SYRACUSE - For better or worse, the Syracuse Town Council approved a train whistle ban ordinance Tuesday by a vote of 3 to 2 after months of heated discussion.

Voting for the ordinance were councilmen Bill Cutter, Carol Koble and Paul Stoelting. Voting against the ordinance were Bill Hane and Barbara Carwile.

According to town manager Brian Redshaw, there are several steps left before the train whistles will stop blowing in the town. First, the ordinance will be transmitted to the Indiana Department of Transportation. INDOT will then ask the town for a petition and more information. After the town compiles the petition and information, they will be sent back to INDOT. An engineering study will be conducted by INDOT to determine if a whistle ban is in the best interest of the town.

The ordinance itself allows for the blowing of whistles if an apparent emergency exists or at a crossing that does not have an automatic train-activated warning signal.

Any railroad company, engineer or other person in charge of operating a locomotive engine who violates the ordinance will be fined not less than $50 but not more than $500.

Not everyone at the packed meeting was in favor of the ordinance.

Dr. Bill Myer said he was against the ordinance because of the mutilated patients he's attended to and because of accidents in the past where people were killed by trains. He said without whistles, there will be more fatal accidents.

Presenting the council with a petition with more than 450 names, Linda Neff said the signatures represent how many people want the whistle ban. The petition was color-coded to represent each of the council's districts. There were 65 signatures from Carwile's district, 32 from Hanes', 30 from Cutter's, 165 from Koble's and 150 from Stoelting's district.

"We tried to cover all parts of the town," said Neff. The petition also asks for the formation of a railroad safety committee, she said, to deal with the railroad.

"They're blasting (their horns)," she said and the best solution is to have four-armed gates, stop lights and a horn at the crossing, not whistles on the trains. "I get upset when I think of the decibels."

She also said, "The state is behind us. The state will support us."

Carwile said even if that's true, the federal government may not be. She said the federal government stopped the train whistle bans in Florida.

Dennis Beetle said they stopped those in Florida because 60 percent of the crossings there don't even have gates, and they're behind Indiana.

Another person against the ban was Donna Trowbridge. "I just feel you're wasting your time because it's ultimately the railroad's decision. It's better if you concentrate on getting an overpass."

Cutter said it isn't the railroad's decision and an overpass would only address one of Syracuse's railroad crossings. He also said the railroad doesn't pay for all the costs of any project.

For Opal Miller, whose parent was hit by a train, it's not the whistles that save lives but the lights and gates. She said her mother didn't hear the train whistle, but had there been a flashing light and gates, it may not have happened.

Myer asked if the people against the train whistles were forced to buy their property, because they knew the train was there.

Scott McDowell replied the number of trains has increased since he bought his property. Walt Miller agreed and said, "The only good thing about the train whistle is that they may keep you awake during the presidential debate."

After the vote, Stoelting said he changed his vote from two months ago because he's talked to state and federal agencies and, "If I thought we were going to have a ban without conditions, I'd be concerned." He said he can understand the residents' concerns about quality of life, but hopes that everyone cooperates with INDOT on meeting the safety concerns.

Regarding a railroad safety committee, Carwile said, any appointees to the committee must live in the town 12 months out of the year. "They're the only ones who'll be here year-round" and know what's going on, she said.

The committee will consist of five people, Cutter said, and made up of people willing to serve who are good residents.

"I think our police chief should definitely be involved in that," said Koble.

Redshaw was instructed to help form the committee, but will not serve on the committee.

Clerk-treasurer Elgie Tatman said once they get approval for the ban, if they get it, and someone sues them for a train-related accident, she hopes the same people who wanted the ban don't complain about their taxes going up to pay for the lawsuit. Any town that passes a train whistle ban is held legally responsible.

Cutter said that's why they have insurance. [[In-content Ad]]