Instead of State College police officers waiting for citizens to call and complain about noise, an amended noise control ordinance, enacted by the borough council last night, will let them actively patrol areas with noise meters.

The amended ordinance raises the noise level from 55 to 58 decibels for all areas except the downtown area, which has a noise limit of 62 decibels.

Noise in a restaurant or department store is about 60 decibels. A construction site with a pneumatic drill produces 90 decibels, said Gary Koopmann, director of the Center for Acoustics and Vibrations.

Besides increasing the noise limit, the ordinance increases the maximum fine from $300 to $600.

Police will continue issuing disorderly conduct citations, which carry a $300 maximum fine, in addition to enforcing the noise control ordinance.

Interfraternity Council President Mike Steinberg said at the meeting that he felt the borough had a responsibility to educate students about the ordinance.

"I don't think people really know what 58 decibels is," he said.

Steinberg suggested the borough have a band play so students could hear how loud 58 decibels is.

Borough Manager Peter Marshall suggested a radio instead.

"We will try to do that so you have an idea of what will and won't work," Marshall said.

To give people an idea of how loud they are, Council President Jean McManis asked about the possibility of renting noise meters to individuals holding noisy events.

Police Chief Tom King said he wants to do whatever is necessary to give the public the information they need, but is concerned about the care and maintenance of the equipment.

"Just to have anybody and everybody using it doesn't give our equipment much historical basis in court," he said. "You have it sitting around in a fraternity or an apartment house where something could happen to it that they had no intention of happening."

The police department has two noise meters and wants to purchase two to three more to enforce the ordinance, King said. The department also wants to hire a part-time noise enforcement officer in the next six weeks.

In the past, officers rarely enforced the ordinance because it divided the borough into five zones, each with its own noise limit. To determine which limit applied to a disturbance, officers had to carry zoning maps with them.

When revising the ordinance, King and Marshall measured the sound level with noise meters in various areas to determine a reasonable noise level.

In neighborhoods with few parties, such as the 400 block of Orlando Avenue, the noise levels were 46 to 53 decibels.

In the 300 block of East Fairmount Avenue, they recorded music from a fraternity at 65 decibels. At Marshall and King's requests, the members closed the windows and doors and the noise level dropped to 60 decibels.

Just as Marshall and King issued warnings, officers enforcing the amended ordinance will have the same option for first-time offenders. If a second violation occurs in the next 120 days, they will issue a citation.

"That does not mean you're automatically entitled to a warning," King said. "If we get a reading of 70 decibels at four in the morning on a Monday night, I don't think there's an officer in the department that would give them a warning for such outrageous behavior."

Sunday is the quietest night in the borough, King said. Noise increases steadily during the week and peaks Friday night, he added.

The department received the most complaints from the Highlands area, which is a square block bordering Atherton Street, Beaver Avenue, University Drive and Easterly and Westerly Parkways.

In 1994, the department received 1,857 complaints of yelling, music or partying.