The owners of a new event venue in Downtown Troy addressed the Troy City Council Tuesday evening about concerns over a “street carnival” atmosphere at Trojan Tavern.

“The street carnival has to end,” said Allan Wood, who now owns the event venue downtown where his father once sold furniture on South Market Street. “ … Now if you promote a ‘wild west anything-goes’ atmosphere you will get a ‘wild west, anything-goes’ crowd. Some may say the Trojan Tavern does not promote this atmosphere, but if you allow it, it will continue.”

Wood said the tavern also has a noise issue with disruptive loud music many nights of the week. “It seems as the night goes on, the louder the music gets,” Wood said.

Trojan Tavern owner Von Ewing was not present at the council meeting to respond and was not able to be reached for comment before publishing time. However, a resident in attendance asked the council how a representative of Trojan Tavern could request to speak at the next meeting.

Wood called Ewing a friend of his and said he does not wish for Trojan Tavern to be shut down.

“No one wants to see Von be anything but happy, healthy and successful,” Wood said. “We just want to use some common sense to resolve the issues.”

Wood said his concerns are not due to race or music genre.

“I can promise you that if the Trojan Tavern were a country music bar with cowboys and pickup trucks blaring in the streets, I would still be right here today,” Wood said. “If it were a biker bar with rock music blaring in the streets, I would still eb standing right here. It has nothing to do with race; it has everything to do with respect for your neighbors.”

District 1 councilman Robert Jones told Wood that he appreciated his comments, but was unsure what the city could do other than enforcing the noise ordinance already in place and having officers on patrol in the area.

Troy Police Chief Randall Barr said police have spoken with the Trojan Tavern owners about the issue and have had extra patrols downtown. He said both the tavern and The Front Porch have been cited for violations of the city’s noise ordinance as well.

“His employees there have always been as cooperative and helpful as can be when we have been down there,” Barr said.

The portion of the city’s noise ordinance applicable to the situation is found in Sec. 14-7-b2 of the code of ordinances:

“It is hereby declared a nuisance and shall be unlawful to operate or play any radio, television, phonograph, musical instrument, or similar device which produces or reproduces sound, whether from a business or a residence, in such a manner as to be plainly audible at a distance of fifty (50) feet to any person in a commercial, residential, multi-family dwelling, or public place.”

A violation of the ordinance is punishable by a fine of up to $200.

Wood said the noise issue needs to be dealt with to have a vibrant downtown that represents the City of Troy well.

“The City has millions of dollars invested in the renovation and reinvigoration of downtown,” Wood said. “Individual investors, like Kendra and me, have our life savings invested in downtown too. The city deserves to put its best foot forward and showcase the beautiful renovated downtown area. A street carnival is not, in our opinion, the way to do that.”

The solution, Wood said, is to communicate the concerns and come to a mutually beneficial understanding.

“Respect, kindness and understanding for neighbors in general, our fellow man,” Wood said. “This, as with most misunderstandings and problems, can be solved by working together.”

In other business, the council:

• Rejected a bid for maintenance of the city’s elevators due to the bid price being for the maintenance of all five city elevators despite an elevator at the Colley Senior Complex being indefinitely shut down by city officials until it can be repaired. The project twill be rebid for the maintenance of just the four other elevators.