Posted: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 09:28 AM - 8,801 Readers

By: Shelton Green

Record low water levels on Lake Travis have made for an influx of boaters on Lake Austin, a constant level lake. It's also meant an increase in the number of noise complaints about boaters to Lake Police patrols especially on the weekends.

Sgt. Louis Candoli, a Lake Patrol officer told KVUE that his office receives 6 to 12 complaints about loud stereos from boats each Saturday and Sunday.

"They'd go in there and most people would turn their music down. They would leave. Thirty-minutes to an hour later they'd get another call and have to go back in there," says Sgt. Candoli.

Noise complaints and reckless boaters are the top complaints Candoli says his office receives from residents living on Lake Austin.

Lake Police recently approached the Austin Parks and Recreation Board who they hope will in turn convince Austin City leaders to enact a sound ordinance for boats on Lake Austin.

The proposed sound ordinance for Lake Austin means boaters would be cited on a Class C misdemeanor, the equivalent of a traffic ticket if their boat or stereo could be heard from 100 feet.

"We get some boat traffic from time to time and I would support a noise ordinance because a lot of people don't have respect for the homeowners," said Wes Youngblood who lives on Lake Austin.

The proposed sound ordinance got mixed reaction from boaters we found on Lake Austin Friday afternoon.

"I can understand the needs of the homeowners, but you know there's also got to be a balance between the people who are using the public property on the lake to enjoy themselves," said Neal Pavlic, a Lake Austin boater.

"I think the landowners have a right to control the noise and for their own privacy and for their own peace of mind not to hear someone else's pleasure or loud music," says Tommy Boone, another Lake Austin boater.

Lake Patrol Officers will approach the Austin Parks and Recreation board again on the sound ordinance topic in the next couple of weeks.

If the Parks and Recreation Board approves the proposal it will be sent to the Austin City Council for approval.

*  Story Contributed by: Shelton Green