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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-09-11-NAC-min Lexington Noise Advisory Commi?ee minutes for September 11, 2024 Present from the commi?ee were members Barbara Katzenberg (chair), Laura Rosen, Sallye Bleiberg, Elaine Rudell, and Benjamin Lees, and Select Board liaison Joe Pato. Ms. Katzenberg called the mee?ng to order. Mr. Lees was selected as the secretary for this mee?ng. Ms. Katzenberg clarified a point captured in the previous minutes concerning the dura?on of work that requires a noise mi?ga?on plan. The minutes were approved. All voted in favor. Fiske Common Susan Virgin?no, president of Fiske Common, accompanied by Janet Keyes and David Volovick, made a statement to the commi?ee (appended to the minutes), concerning the use of leaf blowers for their grounds. The members clarified that the bylaw does allow the use of four-stroke wheeled leaf blowers for large proper?es. Ms. Virgin?no indicated that wheeled blowers may not be able to clear all areas of their property. She also said that their landscaper has not found electric blowers to work well enough and has instead invested in newer gas-powered blowers that are significantly quieter and more fuel-efficient. Ms. Katzenberg noted that there was a large amount of energy on this topic, and reviewed the recent developments in Town Mee?ng which might make further changes to the bylaw an uphill ba?le. Ms. Bleiberg added that the leaf blower ordinance addressed concerns not only about noise, but also exposure to fumes by workers. Mr. Lees men?oned that the bylaw does allow for special permits to be issued by the Select Board, and queried Mr. Pato as to how frequently that provision has been used. Mr. Pato indicated that it has not been used for leaf blowers and has primarily been used for large town events to allow prep work to occur outside ordinary hours. Mr. Lees suggested that if Fiske Common believed that their situa?on deserved par?cular considera?on, this would probably be their best op?on. Mr. Pato concurred that a request could be made, though there was no guarantee it would be granted. Ms. Virgin?no said Fiske Common has to renew their contract in December, so it would be nice to know by then whether there are going to be changes to the rules, and if not, to let townspeople know who actually is using electric equipment so they know who they could call. Mr. Pato responded that the only way an immediate change could be made is through an exemp?on from the Select Board, since, even if a bylaw change were to be proposed, it would not be on the Town Mee?ng agenda un?l the spring. Some organiza?ons do have lists of landscapers who use electric equipment—the Lexington Climate Ac?on Network (LexCAN) publishes one. The town previously had its own list, but had to take it down, since the town is not allowed to preferen?ally suggest companies. Noise bylaw enforcement Ms. Katzenberg and Ms. Bleiberg recently met with Chief McLean and Captain Barry from the police department about how enforcement is going and what they consider the challenges of enforcement. The town approved hiring a code enforcement officer (COE)—Mr. Pato indicated the actual hiring is in the works. There had been a hope that the COE would have a chance to start doing educa?on efforts before the full leaf blower ban went into effect. The posi?on was adver?sed for May through October, although the police chief said that it could be flexible. There was a concern raised with the Select Board about this; a decision will probably have to wait for a new town manager to be brought onboard. Ms. Bleiberg reported there were complaints about leaf blowers, but also construc?on, and a sma?ering of loud par?es and such. The commi?ee members reviewed a sample page from the police log showing leaf blower complaints. There are complaints about leaf blowers, but also construc?on, and a sma?ering of loud par?es and such. The bylaw only applies to landscaping use of leaf blowers; they are s?ll permi?ed for use on construc?on sites. Currently, the police department documents every call they get, but the building commissioner does not have a formal process for colla?ng complaints; the COE should also compile a database, so we will eventually have a fuller picture of the complaints that are made. Ms. Bleiberg queried the exact process for rou?ng complaints to the COE. Mr. Pato said that has not been fully determined, but the town is bringing a web portal going online soon that could possibly be used for this purpose. The police have viewed their job right now as educa?on—they have double-sided cards in English and Spanish that they hand out. But they are generally not thrilled about having this as part of their job. The COE, if they have ?me, should