And every choice has consequences — good, not so good, and bad. Here in bucolic Greenwich, the “Quiet Yards” group teamed up with the Al Gore crowd and a year ago January persuaded the RTM to ban gasoline-powered leaf blowers. The consequence: millions to be spent by private lawn maintenance companies replacing their current machines(a cost that will be passed on to property owners retaining their services); and at least a half-million dollars required to convert half the town’s arsenal of blowers and double that when the transition is complete, money that will be imposed on all property owners, including those who eschew hired Mexicans, and use goats or small Congolese children to keep their lawns trimmed, or simply choose to grow a lyme tick haven. Naturally, the banning crowd doesn’t want to hear that their solution will require higher taxes, so they have simply denied reality and insist that, like electric cars, leaf blowers can be run at no cost by powering them on, to quote (the other) John Kennedy, “pixie dust and unicorn urine.”
The ban was approved, but not the money, and this is the consequence.
GREENWICH — Summertime restrictions on the use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers take effect later this month, but a couple of town departments are going to have to be good at sharing to comply.
The town Departments of Public Works and Parks and Recreation had sought a combined total of roughly $476,000 to buy new electric leaf blowers, but the Republicans on the finance board voted to remove that funding from the budget in April. ….
The departments had planned to buy enough electric blowers to replace half their fleets, but town leaders now intend to get by with much less.
Parks and Recreation hoped to buy 21 blowers and DPW wanted 15, as well as various batteries and chargers, according to town documents, which would have converted half the respective fleets from gas to electric.
But instead of heading into summer with more than 30 blowers, the two departments will have six blowers between them.
…. Gasoline-powered leaf blowers cannot be used in residential zoning starting at 6 p.m. the Friday before Memorial Day through September 30, except for properties of two or more acres, where the prohibition ends the day after Labor Day. This year, the blower rules take effect on May 23 at 6 p.m.
The blower rules apply to residents, businesses and town workers operating in residential zones.
The town departments first sought blower replacement funds — $265,000 for Parks and Recreation and $211,000 for the DPW — in December. The request was denied at the time and departments were told to include the money in the regular budget process, which happens early each year.
During budgeting, Harry Fisher, chair of the Board of Estimate and Taxation, said the town government should not comply with the blower rules, so he and his Republican colleagues voted to cut the money from the town's spending plan.
"We're not accepting the mandate from the RTM, which we think is an undue burden on the town," he said on April 3.
Siciliano, in past remarks, has said his department is tasked with maintaining more than 2,000 acres of land throughout the town.
"The limited number of electric blowers will cause operational inefficiencies," the joint statement said, while acknowledging that buying a few electric blowers is better than nothing. "Staff will work collaboratively to prioritize usage across town properties and operations to ensure the most effective deployment of equipment."
In the statement, Siciliano and Michel said they considered three options for how to deal with the lack of funds and decided it was best to just buy what they can and share as needed.
The town was warned of what was coming back in December, but chose to push on ahead with the ban:
By Andy Blye, Staff Writer Dec 14, 2024
GREENWICH — Town officials voted to enact a summertime ban on gas-powered leaf blowers earlier this year and now the bill is coming due.
The Departments of Public Works and Parks and Recreation have asked finance officials for $476,000 to buy new electric leaf blowers and upgrade facilities to store the new gear.
…. DPW and Parks and Recreation leaders told the Board of Estimate and Taxation on Dec. 10 that the $476,000 is basically the bare minimum they need to go electric and comply with the legislation.
“We're not over-asking,” Parks and Recreation director Joe Siciliano said. “We're just asking for what we think we need based on our work capacity and also the amount of acreage, which in Parks — it's over 2,000 acres.”
The $476,000 request includes $265,000 for Parks and Recreation and $211,000 for the DPW, according to documents submitted to the BET.
The total would allow the two departments to convert half of their respective blower fleets to electric, Deputy Commissioner of Public Works Jim Michel said.
"If we were to truly do this for the whole fleet, full power and so forth, we'd probably be looking at all new (electric) services, basically from the (utility) poles out on the street," he said. “Which would have been a significantly higher number than you even have in front of you today, which we knew was going to shellshock (the BET) because it was shellshocking us.”
Parks and Recreation wants to buy 21 Stihl backpack leaf blowers, dozens of accompanying batteries, handheld leaf blowers and 21 portable power stations to charge up in the field. DPW is requesting the same equipment in smaller quantities.
The bulk of the cost, Siciliano said, comes from the batteries. The Parks Department asked for 21 primary backpack batteries which cost $1,529 each, according to BET documents, and each of the 42 backup batteries cost $1,299.
The departments have also asked for money to upgrade electrical panels in storage sheds so they can handle the excess power demands as well as money to buy specialized cabinets to hold the batteries. The cabinets are designed to stop the spread of fire if a battery fails and combusts. [Oops! That’ll have to wait for another year, or decade, or until one of the maintenance sheds blows up.]
Each battery lasts about two hours, officials said, but that can vary depending on how vigorously the batteries are being used. A light job may extend battery life past two hours, but intense blowing will drain the charge quicker.
Given that capacity, officials are working off the assumption that a blower will start a work day with two full batteries and one filling up on a mobile charger. As batteries are drained, they will go on the charger — and even then crews may run out of juice.
“I do think that the three (batteries) are gonna get us through the day, just barely, in most of our jobs,” Daniel Carlsen, assistant director of parks and recreation, said.
The leaf blower debate started in 2022, when Quiet Yards Greenwich, a community group dedicated to limiting use of gas blowers, outlined their request for officials to limit the use of gas blowers in town.
Advocates …. took their plan to the Representative Town Meeting in hopes of modifying the town’s noise ordinance. [The RTM approved the leaf blower rules in January 2024 and they took effect for the first time last year.]
…. Parks and Recreation and DPW leaders came forward with their request to buy new equipment now, they said, outside of the regular budget cycle, so the gear gets ordered and arrived before the variance expires.
Some members of the BET did not find the timing argument convincing.
“This should be in the budget cycle,” BET chair Harry Fisher said. “They should go back to the authorities and request another (noise) extension.”
… The BET budget committee voted 2-2 along party lines on Dec. 10 to reject the requests worth $476,000, with Republicans opposed and Democrats in favor. Without a majority, the item failed.
Gentlemen, start your goats.
