Summit Council Meeting Tuesday: Leaf-Blowers And More

SUMMIT, NJ — The Summit Common Council will meet Tuesday night. Among the items up for consideration, the council may take a final vote on a pilot program to ban gas-powered leaf blowers this summer. READ MORE: Summit Leaf-Blower Ordinance Causes Controversy

As an update, the city noted on Monday that the previous Patch article on the proposal "implies that city of Summit DPW will be able to use gas powered blowers when residents and commercial businesses are banned from doing so. That is incorrect. DPW already uses some battery-powered blowers and will abide by the restrictions if approved."

In Summit and in other towns, some business owners are concerned about laws to cut the number of days people can use leaf-blowers. Supporters of such ordinances say they're meant curb loud noise and environmental effects. But landscaping businesses have complained that they'll lose money and have to raise prices.

In 2017, landscapers sued the town of Maplewood for its new ban. NJ Landscapers Sue Maplewood Over Leaf Blower Ban

The ordinance up for a vote Tuesday says the blowers displace pesticides, pollen, and mold into the air, are noisy, and emit "carbon and non-carbon" emissions. "The Common Council wishes to prohibit the use of gas powered leaf blowers within the city from June 1, 2021 through August 31, 2021 as pilot program," it notes.

Summit resident Anna Fredette said last week, "My father has had a landscaping business for over 40 years and many of his clients were in Montclair until Montclair issued a complete ban. He spent years fighting this and still has been ... landscapers aren’t the only small businesses who utilize this tool."

Fredette started a Facebook group designed for small businesses in Summit to discuss this and other matters. As of Thursday, the Summit Area Small Business Alliance group had 109 members.

Council President Fox's summary

Council President Marjorie Fox released a summary of important matters to be discussed at the meeting.

These include:

• The Law and Labor Committee will introduce an ordinance to amend the lease agreement between the city and Reeves-Reed Arboretum to extend the lease of the Arboretum property for the next 25 years, until September of 2046. The lease extension is necessary for the Arboretum to apply for state Green Acres funding, Fox says.
• A presentation by Nancy Adams, the executive director Summit Downtown, Inc., on SDI’s accomplishments in the past year to support Summit’s businesses and the downtown.
• A hearing and vote on an ordinance to authorize the city to increase its final budget
• appropriations by the statutorily permitted 3.5 percent and to allow the city to bank any unused amounts for the next two years. "This ordinance is not an expenditure of funds and does not affect the tax levy; rather this is a budgeting technique that allows council to plan for unexpected expenditures in future years," Fox said.
• An ordinance to amend construction permit fees in the city’s schedule of fees, a fee structure that has not been increased in 10 years.

Read the rest of the details in Fox's preview here.

To watch the virtual meeting

Here is the packet for the matters up for a vote Tuesday.

Tuesday's meeting of the Summit Common Council will be held online through Zoom. Members of the public who wish to participate in the meeting may do so by joining online or over the telephone at 7:30 p.m. Individuals will be able to provide public comment.

Click this link to join the meeting.
Webinar ID: 896 1571 8354
Passcode: 259934

By phone: Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

• US: +1 312 626 6799 or
• +1 929 205 6099 or
• +1 301 715 8592 or
• +1 346 248 7799 or
• +1 669 900 6833 or
• +1 253 215 8782
• International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kybR...

The meeting will be broadcast live through HTTV on Comcast Channel 36 and Verizon Channel 30, and at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQM0aiqWmAIMUTU35kswMdQ.

The public can send comments/questions in advance of the Council meeting, via email or first-class mail. Emails should be sent to the City Clerk, cityclerk@cityofsummit.org. Letters should be sent to the attention of the City Clerk, 512 Springfield Ave., Summit. Emails or mailed correspondence must be received in the City Clerk’s Office no later than Tuesday, April 6 by 12 noon for that night's meeting.

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