be able to drive around and proac?vely monitor compliance, in addi?on to responding to complaints. The focus will s?ll be on educa?on—cita?ons will be issued for repeat offenders, either for the landscaper or homeowner. If people refuse to pay fines, taking them to court would likely be fu?le. The chief suggested adding the fines onto the tax assessment. Several commi?ee members thought that sounded like a good idea, although Mr. Pato expressed uncertainty about whether that would be feasible. The chief suggested periodic mee?ngs with commi?ee members to see what improvements might be made in the future. Ac?on items Ms. Katzenberg discussed reaching out for a subject-ma?er expert. Joseph Campbell was previously on the commi?ee. He may not be willing to be on the commi?ee again but might be willing to help educate us about the science of noise. A separate expert could be useful regarding the health effects of noise. There is a board of health member who has an interest in noise. Ms. Katzenberg will see about ge?ng Dr. Campbell for a future mee?ng. Ms. Rudell noted that we had previously discussed invi?ng landscapers to speak to the commi?ee. Ms. Virgin?no agreed to ask Fiske Common’s landscaper whether they would be interested. Ms. Bleiberg noted that there is an all-electric landscaper who could be invited. The commi?ee further discussed examining the bylaws of other communi?es. Ms. Katzenberg suggested looking holis?cally first, and then perhaps making a comparison spreadsheet, or otherwise itera?ng. Mr. Pato noted that the Metropolitan Area Planning Council is chartering a project to look at town noise bylaws and could be a resource; Jill Hai has been working on this. For the next mee?ng, we will look at the three communi?es Jim Malloy had previously suggested. Mr. Lees: Wellesley, Ms. Katzenberg: Cambridge, Ms. Bleiberg: Na?ck. Ms. Bleiberg moved to adjourn. Ms. Rosen seconded. All voted in favor. Scheduling The next mee?ng will be on the first Tuesday of the month. For November, we tenta?vely selected Wednesday the 13th. Statement from Fiske Common My name is Susan Virgin?no. I am the President of Fiske Common, a condo community here in Lexington. Thank you for giving me the ?me to speak tonight. Fiske Common is set on 16 beau?ful acres full of trees. It is a large job for a landscaping service to keep our community manicured. Without blowers of any kind, it is nearly impossible. This is the situa?on we found ourselves in when one of our residents called the police and our landscaper had no op?ons because they don't use electric blowers. If you walk around town as I do, it is apparent that other landscaping companies aren't using electric blowers either. Gas blowers have been in use everywhere this summer. Recently, one of our residents saw a gas blower being used outside the police sta?on. I have spoken to contacts at other condo communi?es in Lexington whose landscapers are also s?ll using gas leaf blowers. The con?nued use of gas blowers everywhere in Town this summer indicates there is li?le appe?te for the enforcement of this law. It is important to listen to the reasons why the landscapers are resistant to electric blowers. They don't have the power of gas blowers, and therefore don't work as well. Because of this, it would take the landscaping service a lot more ?me to clean up 16 acres. If required to use electric blowers, they will need to increase our landscaping fees by a lot and they don't want to do that. Our landscaper has been inves?ng in newer gas blowers which work more efficiently and more quietly but can s?ll get larger jobs done. An electric blower may be fine for a homeowner living on a quarter acre, but not for a 16-acre property. Large proper?es should be allowed to con?nue using gas blowers un?l electric technology improves. No one is against peace and quiet, but the gas leaf blower ban will impose a cost burden on residents through increased landscaping fees due to longer ?mes spent on each job. Some residents may want to restrict gas blowers due to the environmental impacts of burning fuel, but lithium ba?eries have environmental impacts of their own. They can cause fires, explosions and leak toxins into the air and soil if not disposed of properly. The mining of lithium is rife with corrup?on. Its mining causes damage to the soil in surrounding areas and water scarcity. In summary, the restric?veness of the gas leaf blower ban should be eased while extra thought is given to how and where it will be applied and enforced. Please consider loosening the restric?ons on gas blowers going forward. Many of the newer models burn less fuel and are no?ceably quieter. Large proper?es like Fiske Common need them to con?nue receiving adequate services at a reasonable cost. Thank you for your ?me.