All seems quiet right now in Silver Creek, but that hasn’t been the case recently. For a while now, people there have been hearing loud booms in the area, and even though they’ve appeared to stop, residents want something to be done to prevent this from ever being an issue again.

In the heart of Silver Creek, you may hear sirens as first responders rush to calls or traffic moving through the village square. But for months, people there have been hearing propane cannons going off. 

“They sound just like a shotgun blast," said Silver Creek resident Jerry Roberts.

Village leaders have been receiving complaints about the noises since last year. People who live in the village and surrounding areas say a farmer is firing off propane cannons constantly, possibly because of a dispute.

“We’ve been told it’s over a feud with a couple of citizens in the town here," said Bennedette Mendez, who also lives in Silver Creek.

Mendez said the booms are spaced out during the day but become more frequent at night. She believes it’s not uncommon to use cannons to scare off wildlife from crops but says there’s no need to fire them off at night.

“It is so loud even above a white noise machine, above a fan, that you will hear it in the middle of the night and the baby has yet to sleep a full night," she said.

Silver Creek is located in the town of Hanover. Leaders there have started to tackle the issue before COVID-19 put a hold on everything. Now they’re back at the drawing board looking for a solution.  

Hanover councilman Edward Schintzius said, “The town attorney has drafted an ordinance that will be addressing noise and disturbing the peace type situations. The draft will be presented to the town board on June 8 and we will have a public meeting on June 22.

Residents say the booms have stopped within the past few days, but ultimately just want a positive outcome.

“It’s nice, it’s quiet but at this time we don’t know if it’s going to start up tomorrow, if it’s going to start off the next day," Roberts said.

“The best thing would obviously be…there just has to be some sort of resolution reached," Mendez said.