Residents across Conklin Bay filed a lawsuit against Oakwood Resorts LLC concerning loud music being played weekend evenings. The suit was filed in Judge Michael Reed’s court Wednesday, May 27. Depositions of both parties will be taken this week and a hearing has been set for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 10.

Residents Donna Boehm, Ned and Alma Freeman, Dan and Amanda Harstine, Linda Hullett, Stephen and Barbara Keller, Robert and Susan Kirkpatrick, Ronald Krull, Mary Stagaman, Lorna Mohr, Rosemary Reasner and Karen Turner are the plaintiffs in the suit.

In the complaint, all of the plaintiffs claim since 2013 when the Oakwood began hosting live entertainment on the weekends, they have lost the enjoyment of their property due to the sound traveling across the water. Plaintiffs claim they cannot enjoy conversations outdoors, need to close the windows at night, are unable to sleep and are reluctant to invite guests.

The plaintiffs request a preliminary and permanent injunction against Oakwood Resort providing the following relief: entering an appropriate order so as to ensure noise from the Oakwood Resort does not interfere with plaintiffs enjoyment of their property and awarding such other relief as the court deems just and reasonable under the circumstances.

The suit is filed under IC 32-28-1-2 Local Rule 43-AR-1 which defines a nuisance on a property, usually smells or sounds. The suit also suggests the music at Oakwood be moved indoors since other restaurants do that around the lake.

Plaintiffs have brought their complaints to Oakwood management, Syracuse Town Council and Syracuse Police Department. Noting Oakwood is in compliance with the city noise ordinance, the Syracuse Town Council and Syracuse Police Department took no action.

Tamra Henry, general manager for Oakwood, had just started in her position in June 2014. Constrained by contracts in place before her arrival, she attempted to move the bands so the sound was going directly across the water to marshlands, rather than residents homes.

This year bands perform only Friday and Saturday nights, where last year they performed Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. She also moved the bands to a patio area between the lakeside patio tent and the Back Porch restaurant patio area.

Oakwood has also changed the type of music played to one and two person acoustic groups rather than full bands. However, the lakeside patio tent is used for wedding receptions and other parties where customers may be providing their own music.

Also to accommodate the plaintiffs, Henry pushed the start time for the bands to 8 p.m. to midnight, since plaintiffs complained the earlier start time of 7 p.m. interfered with their dining outdoors.