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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-08-06-NAC-min "I. Vf , �xrc.cc?, Town of Lexington, MA Noise Advisory Committee (NAC) Minutes of Meeting, August 6, 2024 The meeting of the Noise Advisory Committee ("NAC") was held in person and on Zoom in the Select Board Room of the Town Office Building on Tuesday August 6, 2024 at 7 PM. There were no attendees online. NAC Members Present: Barbara Katzenberg (BK), Chair, Sallye Bleiberg (SB), Benjamin Lees (BL), Laura Rosen (LR), Elaine Rudell (ER), and Joe Pato (JP), Select Board Liaison Guest: Jim Malloy (JM), Town Manager Introduction and Administration 1. BK called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM 2. LR moved, ER seconded, and the NAC unanimously approved the minutes of July 2, 2024. 3. LR was assigned as clerk for this meeting. Committee Business 1. SB and ER followed up on assignments from July 2nd to ask the police and health departments, respectively, to share formal noise complaints with the NAC. The police department has had about 40 complaints, but their tracking doesn't state details about the type or place of the complaint or its resolution, just the date. The Health Department records were not made available. JM suggested that a better approach would be to ask him to reach out to the department heads to provide information to the NAC— he will follow up with them. 2. JM updated the NAC on the status of the part-time Noise Enforcement Officer (NEO) being hired by the town. The town HR director is awaiting a final request to place the ad from the police department, which the police chief said would be ready in the next day or two. The NEO position will be within the police dept but not a sworn police officer. All gas-powered leaf-blower (GPLB) complaints will be submitted to them, and they will also circulate around town to find violations. Construction complaints can be handled by the building commissioner 3. JM reviewed the history of the NAC and bylaw update. The last NAC resigned in early 2023 after working hard on a previous bylaw update that limited GPLB use. Subsequently, there was a construction project near Wilson Farm that was generating a lot of noise and complaints. Building Commissioner Jim Kelly (JK) purchased a good noise meter to record noise levels, but town staff were concerned that ambiguous text in the noise bylaw made it difficult to enforce. They wanted to clarify this ambiguous language before the next construction season to avoid a similar situation of many complaints around construction projects. JM gathered an internal working group of individuals responsible for enforcing noise bylaw to approach this: Wf �xrc.cc?, Noise Bylaw Working Group (NBWG) Jim Malloy Town Manager Jim Kelly Building Commissioner Joe Pato Select Board Member Julie Krakower Zoning Administrator (at the time) Tim Flaherty Fire Chief Mike Mclean Police Chief John Mazerall Police Captain Abby McCabe Planning Director Joann Belanger Health Director Alicia McCartin Assistant Health Director The NBWG went through the bylaw section by section and suggested revisions, but some members were uncomfortable moving forward with these given the lack of a public NAC at the time. To clarify language in the current bylaw as a minimum goal before the next construction season, JP pulled some aspects of the NBWG's suggestions into a warrant article that did go before Town Meeting on March 18, 2024. The JNoise Article was in 2 parts: A) Clarification of the bylaw, which passed B) A proposal to defer implementation of the GPLB ban by a year that was requested by landscapers, which failed by a significant margin, based on arguments that adequate technology was already available The March 18th bylaw revisions were also approved by the state Attorney General's office, but just in the last couple of weeks, so the general code hasn't been updated online yet. 4. JM gave an example of a noise complaint received yesterday from the Fiske Common condominium association. That property is 15 acres, and the landscaper is using GPLB. JM explained to them the exemption for properties over 1 acre, which will be hard to clean in fall with electric leaf blowers (LBs). The exemption over 1 acre is for wheeled, four-stroke engines, which are not as loud and have less environmental impact than the two-stroke engine backpack versions. 5. JM provided the NAC with a redlined version of the NBWG's proposed amendments vs. the focused version recently approved by the Town Meeting, and the NAC reviewed the differences. The biggest difference between them is the NBWG proposed decrease of the maximum noise level allowed in residential areas from 85 to 80 A-weighted decibels (dbA), maintaining 85 dbA only in commercial areas. The current bylaw just states that "noise pollution" is considered a change of 10 dbA over ambient noise levels, but these are hard to establish as they fluctuate.Another proposed change is that golf courses be exempt even for the two-stroke engine backpack GPLBs. The challenge for the NAC will be attaining the right balance between allowing people and the town to make improvements to their property and neighbors' rights to peace and quiet. Everyone has a different level of noise tolerance, and more people are working at home since pandemic Vf �xrc.cc?, 6. BK suggested that the NAC consider other ways to ameliorate the impact of noise, such as having only a specified number of days of ledge work, or even to put neighbors up in hotels during blasting. JM mentioned that another change in the recently approved bylaw clarification was that a "credential" noise mitigation consultant must be engaged by building contractors, which may allow enforcement of better noise barriers. Some areas in town used a rented noise barrier system recently and there were no complaints, but these do not work well on a sloped property, such as the project near Wilson Farm. 7. BK noted that vibration due to blasting was also an issue for the project near Wilson Farm, which is not covered by noise law. JM clarified that vibration damage is covered by the state blasting law, which is managed by the fire department. Contractors have to offer a pre- and post-blast survey of neighboring houses. JM gave the example that his own house suffered a crack in the foundation because of nearby work, and the contractor did mitigate the damage since they had done a pre-blast survey, so they had verification that the blasting working caused the damage. He emphasized that the town needs to get this information out there so neighbors will allow the pre-blast surveys to be conducted in their homes. 