At Thursday’s Board of Selectmen passions rose, again, related to gas power leaf blowers. In this case, it was over a proposed Noise Ordinance Variance to extend of time the town would have to switch to electric equipment.
The variance would begin immediately with an expiration date no later than Thursday, May 20, 2027
Back in January the RTM voted to approve a ban on gas leaf blowers during the summer months. The use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers in residential zones is now prohibited from 6:00pm the Friday before Memorial Day through September 30, except for properties of 2+ acres, where the prohibition ends the day after Labor Day
During the Selectmen meeting, they opened a public hearing on the proposed variance for the town.
Numerous residents testified, with compelling points made on both sides.
Town administrator Ben Branyan read from the memo (see page 43) he sent to the Selectmen requesting the variance that listed the challenges to the town:
Branyan’s memo also said, “Town currently has 11 handheld and 58 backpack units. Replacement cost for entire inventory is estimated at $306,000. Factoring a 10% contingency for potential changes to storages sheds and or other changes (generators on trailer to charge batteries) the total estimated budget is $336,000.”
First Selectman Camillo described the move as a “common sense approach” to protect tax payer dollars on new equipment, and gradually morph into the summer months use of electric.
Peter Lauridsen said the extension would be incredibly unfair.
“What I cannot fathom is, with all the discussion that has occurred on this topic over a decade, that the town is now looking for special treatment,” he said. “The two biggest budget departments in Town of Greenwich – the BOE and DPW – are having trouble trying to comply with this, and you’re not listening to the private landscapers who have the exact same problem but don’t have the resource of the town behind them.”
“If you give any leeway to the town, it must be across the board for everyone in this town,” Lauridsen added. “It is outrageous to think you would pass a law and then exempt yourself.”
“I certainly hope that if you do this, that the private landscapers take you to court and win,” Lauridsen added.
Svetlana Wasserman said the summer moratorium on gas leaf blowers would give residents a few months break from toxic fumes and harmful noise from gas leaf blowers.
Wasserman asked the Selectmen not to grant a three year waiver to Parks & Rec from the noise ordinance rules on gas leaf blowers.
She said a variance was not necessary because the town currently had 58 backpack leaf blowers and 11 handhelds and it was not necessary to replace the entire fleet with electric blowers since gas blowers will still be needed for 9 months of the year.
The only thing is needed to comply is a certain number of electric leaf blowers. She said before a decision on an extension was even considered, the Parks & Rec Dept should provide an estimate of how many electric blowers they need just for the summer, and a cost to acquire that number.
Wasserman said a 3-year waiver would cost the town more overall. She said the operating cost for a single gas blower for the summer season was over $1,000, given gas costs $3.66 a gallon and the summer ban is 18 weeks. She said that totaled $1,317 in gas, per blower.
And she said if Parks Dept uses 30 blowers in the summer, that resulted in $39,000 in operating costs alone.
“It makes sense to reduce the operating costs by investing in the green equipment,” she said.
Further she added that an exemption would complicate efforts toward enforcement and education on the new rules, especially for town properties in residential zones.
Wasserman said there were hundreds of landscapers serving the town, and no centralized database to notify them all about the new rules – and seeing town workers with gas blowers would be confusing.
“When landscapers drive by and see gas leaf blowers being used on town properties during the prohibited moths, they are less likely to comply with the rules,” she said, adding that a variance would also be an unfair burden residents who live near town properties, denying them a quiet summer.
Elizabeth Dempsey spoke against the variance, noting that the will of residents had been made clear after 30 years of efforts and the January RTM vote.
“Now is the time to save money and reduce noise and air pollution because electric blower technology is now competitive or exceeds the power of gas,” Dempsey said. “The town will save a lot of money in operating these machines – the average electric blower pays for itself in one to two years because the cost to operate these machines is 75% less than fuel and maintenance required by gas blowers.”
She said with the summer ban in effect, hardworking town employees would not be subject to carcinogenic fumes and deafening noise.
Roberto Fernandez, owner of a landscaping company, said he agreed with Mr. Lauridsen that exempting the town was unfair to landscapers who would also appreciate an extension.
He said he wanted to know the status of the grant program to landscapers that Quiet Yards Greenwich had talked about when the ban was proposed.
DPW commissioner Amy Siebert said her department use blowers, not for landscaping, but rather to clean 56 acres of parking lots and to clean debris as they pave 12 miles of roads annually.
“When we’re cleaning areas for striping and road markings, we’re also cleaning the edges of the road,” Siebert said. “When you see milling going on and the pavement going down you don’t see a lot of material along the edge of the road because the guys blow the material out of the right of way and are able to pick up and clean up.”
She said prior to the use of blowers the workers relied on rakes, and level of service was much lower.
Siebert said DPW was testing two electric blowers and was testing them.
“What we’re finding is they’re heavy,” she said, adding that the batteries did not last very long when blowing wet debris. “When we get these we’ll have to get an awful lot of batteries.”
She said when striping a parking lot or lining a road, using brooms instead of blowers was impossible.
She added that they had not found a model that would yield “great productivity” and didn’t have the budget anyway.
Siebert also questioned the ergonomics of the heavy duty electric blowers, given they can weigh 40 lbs and a worker has to carry extra batteries for several hours a day.
Parks & Rec director Joe Siciliano said his department maintained 1900 acres a week and 160 acres at the town owned golf course.
In the last 15 years his staff has been reduced by 15 park gardeners.
“The head count has gone down so we rely on the efficiency of the best equipment to do the work. We keep relaying that to the BET when they talk about our equipment budget, and how they want to cut it.”
Siciliano said on average nationally, park gardeners are responsible for 13.5 acres. “Our guys are carrying 30.44 acres each – almost double the amount of acreage per person.”
Siciliano said they had been purchasing mulching mowers which reduce the need to have to blow.
He agreed with Siebert that the electric backpack blowers with batteries were heavy, weighing 13 lbs more than a backpack blower with a full tank of gas.
He also disagreed with the QYG calculations of costs to operate gas power vs electric blowers.
David D’Andrea who previously was the operations manager at the town golf course, said he agreed with points made on both sides.
“The BET has a role to play in this and they need to step up,” he said, adding that he agreed with Mr. Lauridsen as well.
“I totally get it. I also get where our (town) departments are coming from, and watching out for the taxpayers because $336,000 is nothing to sneeze at either,” Camillo said. “We’re proud of the direction it’s going in, despite some of the challenges.”
Janet Stone McGuigan said that in the spirit of compromise she would be open to a one-year variance for the town.
“I think we will know a lot more in one year,” she said.
The Selectmen voted to keep the public hearing open. After they close the public hearing they have 10 days to issue a written opinion on the variance.
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