Natick Town Meeting week #2 recap: A very green night, from Net Zero to leaf blowers to artificial turf

It was a very green night at Natick’s second and allllmost last session of Fall Annual Town Meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 22, starting with a Net Zero Committee report on where the community stands sustainability-wise and ending with citizen petitions aiming to put the kibosh on gas-powered leaf blowers and artificial turf. See the nearly 4-hour meeting via this Natick Pegasus recording, plus more resources on the meeting on the town’s website.

Fall Annual Town Meeting returns to Kennedy Middle School on Thursday, Oct. 24 to address one final article that aims to sync Natick’s bylaw with new state rules regarding accessory dwelling units (aka, in-law apartments). Update 10/24/24: The motion under Article 20 on ADUs passed 101-3 (see recording).

Net Zero Committee member Ann Lentell kicked off the night with a basic update on the body’s work since it launched at the start of the year. She wanted people to come away knowing why the committee exists, what it’s up to, and what everyone’s role is in ensuring the committee’s work is effective.

Getting the specialized energy code passed, securing a big electrification grant for Ben-Hem, and the town’s recent approval of a zero-emissions vehicle policy for its fleet are among successes of town staff or the committee of late. Though the town has plenty of work remaining on its Net Zero Action Plan rolled out in 2021 with a goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. An immediate focus is qualifying for the state’s new Climate Leaders program, which would make Natick eligible for juicy grants—the town’s sustainability team is readying a municipal decarbonization roadmap that it will present to the Select Board and School Committee soon.

Article 32, a citizen petition from Victoria Grafflin and backed by EcoNatick, a group of local climate activists, sought to restrict the use of gas-powered leaf blowers, which pollute the air and assault the ears (we’re among remote workers who find refuge at the library or elsewhere on the most hellish landscaping days in our neighborhood). This article sparked lots of comments and questions, and it took about 40 minutes before Town Meeting voted to refer the article back to the sponsor, Board of Health and Select Board. The original motion for the article was deemed out of order by Moderator Frank Foss for going beyond the scope of the article, so was not even allowed on the floor. Another flaw with the article, one Town Meeting member said, is that it was not properly vetted through channels such as town administration or local businesses, including landscapers.

Grafflin described this proposal as a gradual move away from gas-powered blowers, and would focus initially on restricting use outside of spring and fall clean-up periods, and later, only on properties 1.5 acres or larger. Warnings and fines would be issued to violators.

The article sought change now because of the rise of year-round leaf blowing in town, more research about the negative health effects, plus the increased availability of alternative tools, such as electric powered ones.

“The desire for hyper-manicured landscapes should not outweigh the actual and documented health risks created by the use of gas-powered leaf blowers,” said Grafflin, who added that at least 10 other Massachusetts towns or cities have some sort of leaf blower restrictions.

This article had generated online buzz ahead of Fall Annual Town Meeting, and Town Meeting members as well as local landscapers were ready to weigh in on Tuesday night.

Town Meeting Member Jeff DeLuca termed the article as an example of “government overreach,” and cited facts pointing to possible misconceptions regarding the loudness of gas-powered vs. electric blowers, which he said can be louder. He said the article would affect both residents who own leaf blowers, and the companies that service residents (and might have to raise prices to afford new gear).

Another Town Meeting member, Tien Lum, rose in support of referring the article so that the sponsor can work with town departments and the public to develop “a working path forward” that would be in sync with Natick’s sustainability efforts as outlined at the outset of the night by the Net Zero Committee.

Rick Devereux concurred, recommending that the town start in on this now since it will likely have to face the issue sooner or later. “It’s already late to start this,” he said.

The moderator invited landscapers to share their views and provide more education on the matter. Russell Gates took him up on the offer to defend his turf and said that “we’re at the infant stages” of going electric for landscaping. He cited heavy and expensive batteries that don’t run for long when involved in heavy duty leaf blowing, and may require recharging via loud, gas-powered generators on site. He said electric gear is at least eight years away from catching up.

Landscape business owner Eric Kaplan said: “Technology’s getting there, but it’s just not there yet to be able even in two years to get to all electric.”

