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Town of Lexington Noise Advisory Committee (NAC) DRAFT Minutes of Meeting May 5, 2021 A meeting of the Noise Advisory Committee ("NAC") was held via Zoom videoconference on Tuesday May 5, 2021 at 7:00 PM. A quorum of four members was present. NAC Members Present: Dan Koretz (Chair), Vicki Blier, Nick Afshartous, Stewart Smith, April Wang Others Present: Mark Sandeen, local landscapers, other individuals. 1. Public Meeting with Landscapers — Introductory Remarks Stewart acted as moderator of the meeting which took place virtually on Zoom via the Town webinar meeting format currently utilized by the Town's Select Board. All participants were welcomed. Stewart announced that the meeting would be available on LexMedia. He outlined how the meeting would proceed and referred to the rules of conduct and decorum for all participants and noted that, initially, each participant would be allocated three minutes to speak regarding the draft bylaw which the committee has provided and are further invited to submit written comments. He advised that the meeting was scheduled for go for two hours. He then introduced Committee chair Dan Koretz to make opening remarks. Dan addressed landscaper complaints from the April 27 Landscaper meeting regarding a listing on the NAC page of the Town website of landscapers who employ electric equipment. Landscapers had expressed that the listing was essentially free advertising provided by the Town to a favored group, and therefor unfair. Dan noted the Committee appreciated the concern and that the Town Manager agreed with the complaint and the list has been taken down. Regarding the development of a new bylaw, Dan clarified that the Committee does not set policy, but rather gathers information and proposes solutions which the Select Board and, later, Town Meeting may accept, modify, or reject. He further clarified that the Open Meeting Law does not permit the Committee to meet privately with a group of landscapers. All discussion must be done in a publicly announced, open meeting attended by a quorum of Committee members, by written submission, or in individual conversations with a single committee member. Dan then listed some of the very wide variety of information sources pursued by the Committee for information and apologized for the Committee's failure to consult with landscapers. He acknowledged that due to seasonal pressures, landscapers are currently unable to sufficiently research electric equipment in order to give advice to the Committee. Therefore, the Committee has voted to divide the proposed bylaw into two parts. • The seasonal, day, and hour restrictions which do not require research will be developed for deliberation at the Fall, 2021 Town Meeting. • The bylaw covering equipment transition will be developed for the Annual (Spring) Town Meeting, 2022 in order to allow the Landscapers more time to gather information and provide comments to the Committee. Dan noted that the Committee is under pressure by Lexington residents to mitigate landscape maintenance noise. He then asked for specific comments from landscapers regarding the Seasonal, day and hours limitations and to address other concerns at a later date.