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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-07-10-NAC-min Town of Lexington Noise Advisory Committee Minutes of Meeting of July 10, 2019 A meeting of the Noise Advisory Committee was held on Wednesday,July 10, 2019 at 7:30 PM in the Parker Room of the Town Hall. A quorum of five members was present. Members Present: Nick Afshartous, Dan Koretz, Lee Minardi (Chair), Holly Sweet, Mark Sandeen (Selectman). Other attendees present: Jamie Banks —Founder and Executive Director of Quiet Communities, Rick Reibstein—Lexington resident and lecturer at Boston University, . Previous Meeting Minutes The minutes of the May 22, 2019 meeting were accepted. Holly Sweet Introduction Holly is the a new full voting member of the committee. She provided a brief background of her interest in joining the committee. More data from surrounding towns. Holly suggested that we get more data about the noise bylaws of surrounding towns to potentially reference in the formulation of our bylaw changes and the our public awareness campaign. It was decided not to gather more information at this time as the general consensus was that we had enough information for the immediate future. Enforcement of decibel limits A discussion of the experience that other towns have had with enforcing decibel noise limits was had. Jamie stated that it was very difficult to evaluate the effectiveness due to logistical issues (e.g., noise source gone by the time a measurement could be made) and the reluctance of police departments to get involved. Dan offered that some town use the noise limit label of units as the indicator of compliance to a decibel limit. Rick proposed the use of a cell phone app to record noise levels and images of offenders. The information could be used to notify violators of the infringement. In addition, a web site could be used by residents to register complaints. The discussion concluded that quantified noise limits should be included in our noise bylaw proposal and that the manufacturer ANSI noise level specification could be the primary tool for evaluating a units noise level. New Noise Bylaw Version 7/10/2019 2019 07 10-NAC-min.docx Noise Advisory Committee 2 Dan provided the table below which is a draft of the key elements of the proposed enhancements to the town's noise bylaws. It was used as a starting point for discussion. Noise limit,gas Date restriction, Hours allowed,gas blowers Identification gas blowers blowers (dbA) of compliance Additional Additional both Allowed only M-F 8-8, contractor 10/1-12/20 and Sa 9-5,Su and holidays 67 manufacturer's 1 per 6000 and resident 3/20-5/31 residents only certification ft.A2 responsible after first warning Source Lincoln Cambridge,Newton Brookline Several Arlington New Bylaw Proposal offered at the start of the July 10, 2019 Meeting Each of the six criteria(dates of gas power restrictions, hours, noise limits, compliance methodology, multi-unit restrictions, and responsible party)were debated resulting in the following conclusions: 1. Gas powered leaf blowers would be limited to the dates March 20 to April 30, and October 1 through December 20. 2. The hours for gas powered lawn care equipment would be restricted to: Monday—Friday, Sam — 5pm Saturday, 9am — 5pm Sunday and legal holidays, residents 9am — 5pm (Note, we did not discuss the hours for electric lawn care equipment). 3. Noise limits shall be 75 dbA at 50 feet when the bylaw is adopted and 65 dbA starting two years after adoption. 4. Compliance—via manufacture's ANSI certification 5. Multi-unit leaf blower use, up to 2 units per quarter acre of property. 6. Responsibility—warning and fines go to the operator with a notification letter sent to the property owner. A revised copy of the table above will be distributed to the committee via email and posted on the committee's website when it is available. In addition to this draft several related issues were discussed including: • The excessive noise levels of powerful wheeled walk behind leaf blowers. • If noise level limits were placed too low it would exclude all gas powered units making adoption of the bylaw more difficult. • It was generally felt that it best to have as much spelled out with this proposal and not to plan on making changes later although that may be necessary. • Mark S. offered that a hardship clause be included although the criteria for hardship exclusion should be clearly documented. • Mark S. also suggested that fine rules be modeled after those that are used with burning permits: Noise Advisory Committee 3 Any permit granted under 527 CMR 10.22 maybe revoked at any time. Whoever violates any provision of this Permit shall be subject to a fine of$100 for the first offense, $500 for the 2nd offense and$1000 for any subsequent offense Reference M.G.L. c. 148a. • It was suggested that a web site be created that list acceptable leaf blowers or perhaps such a site already exists produced by other towns or organizations. • The Town of Lexington (DPW and its subcontractors)would also be subject to these restrictions except for the preparations required for Patriots Day and other special request exemptions. 11nncllu(l (lan's, matfi of'provisions Public Awareness Campaign Nick presented the web page he created titled Green Landscapers Who Service Lexington. It hosted on the Town server and can be found at: hlt2s://www.lexingtonma.gov/noise-advisory-committee/ ages/green-landscapers-who- service-Lexington It was generally thought of as good resource to highlight local companies that have demonstrated environmentally sensitive practices in the use of powered lawn care equipment. Mark S. expressed a concern that the Town website not be perceived as making arbitrary endorsements of specific companies and therefore clear criteria should be established for adding a company to the list. The website also provides links to sites with information regarding data and topics on the health effects of gas powered equipment, excessive noise levels and how to reduce air and noise pollution in landscape maintenance. Note, as of July 10, 2019, many links on the Noise Committee website: hlt2s://www.lexingtonma.gov/noise-advisory-committee are broken. Lee notified Kathy Santos, the town's webmaster, on that date of the problem.) Action Items 1. Dan Koretz will update the Noise Bylaw Proposal to reflect the conclusions made at the meeting. 2. Continue activities to gain public awareness of the committee's bylaw proposals via contacting the organization outlined in Mark Sandeen's the June 2nd email. The next meeting is tentatively set for 7:30pm, Wednesday, August 28, 2019 Respectively submitted by Lee Minardi Noise Advisory Committee 4