Noise and dek hockey: Rimouski hardens the tone, citizens express their dissatisfaction

On Monday evening, the council tabled a motion to ban excessive noise at outdoor sports meetings that are held within 50 meters of a dwelling.

The noise emanating from shouts, sirens, loudspeakers and whistles would thus become prohibited between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m., which would limit field hockey activities.

The first game is at 6 p.m. It is impossible to have viability and to maintain installations over a period of 2 hours per evening with 80 teams. It’s impossiblelamented Guylain Dupuis, co-owner of Sports JMD, which organizes field hockey activities.

Mayor Guy Caron, however, clarified that the by-law has not yet been adopted. He claims that his council filed a motion in order to be able to do this eventually, as a last resort. According to Mayor Caron, Sports JMD has done little to resolve the problem so far.

[L’entreprise] hasn’t shown up to the table since leaving in September. She only came back in March to say she would not invest in tests or to try to mitigate the situationhe explains.

” If the firm does not want [trouver des façons de réduire le bruit] voluntarily – she hasn’t shown it to us in the last 6 or 8 months – we have to take the measures accordingly, hence the notice of motion. »

In 2020 and 2021, Sports JMD had however made adjustments to try to reduce noise, in particular by installing bay windows, an industrial canvas and by spraying urethane on the boards of the ice rink in order to cushion the impact of blows. of sticks and the ball. However, these measures proved to be insufficient.

A falsified study

What’s more, a sound study paid for by Sports JMD and the Société de promotion économique de Rimouski (SOPER) was carried out in 2021. However, its results were deemed not to be representative since the players had been instructed to limit noise during play. ‘sampling.

If there had been no intervention, we might have had an idea of ​​what the noise level was constantly during a gamesaid Mayor Caron.

After encouraging its players to reduce noise during the study, Center Sport JMD then refused to pay another.

Despite this, the public health department of Bas-Saint-Laurent recommended last fall that the relocation of the outdoor hockey field be considered, based among other things on a previous study which reported a noise level of 5. 29 decibels above normal, an increase deemed important and can have effects on physical and psychological health.

Public health, however, refused our request for an interview to explain its point of view.

Both parties ready to collaborate

Despite the abrupt tone of the discussions at the last city council, the City says it is ready to support Center Sports JMD in order to find a solution, which could involve moving to the industrial park.

Sports JMD also claims to want to negotiate, but considers that the City has unfairly taken a position in favor of a handful of citizens.

” We want to find a compromise, to discuss, while tonight we are witnessing a show smoke and we’re pariahs. »

A petition of over 1,800 names has been filed with City Council so that field hockey activities can continue at their current location.

For its part, the citizens’ group which had complained about the noise preferred not to comment, but said it was reassured by the steps taken by the City. The group has about 100 people.

With the collaboration of Marie-Christine Rioux and Shanelle Guérin