At its meeting last week, State College Borough Council approved a noise ordinance waiver for 20 dates for work on The Standard high-rise building under construction at the corner of West College Avenue and South Atherton Street.
Contractor PJ Dick requested the waiver to perform large concrete pours outside of the borough’s 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. noise ordinance restrictions. The waiver approved by council allows the work to be done beginning at 3 a.m. on dates between Nov. 22 and April 24.
The approximate dates, which may change, are mostly Friday mornings and include Nov. 22, Nov. 29, Dec. 6, Dec. 20, Dec. 27, Jan. 3, Jan. 10, Jan. 17, Jan. 31, Feb. 13, Feb. 21, Feb. 28, March 6, March 13, March 20, March 27, April 3, April 10, April 17 and April 24. The contractor will be required to notify neighboring residents and businesses at least three days in advance of early morning work.
Borough Manager Tom Fountaine said similar noise waivers have been granted for other major construction projects in recent years.
Jeremy Meadway, project manager, said the early work is needed for two reasons. One is to minimize the traffic impact, with up to 80 concrete trucks coming to the site spaced about five minutes apart. The trucks will be coming from Centre Concrete on East College Avenue.
The other reason is that because of the nature of the concrete mix being used, lower temperatures allow for a longer period of time to work with it since the high cement content causes the temperature to rise rapidly during the initial cure period.
‘Any delay in the pouring process really causes significant concerns for us from a structural nature,’ Meadway said. ‘The lower ambient temperature makes that easier. In summertime it’s horrendous. In winter it’s still very challenging. Larger pours like this with the amount of trucks, we try to schedule during the off evening hours.’
Eric Pauley, a Penn State graduate student who lives in a neighboring building, said work on the project has already been occurring before 7 a.m. and asked council to deny the noise ordinance waiver.
‘Night work would severely disturb my well-being as a graduate student who has limited time to sleep as it is,’ he said. ‘Having spoken with my neighbors I am sure they would echo this sentiment.’
Kristen Dzvonyicsak, a representative of PMI, which manages Pauley’s apartment building, said she has received several emails from residents complaining about work starting before 7 a.m. Two residents have moved out because of noise and vibration from the construction, and four emailed her asking to plead with council not to allow the early morning work, she said.
Dzvonyicsak said PMI called the borough about the work starting before 7 a.m. but did not receive any follow-up.
Fountaine said he was not aware of complaints about work taking place outside the noise ordinance restrictions but that they will be addressed if received.
Pat Vernon, of College Township, said residents of University Club across the street from the construction site have also complained to him about how early work has started.
Meadway said that any early morning work that had previously been done would have been performed by an excavation contractor and that to his knowledge that has been completed.
‘We anticipate our noise activity to be greatly reduced than what’s on site now,’ he said.
PJ Dick initially requested to start work on the select dates at 2 a.m. Councilman Dan Murphy, however, motioned to push the start back to 3 a.m. because more pedestrians would be likely to be walking home around 2 a.m.
‘One of my concerns with the timing, especially since the pours are scheduled for Friday mornings, Thursday evening into Friday morning sees increased evening activity in State College, and particularly along College Avenue and Beaver Avenue, and I would hate to add cement trucks to the pattern of individuals trying to get home safe at the end of their evening,’ Murphy said.
Councilwoman Theresa Lafer seconded the motion and council unanimously approved the 3 a.m. start time.
Lafer added that she would request borough staff monitor the site to ensure work is not starting before it should.
‘I do not understand why your building has [started before 7 a.m.] at any time whatsoever for any contractor or subcontractor,’ Lafer said. ‘But I will request our administration and staff to monitor every morning. 7 a.m. is pushing it for an undergraduate or graduate student. … It’s just not acceptable.’
The Standard, a 12-story commercial and residential building, is expected to be completed by the fall of 2021.
