(2.5) Here’s your chance to tell members of the City Council how much you love gas-powered leaf blowers. Or, you may want to support a proposed ordinance for limiting gas-powered lawn equipment. From the AP:
The noise isn’t merely a nuisance. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prolonged exposure to noise louder than 70 decibels may damage your hearing. Gas-powered leaf blowers can register as high as 100 decibels at the source (the levels decrease with distance).
Gas-powered leaf blowers also expel fumes and pollutants like carbon monoxide.
The Special Committee on Environment and Resiliency invites the public to weigh in on an ordinance to limit gas-powered lawn equipment this Wednesday at 5:30pm. If you can’t attend in person, you can send written testimony to cityclerk@providenceri.gov.
(Seen here is the mountain nymph Echo of Greek mythology, standing guard outside a chamber with what have to be the worst acoustics on the eastern seaboard. Last time I attended a hearing, the only people who could be heard were the ones who had been handed a mobile microphone; and they came through fine. The table mics are terrible and those testifying at the podium are facing away from the gallery and are very difficult to hear. Solution: More of those mobile microphones. It’s called a hearing!)
Go here for the city of Providence open meetings portal. Meetings are streamed live on the City Council YouTube channel.
Leaf blower hearing, 5:30pm, Wednesday, February 5, City Council, 3rd floor, City Hall, 25 Dorrance Street, (directions)
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The Chairperson of this committee is Councilor Sue R. AnderBois.
Vice-Chair Miguel A. Sanchez
Councilwoman Helen D. Anthony
Councilman Pedro J. Espinal
Councilor Justin M. Roias
Priscilla De La Cruz, Director of Sustainability, Ex-Officio (Non-Voting Member)