Another landscaping business owner wondered if the town of Natick itself might be required to go electric, and how much that might cost the town’s taxpayers.

Town Meeting voted 79-27-1 refer the matter to the sponsor, Select Board, and Board of Health.

Appreciate having a local news source that covers Town Meeting? Please consider supporting our work

Next up was Article 31, calling for a moratorium on artificial turf being installed on town-owned athletic playing fields beginning next year in order to study the issue more closely. Turf fields raise health concerns related to microplastics use and notorious PFAS (aka, forever chemicals), plus environmental concerns from what happens to the material when it has worn out. Artificial turf fields can also be more expensive than grass ones, the proponents said, pointing to Medway’s recent turning down of an artificial turf field for that reason. The Finance Committee called for referral of Article 31 to the sponsor, Select Board, School Committee, and Board of Health.

Town Meeting Member Rick Devereux, who had done the rounds with town bodies on this citizen petition, gave his pitch to Town Meeting in conjunction with subject matter experts. The idea was prompted by Town Meeting last spring okaying funds for a design study for a junior varsity field near the high school. Devereux acknowledged that turf fields, like the three Natick has, are considered because they are more durable than grass fields and less sensitive to storms, though noted advances have come to maintaining grass fields.

Several members voiced their support for the article, though one felt resigned that passing the motion would result simply in an advisory role to the Select Board. He indicated plans to vote for referral, but described the whole thing as “a super bummer” of a way to deal with a topic some are excited about.

Another member was skeptical about the merits of grass fields given the condition of some his daughter plays on. She prefers playing on the turf ones, he said.

Town Meeting Member Michael Linehan argued in debate that a moratorium isn’t the way to go on this topic. “If it is as bad as it is being made out to be, the existing turf fields should be closed tomorrow. If it’s not as bad, the moratorium won’t buy us anything,” he said.

A dwindling Town Meeting crowd voted for referral by a count of 58-31. That led to a question about quorum, which was not met, resulting in a continuation of the meeting until Thursday.

More Town Meeting action

Among the earlier highlights of the penultimate Fall Annual Town Meeting session for 2024:

PFMLA update: The Select Board and School Committee both shared updates on their research into the state’s Paid Family & Medical Leave Act, which has been a topic of citizen petitions at the past couple of town meetings seeking to encourage the town to adopt this benefit program. Neither town body found that PFMLA would be worth adopting at this time. The Select Board’s Richard Sidney said a gap analysis was conducted to compare PFMLA to the town’s current sick leave benefits, and they found that the town’s program covers full earnings, unlike PFMLA, and that time taken off via PFMLA wouldn’t count at pension time. Adopting the program would also saddle the town with additional shared services costs. The School Committee’s Catherine Brunell said the group doesn’t recommend that Town Meeting vote to adopt PFMLA for several reasons, including the complications it would introduce to collective bargaining, the intricacies of school schedules, and the desire to maintain local control over benefits.

Charter and ByLaw Review Committee update & articles: This in-the-weeds town body has been working to ensure the town’s charter (aka, constitution) and ByLaw are up to date, as seen in recommendations under articles 26-29 at this Fall Annual Town Meeting. Gluttons for punishment, the group sought and received Town Meeting’s approval for an extension to continue its work for another year.

Among the other decisions made by Town Meeting regarding the CBRC’s work was sticking with Town Meeting quorum being 91 (half of all seats, plus one) rather than a floating quorum that would change based on the number of people present. The debate on this subject got “crafty,” as Moderator Foss termed the approach of one Town Meeting member, and got a little giddy, when a member urged others to vote for this motion to avoid having to listen to her later on about her citizen petition that wound up duplicating the subject matter.

Overall, these articles sparked little debate and few questions. They touched on areas such as giving the moderator and fire chief more flexibility to do their duties, clarified town clerk responsibilities, ditched gender references in bylaw language, and gave the town more leeway to call a Special Town Meeting on short notice in an emergency, and to use means other than print newspapers that no one reads to give the public notice of such meetings.

Appreciate having a local news source that covers Town Meeting? Please consider supporting our work

More: Fall Annual Town Meeting week #1 recap (MBTA Communities articles pass)