Leaf Blowers and Bottled Water

Tonight we hold a Special Town Meeting. The reason we are interrupting ourselves to hold this special meeting is to dispense with any changes to the Leaf Blower bylaw passed last year, so that those changes can go into effect before last year's restrictions have a chance to take place.

While I was opposed to the "seasonal ban" put in place last year, I did feel that proponents had successfully made their case that a problem existed that needed dealt with.

I just did not feel that the seasonal ban was the right tool for the job.

I had hoped that the committee put in place to reach some sort of compromise on this whole mess would come up with a solution for us to consider this year.

Because I wanted to see this committee take it's work seriously, I chose to not vote to repeal the bylaw at the last Special Town Meeting when that option, in addition to forming this committee, was presented to us.

I felt that the committee had a better chance of taking their work seriously if they were working "under the gun," so to speak.

Reviewing the amendments they have provided us my impression is that unfortunately, they did not feel obliged to come up with a serious compromise.

If I understand the amendments correctly, leaf blowers cannot be operated before 7:30 a.m. (8 a.m. on Saturdays), after 5:30 p.m. (4:00 p.m. on Saturdays), or on Sundays or legal Holidays, between the dates of June 15th and September 15th.

Also, and only between those dates, no more than one machine can be used for each 6,000 square feet in lot size, and they may only be used for 30 minutes at a time without a 15 minute break in between.

A nice addition is that within a year, commercial operators must use machines that produce no more than 74 decibels at a distance of 50 feet.

That applies year-round, too.

None of these rules apply to residents operating machines on their own property.

That is a whole lot of words used to say that, for 90 odd days a year, you can't run your leaf blower at an indecent hour. Unless you're working on your own property.

If the only people affected by last year's restrictions were commercial operators, I'd be comfortable rejecting these amendments and giving the parties involved another year to think about how to adequately deal with the real concerns people have.

It would feel just.

However there are residents that have legitimate reasons to use these machines, and are able to do so in a manner that does not impose upon the rights of others.

Banning this, even only for a few months of the year, is not in my opinion the right way to address these issues.

Therefore I plan on voting to amend what was passed last year, and removing the "seasonal ban."

Given how much was not accomplished, I suspect we'll be hearing about this issue again sometime soon.

Also on the table for tonight is an appropriation for a visitor's center at Uncle Sam Plaza, and a prohibition on the sale of bottled water.

I anticipate supporting the appropriation for the visitor's center.

I anticipate opposing the prohibition on bottled water sales.

While I plan to oppose the bottled water ban, I hope the topic gets people thinking.

If this were a ballot question and I were voting my own opinion, I'd support it.

Bottled water can be convenient at times but is also, in my personal opinion, such a ridiculous waste.

We have a water system that has long been the envy of the world.

Bottled water has been shown to be no better in quality, and often much worse in quality, than the water that flows from our taps.

That's my view.

However people need to be brought around to this idea before we can (or should) attempt to legislate it.

Hopefully this article will help spur that conversation.