RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — A water fountain installed two years ago in the Thousand Oaks neighborhood in Riviera Beach has disrupted the peace and quiet that some residents said they enjoyed for more than a decade.
WATCH BELOW: 'It's like a rocket starting up, it definitely has a particular noise,' Brian Gruber tells WPTV's Joel Lopez
Brian Gruber lives less than 300 feet from the fountain, which sits in the middle of a neighborhood lake. He said the noise prevents him from sitting on his back patio or opening his windows.
"It's like a rocket starting up, it definitely has a particular noise," Gruber said.
Gruber said he had 11 years of silence before the fountain was installed. He came to our Let's Hear It event in Palm Beach Gardens to share his concerns.
"It's very frustrating. It basically sounds like I live in a water park now, it just sounds like it's pouring rain all the time," Gruber said.
Over the last two years, Gruber has been emailing his community and the city to find a solution — and now the city is looking into a possible compromise.
During the process crews have moved the fountain further away from his house and limited the hours it runs to between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. At one point, crews also installed a different nozzle in what Gruber said was a failed attempt to make the fountain quieter. The city said the maximum a decibel reader should register on fixed mechanical equipment is 55. We downloaded a decibel reader app to measure the sound from Gruber's backyard and got a reading of around 60.
"Just make it a little quieter, I don't think I'm asking too much for them to do something. Pretty much every one of them is adjustable, so they can change the pressure, the waterflow, the nozzle," Gruber said.
Emails with Gruber show the city is giving the Community Development District an exemption to the noise ordinance in order to maintain the health of the lake.
In an email to Gruber, the city said it is looking into what the minimum size, flow rate and hours the fountain can operate would be to keep the lake healthy, while also making it quieter for residents.
Representatives for the Community Development District told us they do not plan to make further changes to the fountain due to the code exemption from the city. They said the board of supervisors discussed the additional fountains and voted to install them during publicly advertised meetings, which are open to the public.
The board told WPTV it consulted with its lake maintenance provider to install the correct size fountain, but did not answer whether the fountain is operating at the required minimum capacity.
Gruber's neighbor Karen Aronson, who works from home, said the noise follows her indoors.
"Even though I close my sliding door, I can hear it," Aronson said.
She said the fountains turn on right when she is about to clock into work.
"I don't mind the fountain, it looks nice in the area but it's too loud. It used to be quiet," Aronson said. "You can't even hear a conversation you're having with someone, because of the water."
Aronson said she is hopeful a compromise can be reached on the strength of the fountain, whose diameter fills a large portion of the lake's width.
"Just make it quieter so people can stay outside and relax. Instead, once you go outside you hear that noise, you don't want to be outside," Aronson said. "So make it a little quieter would be nice."
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