And that doesn't include the cost for police to chase down nuisance complaints, like that time when the founder of Quiet Yards--the group behind the ban--broke her own rule!

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Well, well, well.

It looks like the ban on gas-powered leaf blowers is going to cost the Town of Greenwich Departments of Public Works and Parks and Recreation at least $476,000 to cover approximately 2,000 square acres of land--that's a whopping $238 per acre!

And that's just the cost to convert half of the leaf blower fleets to electric for the two departments.

If the whole fleet had to be converted, the cost would be significantly higher.

Plus, the Town is finding out about other unanticipated expenses with electric leaf blowers, like upgrading electrical panels in storage sheds and buying specialized cabinets to hold the batteries, at a time when Connecticut is sporting the highest electricity costs in the nation.

Wait till they find out that insurance is going to go up due to the fire risk (e.g., in storage sheds, while transporting batteries in Town vehicles). The Town dump won't take dead batteries. Electric machines are heavier and cause more back strain on employees. Electric batteries drain faster than anticipated in the summer sun. Theft of electric equipment is on the rise. And repairs on electric equipment take forever, if you can even get the parts that is!

We told you in July about these issues.

We also told you in September about the environmental issues surrounding lithium-ion battery components which release toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)— dangerous forever chemicals—into the environment.

And we told you about the devastating environmental impacts of lithium mines and how 'modern-day slavery' powers the electric battery economy.

Even the Greenwich Republicans, who normally fully endorse Republican First Selectman Fred Camillo, have called the gas powered leaf blower ban "ridiculous 'feel good' legislation" and blamed any excess costs incurred due to the passing of the ordinance on Greenwich Democrats.

The truth is that all of the thanks for this "shellshocking" expense and environmental nightmare of an ordinance can go to:

• the virtue signalers at Quiet Yards who felt compelled to come after your fossil fuels, including Elizabeth Dempsey who was caught over the summer breaking the ordinance she backed;
• First Selectman Fred Camillo, who was so much in favor of the ordinance that when the Health Department threw a wrench into the works, Camillo called for the board chair’s resignation; and
• those who voted in favor of the ordinance on the left-wing RTM, the Town's governing body, including "republicans" like Dan Quigley and James Waters, and an RTM member who also allegedly broke the ordinance she voted in favor of passing. Talk about rules for thee!

Now imagine what the landscapers are going through as a result of this absurd ordinance!

Do you think landscapers have so much extra cash on hand that they can afford the extra $238/square acre of land to switch to electric equipment?

Sure, it's easy for BET Chair Harry Fisher to tell DPW and the Parks & Rec Department to just "request another (noise) extension.”

But that's not an option for the landscapers.

The landscapers did ask for an extension and got rejected.

In fact, the landscapers also asked the Quiet Yards activists, Camillo and the RTM for a number of reasonable compromises, but the compromises all got rejected.

Not only that, but the grant money Quiet Yards suggested to help offset costs for the landscapers to buy new equipment never actually materialized.

Oh well.

The Quiet Yards activists, Camillo and the RTM progressives who passed the ordinance didn't care one iota about the unintended consequences that the landscapers had warned about, nor did they care about the devastating financial impact their "feel good" ordinance imposed on scores of small and family-owned landscaping businesses.

The truth is the RTM rushed to pass this ordinance, and it was a mistake.

The RTM should roll back the leaf blower ordinance to where it was before the Quiet Yards activists got involved, and go back to actively enforcing the old rules--which did work and won't distract police with a bunch of nuisance calls like the electric leaf blower ordinance did all summer.

If and when the market is ready, landscapers will naturally make the switch to electric or they will simply invest in newer, cheaper ultra-quiet gas blowers.

Until then...

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