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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-04-08-NAC-min Town of Lexington Noise Advisory Committee(NAC) Minutes of Meeting April 8,2021 A meeting of the Noise Advisory Committee ("NAC')was held via Zoom videoconference on Thursday April 8, 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 Opening Remarks 1. Approval of minutes. The Committee reviewed the minutes from the March 25, 2021 meeting. Dan moved that the Committee approve the minutes.The motion was seconded by Stewart and was approved unanimously. 2. Review of Draft Fact Sheet and Email Cover Letter The Committee reviewed the draft documents and discussed the content. Dan referred to the last section entitled "Comparison between landscape maintenance and construction". He noted that this was added to respond to a landscaper complaint received by the Select Board which asserted that there was no existing noise regulation in Lexington.The paragraph is meant to point out that construction noise is now regulated. After an exchange of views, the Committee resolved to remove this paragraph to avoid any confusion ahead of the planned landscaper meetings. Several members noted that they had several non-substantial suggestions to the wording of the documents. It was agreed that the members would forward those suggestions to Dan for his review and potential revision. Motion Dan moved that the Committee approve the text of the Fact Sheet and email cover letter, subject to receiving any further suggested changes from Stewart and Vicki.The motion was seconded by Vicki and was approved unanimously by roll call vote. 3. Town Landscaper Email List Dan noted as a follow up to the March 25th meeting that the Town has now approved and created a Noise Committee email account for use by the Committee in its ongoing outreach efforts.The Town advised that it would grant access to the email account to two Committee members. Dan noted that he will follow up with the Town's IT department to determine whether other members may also have access. The Committee discussed how the existing list of landscaper email could be imported to the Noise Committee Outlook email and whether there is an efficient way to combine those addresses into an email list. Nick advised that he will look into how this can be accomplished. 4. Review of Outstanding To-Do List Items and Additional Required Steps To-Do Items from March 25. With reference to the to-do list contained in the March 25th meeting minutes: Dan advised that he had completed items assigned to him with the exception of part e)which he will continue to work on. Stewart advised that he had reached out to the Clean Air Franchise Head office via email on the corporate site. He had not yet received a response. He agreed to provide a copy of that email (if available)to Dan for the Committee's record.Vicki recommended that Stewart speak to the Clean Air local franchisee, Patrick Lewis regarding obtaining information about manufacturers etc. Stewart agreed to do that. Vicki noted that the email list of landscapers was approaching completion. She noted that there was one landscaper whose name appeared on list of landscapers who had complained.That landscaper indicated that he did not sign and complaint letter. Dan noted that the email list will need to be complete shortly after the next Committee meeting in order to send the group email to landscapers. Nick advised that he had reached out to three vendors and was working on following up as he had been unable to connect with several. Additional Steps and Proposed Landscaper Meeting Structure Dan then noted that several items would require additional research including, for example, obtaining information on the lifespan of battery powered equipment. The Committee then discussed several ideas concerning the format of the landscaper meeting scheduled in May. It was agreed that the process would generally follow the virtual Town Meeting approach, allowing each participating landscaper to provide to provide a two-minute presentation (along with any written submissions each cares to submit). Each participant will be unmuted and allowed into the meeting to express their views. It was also agreed that some brief introductory remarks would be made by the chair framing the discussion. Stewart will assist Dan by explaining ground rules and procedures for the conduct of the meeting . Mark indicated that he will attempt to obtain a copy of introductory statements and ground rules used by the Select Board Chair and provide them to the Committee ahead of the meetings. The Committee also discussed who among Committee members would participate in engaging with landscapers directly during the meeting. A suggestion was made to potentially have some concerned citizens make presentations detailing their noise complaints.The Committee deliberated and did not agree to following this approach noting that the meetings were a forum for landscapers and citizen involvement was not required at this stage.The same decision applied to including excerpts of complaint letters in the Fact Sheet. Ahead of formalizing the process for conducting the meeting, Dan agreed to speak to Kim Katzenback at the Town Office regarding the process to be used during the meetings. He will bring a proposal based on that information to the next scheduled meeting. Vicki briefed the Committee on a discussion she had with representatives of Larchmont who had enacted a ban. She noted that the process had taken several years and had been led my environmental groups in the town. She recommended that the Committee reach out for support from Lexington's GWAC.This matter was discussed and will be taken up at a future meeting. Additional To-Do List Items Two items were noted at requiring further attention: Return on investment for green equipment and expected battery life. It will be helpful to determine what electric equipment manufacturers indicate is the lifespan on batteries and what additional maintenance, if any, is required for electrical equipment. The Committee discussed ways that this information can be obtained. The following action items were assigned: 1. Vicki agreed to contact various local colleges and universities to determine whether they use green equipment and what brands are employed. 2. Stewart will speak with Patrick Lewis of Clean Air regarding equipment used/recommended and repair/replacement information along with battery life experience. 3. Dan will speak to Eco Quiet and TJ Collins, both local green landscapers,to obtain similar information. 4. April will contact equipment manufacturers for related information including return on investment.April will send requests from her personal email and cc the NAC email address. S. Dan agreed to speak with Kim Katzenback to find out what virtual meeting options the committee has for the landscaper meetings and to report back to the committee. 6. Dan agreed to draft an outline of introductory statements for the meeting. 7. Nick will follow up with the vendors ahead of the next meeting and will look into importing the email contact list into the NAC Outlook email Next meeting The next meeting of NAC will be on April 13, 2021 at 7:OOpm. Adjournment There being no further business,the Meeting was adjourned at 8:50pm. Action Items Person Responsible Due Date 1. Review and update our list of towns that have Dan/Nick Ongoing regulated lawn equipment. Make calls to find success stories that can be presented to the Select Board and TM. 2. Reorganize and consolidate the information we have Stewart Complete collected over time on health effects, etc. 3. Craft one or more short blurbs and slide presentations Dan Complete based on#2,for use in approaching the groups noted below. 4. Contact the Board of Health to ask for support. We Nick(with assistance Complete should do this ASAP as soon as we have#2 done (as we from Mark S.) should reference specific studies on health effects in approaching Wendy Heiger-Bernays. 5. Request opportunities to present to Lexington civic Throughout groups, including: October and a. Sustainable Lexington a. Mark S November b. Lex GWAC b. Judith C. Citizens for Lexington Conservation c. Judith d. League of Women Voters d. Judith e. Lexington Mavens e. April f. Mothers Out Front f. Judith g. Lexington Green Teams (Cindy Arens) g. Judith 6. Create and distribute survey to collect usable data on Mark M In Progress GLB public opinion April 7. Decide whether to contact people who participated in Dan Pending earlier threads. Note that this is easier if we have something like a survey,which gives us a reason to contact them. 8. Obtain MA Medical Association resolution on leaf Stewart Completed blowers (Wendy Alker?) 9. Plan one or two virtual public meetings. Deferred Pending 10. Plan contact with TM members Deferred Pending 11. Do additional social-media work(not entirely specified Stella to assist Pending yet).