CALDWELL COUNTY -- Caldwell County resident John McComb pounded the pavement in nearby Martindale Monday, handing out flyers and asking his neighbors to attend a Tuesday meeting of the Guadalupe County Commission.
McComb, and many others he spoke with on his walk, say they were disturbed by the noise levels coming from a nearby outdoor concert and tubing event Sunday.
The event was held at Cool River Ranch along the San Marcos River in Guadalupe County. County commissioners issued the organizers a mass gathering permit for up to 12,000 people, organizers told KVUE in July.
McComb, a San Marcos area pastor, says he is concerned similar events will become more frequent. And although it's technically up to Guadalupe County to issue permits, he says the brunt of the impact is on Martindale and Caldwell County.
He hopes by speaking up at the meeting tomorrow, neighbors can convince commissioners not to permit similar events in the future.
As of last week, about 6,000 tickets had been sold to the live music portion of the Float Fest event, which neighbors across the river like Jim Fielder says made staying outside unbearable.
"It was just continuous noise and music and racket all day long," said Fielder, who says the music persisted from the late morning to 11 p.m. at night.
He is retired and says he feels his dream home along the San Marcos River has been "stolen from us" by thousands of disruptive tubers who float the river during the summer months.
Sick of the noise, Fielder even purchased a decibel meter which is a battery powered device intended to measure the intensity of sound. He says at times the meter read 90 db from his back porch, a level comparable to a lawn mower or truck traffic.
Organizers for the event say their noise levels remained within the range of intensity specified by their permit. They intend for Float Fest to become an annual event.
KVUE contacted the Guadalupe County Sheriff Monday, who said he was pleased with the way the way Float Fest unfolded. As of 11 o'clock Monday night he said his agency had only made one arrest.
Martindale Mayor Dale Mosier also said he felt the concert had been minimally disruptive for neighborhoods further from the river, and he was pleased with the way event organizers responded to traffic issues as they cropped up.
