2021-05-05-NAC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

o Bob Barnard expressed reluctance at picking a set of dates but felt that the Cambridge model was viable. March 15 is easy to comply with for a spring start. June 15 is a good end date. All landscapers aim to finish spring cleanups before Memorial Day. Cleanups after June 15 would be due to staffing shortages. Mulching comes after the cleanups and then the mowing starts. It's a juggling act and flexibility is required. When asked for a specific recommendation, Bob stated September 1 to January 1 for fall cleanups and March 1 to June 15 for spring cleanups. • Rick DiAngeles of the Town's Economic Advisory Committee expressed that regulations are an economic issue to both the landscapers and their customers. The Committee should be cautious about the effect of regulations on prices and should "go lightly and see how it goes." He also noted that there aren't complaints about the loud noise made by trash collection and recycling trucks. • Anthony Modoono expressed concern that if the law is written so that weather- accommodation days could be added to the legal cut-off day, that residents won't know that days have been added, and will complain that the law has been broken. It would be better to just have a longer allowable time period. He emphasized that landscapers want to finish as early in the season as possible. • Dan asked for comments on the regulation of hours. To concerns expressed by a landscaper about not having enough time to consult with other landscapers for a unified position, Dan expressed that the Committee is looking for many responses and the widest variety of opinions to be considered at the June 8 meeting. The Committee is trying to find a middle ground. Stuart reiterated the request for written responses by the June 2. o Dan noted that Lexington has the most liberal hours of the comparison towns with landscape work allowed on Sundays, however residents have been requesting that Lexington offer one day of quiet in the week. He noted that one Landscaper indicated that Saturday is the day that his company doesn't work, so if there is a day of quiet, Sunday wouldn't work for him. o A landscaper asked if the hour/day limitations were just on GLBs, or on all landscaping equipment. Dan responded that the intention is to regulate the noisiest equipment the most, and that landscapers can propose different regulations for GLBs and for everything else. o Bob Bernard indicated his company starts at 7 am and that an 8 am start would lose seven hours a week and that the reduced hours would be a loss for him and his employees who depend on the hourly wages and overtime. Days lost to rain require the flexibility of working on Sunday. His employees want to go to church on Sundays but the flexibility is needed. His employees want to finish in time for dinner. The current hours don't need to be changed. It's rare to see anyone working at 8 pm. If they have to be working after 7pm, they don't want to be restricted. Workers leave for work at 5 or 6 am. He supports keeping 7 am to 8 pm as the allowed operating hours. Nine am on Saturday will be difficult, and ending at 6 pm will force most landscapers into violation of the law if there has been inclement weather. He expressed that it is unfair to put landscapers into that position just because they work outside and with equipment. Most landscapers start at 7 am. Employees have to take the bus home, and many buses stop running too early. Bob expressed that although concerns have been expressed about the employees' ears and backs, no one is considering that they have to use public transportation and have to get up at 4:30 in the morning to get to work by 7.