in violation of the township’s noise ordinance because the noise level exceeded 50 decibels.

The shutdown stirred outrage among the students and the parents of the band members, who took to social media on Wednesday, concerned that future rehearsals would be shut down for the same reason. Discussions and confusion on Wednesday fueled their frustrations, and they took to the airwaves on Thursday, calling NJ 101.5 to complain about both school district and township response to the matter.

Schools Superintendent Walter Uszenski said on Thursday he thought the issue had been resolved in the fall of 2013, and was taken aback when the issue flared up this week. He said the agreement reached last fall, where the band would practice some of the time on the student parking lot and some of the time on the football field, was going to be put back into effect. He also said a football scrimmage Tuesday night -- which forced the band to practice in the lot -- compounded the problem.

The Marching Mustangs, as the band is known, have won multiple awards over the years at various competitions, from the local level to the national level. Its members have rehearsed in the student parking lot at the high school for at least a dozen years, according to the parents -- some of whom are former members of the band. The practices run from 6 to 9 p.m. on weeknights.

Alexander Avenue parallels the north side of the school’s property, with a stand of trees between it and the high school. The high school opened in January 1981, and the homes were built several years later. Residents and the band coexisted peacefully until three years ago, several people have said.

Ducey said the details of the amendment are still being worked out, because “we want to make sure there are no loopholes and that we cover all the bases.” The bands will not be given carte blanche -- “they won’t be allowed to play at all hours of the night,” he said -- but the desire is to make it clear that they will be allowed to play at a reasonable hours within the township. It could be introduced as early as Tuesday evening’s Township Council meeting, he said, if all the details can be sorted out.

Ducey said he had mentioned the idea during an interview Thursday on NJ 101.5 and this was just a matter of following through on the idea.

“I want the band to keep playing,” he said. “This is about an activity that keeps kids busy and out of trouble, and we need to make sure they can do that.”