8. The NAC has been reconstituted to bring a broader cross-section of the community together to address the fundamental question of"What is too loud?" and what mitigation is considered reasonable, both of which will require a lot of discussion and public debate of conflicting views. ER mentioned that many landscapers are leaving the area due to the requirement of using electric devices, which are expensive. This will leave a gap in lawn maintenance services and allow contractors with electric devices to price gouge. JM said the town purchased a bunch of electric equipment for landscaping companies to test, which has been going on since last summer or fall. Some landscapers are putting gas-powered generators on the back of their truck to recharge electric LBs throughout the day. 9. The NAC agreed it should hear directly from contractors about the issues they face in complying with electric LB and construction noise regulations, as well as from town residents. Jim Kelly can give the NAC contractor names. BK said she would like the NAC to see where we are a year from now as to GPLBs and how people are adapting to the new law. BK thinks the NAC should also review public health data saying that 80 dbA is too high for general health issues, not just OSHA, including cardiovascular issues. We have to look at the health literature seriously and propose an evidence-based limit. The NAC should: • Meet with people who served on the NBWG as a collective group —they can inform you on what can and cannot be enforced • Meet with landscapers and contractors • Meet with the public health director and assistant public health director • Meet with people in town who understand noise issues— Lexington has many experts o E.g. employees at Lincoln Labs o JP knows a sound engineer who used to be on the NAC • Review other towns' bylaws and websites: o Cambridge has a very good noise bylaw, with temporary construction noise allowances, although this is a more urban example o Needham and Wellsley are good comparators Vf �xrc.cc?, 10. JP noted that the NAC timeline is not pressing — "something may arise, but for now you have the luxury to look into things". JM noted that the NAC does not have any immediate issues to deal with right now. Once the town starts hard enforcement of the GPLB ban, then you can see the change—e.g. see if contractors need to buy new equipment. The initial period for a newly reformed committee is to gather information. Give the current bylaw an opportunity to prove what it's doing and then see what else is needed. 11. The lack of a hard limit in the current bylaw makes it harder to enforce. 85 dbA is just a goal —the only strict limit is 10 dbA over ambient", which is hard to measure. Ambient noise levels change all the time. They need to be measured every hour for a day to get a sense of the range, and then see if construction noise exceeds this. Now that there is a noise mitigation plan requirement, the Building Commissioner could require contractors to put a noise meter on their site 24/7 to measure the noise levels and that a temporary construction wall be built around a site. Noise will then be measured outside of that at the property line. A noise mitigation plan is required if construction noise will last more than 7 days. 12. The bylaw states that both landscapers and homeowners are subject to the fine imposed by the GPLB ban. There was a lot of discussion about this, since the collection mechanism is not there for the landscaper. Also, the town can fine the homeowner, but local courts will throw it out if it is unpaid, as it will be seen as too minor an infraction. Enforcement might be dictated based on how courts will handle it. State laws limit what municipalities can charge for noncriminal disposition, and district courts will throw it out for being too minor. JM noted that the previous NAC created a much more detailed noise bylaw, and that Cambridge has a very good bylaw, especially re: construction noise. Some towns like Sturbridge and Weston have no noise limit at all. Alicia did a lot of the work for the NBWG, including a table of allowable limits. Mark Sandeen also pulled something together about health risks of noise. Action items: • JM will reach out to police, health, and building departments to get complaint information forwarded to the NAC (during his last 3 weeks as Town Manager) • JM will send NBWG summaries to BK • If the NAC does not hear back from JM about the complaints, BK will let JP know and he will follow up with the new Town Manager, who should be hired by the end of August • BK will ask Joe Campbell, an MIT sound engineer, if he would speak to the NACE • BK will forward 6 complaints received at the NAC contact email to Select Board office • JP will ask the website manager to note that the NAC contact email is not a complaint management email • Once the NEO is hired, the NAC will recommend a centralize complaint form and website link for these to go directly to the NEO • The NAC will review noise mitigation steps being taken at the Meriam and Edgewood construction site The next meeting is September 3, 2024, at 7pm. SB moved, LR seconded, and BK adjourned the meeting at 8:32 PM. Respectfully submitted, Laura Rosen