Penn State's noise waiver request for six events that would use amplified sound on a proposed permanent stage on the HUB lawn was met with uncertainty by State College Borough Council last night.

Council voted 4-3 to postpone discussion to a later work session.

The request returned to council after Penn State asked for the waiver in August, when council members expressed concern that noise levels may travel into residential neighborhoods.

Those concerns still lingered last night.

"The residents and the borough are concerned that the university didn't consider that sound travels in all directions," said council member Cathy Dauler, who voted to table the request. "I think we can work something out, but they still need to do more measurements."

As part of a redesign for the HUB lawn, the university plans to build a permanent staging area at the top of the lawn, where the patio area is, by extending the patio area and adding another 70-foot-wide, 30-foot-deep platform below it.

Penn State Director of Union and Student Activity Stan Latta said council's decision to table the request does not hinder completing the redesign by fall 2006, which he said will happen with or without council's approval of the waiver.

"We still have some time," he said. "I'm optimistic in that I think we can work it out."

The proposed stage, slated for construction in spring 2006, would face downtown. In response to residents' concerns, Latta said the university conducted two studies to measure the decibel level. Those studies concluded that sound should be kept at or below 70 decibels and should be monitored at the intersection of Locust Lane and Beaver Avenue.

However, Dauler said she didn't think those measurements were comprehensive enough.

"There are still some questions of what the sound will be like beyond Park Avenue," she said, although Latta said most of residents' concerns came from south of College Avenue.

Council member Elizabeth Goreham, who also voted to table the request, echoed similar concerns.

"My concerns really are for this to have moderate sounding events ... so the residents can sleep at night and so can their children," she said.

Borough Manager Tom Fountaine said the university has made changes since August that puts more responsibility into Penn State's hands, rather than the borough's, to monitor the events while they occur. That way, the university will be more pro-active in preventing residents' complaints to State College police.

"The university should monitor the noise level before the complaints come in," he said. "That's the point of the noise waiver."

Latta said the university achieved that by simplifying the six-page request for the noise waiver to a shorter document. The revised request is now one-and-a-half pages long, he said.

Council member Jeff Kern suggested additional changes to the document earlier yesterday, which Latta said he was willing to support.

According to the proposed changes, Kern said Latta would monitor the events throughout the performances and turn down the sound if it exceeds 70 decibels. He would meet with police within 15 minutes at the corner of Locust and Beaver to monitor sound levels if complaints arise. If Latta cannot be reached at the time of a complaint, he said borough police would work with campus police to decide what to do.

Because of these last minute additions, Dauler said she needed more time to review the request.

"I couldn't have voted tonight with the way this was presented," she said.

Latta said he couldn't blame the council.

"Given the late information they received today, I thought it was a wise choice on part of the council," he said.

Collegian staff writer Jessica Annas contributed to this report.