BUTLER TWP — Township commissioners Monday heard from two members of the state’s Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, who said they did not believe a noise dispute between a Greenwood Drive tavern and two neighbors would be resolved amicably.

Last month the commissioners voted to begin reviewing possible changes to the township’s rules on noise at businesses, after a long-standing dispute between Rock Ann Haven bar and neighbors Fuji Sisca and Greg Macklin was brought before township officials.

Asked whether the township should or could enact its own regulations and supersede state rules, one LCE agent said he didn’t believe any other solution would present itself.

“That is probably the best course of action,” said Lt. James Jones, “because it doesn’t look like it’s going to resolve itself.”

Sisca and Macklin have filed repeated noise complaints against the business, saying music is audible from the bedroom of their home at 140 Greenwood Drive.

In response, LCE agents have filed multiple citations against the business, said Sgt. Shawn Fischer, the LCE’s district office commander.

The citations are more than just monetary fines, said Jones. If a business gets enough of them, it could lose its liquor license or even be shut down by a judge.

Jones said he’s seen three businesses — two in Clarion and another in New Bethlehem — shut down by administrative law judges in cases built around repeated complaints by a single person.

“These guys don’t have a sense of humor, and they have a very dim view of licensees who don’t comply after they’ve been cited once or twice,” Jones said, referring to the judges, who issue decisions on LCE violations.

Fischer said Rock Ann Haven already has had one judgment, for a 2012 loudspeaker citation, issued against it. A second, separate judgment is pending.

The LCE last issued a warning to the business on May 22 for loudspeaker and disorderly operations violations, Fischer said.

“Disorderly operations” is a more serious, catch-all violation LCE agents can use in cases of repeat offenders, Fisher said.

To enact the township’s own rules, the commissioners would have to submit a proposed ordinance to the state’s Liquor Control Board, which would then vote to either approve or reject the proposal.

The agents said those decisions are typically made with considerations for whether the proposed rules are reasonable, and whether a municipality has the capacity to enforce its own regulations.

Answering questions from commissioners about the fairness of the LCE regulations, Jones said agents have no choice but to act if they find evidence of a noise violation.

LCE rules forbid any audible loudspeaker noise from the property line of a business with a liquor license, a regulation Kirk Kearn, the owner of Rock Ann Haven, has called overly onerous and impossible to comply with.

Jones defended the LCE, saying it’s not responsible for making the rules, just enforcing them.

“We sympathize with licensees, we really do. (But) we don’t have an option not to do anything,” Jones said.

He added that LCE agents can use “discretion” when investigating complaints, and enforcement actions often begin with verbal warnings or phone calls.

“We try to inject common sense into every situation,” Jones said.

Commissioner Joe Hasychak said board members have a long way to go before any decision on the issue is reached, and solicitor Larry Lutz said the township’s zoning officer, Jessie Hines, was collecting and reviewing ordinances enacted by other municipalities.

Those ordinances would likely be presented for commissioners review sometime this month, Lutz said.

“I think all of us will have to sort this through in our minds,” Hasychak said.

In other news Monday night:

Commissioners voted unanimously to reject an offer by Butler County for the township to adopt 1,000 feet of Alameda Park Road running from its intersection with New Castle Road to Piper Village.

Superintendent of public works Thomas Knights said that section of the road likely would require extensive repairs, and poses challenges for winter maintenance work because it lacks an adequate turnaround.

Commissioners said county officials, in a letter proposing the takeover, said they would pave the road if township officials agreed to take it over, or simply seal coat it if the township refused.

Commissioners directed township manager Ed Kirkwood to send county officials a letter detailing the township’s decision.