As I understood the discussion, only gas powered leaf blowers were to be restricted. Electric and batterry powered leaf blowers would be allowed. Many of the concerns expressed were about airborne particles being a health hazard. One gentleman displayed a bag of debries he had collected. My question is, Does an electric or battery powered leaf blow stir up less airborne partiles than a gas powered leafblower. No doubt they are less noisy.

It boils down to this, money and nothing more. Landscape company's don't care about your health or concern for peace and quiet. They will continue to blow dirt, sand, pollen and animal waste into the air and your open windows.  I have an idea, charge more, hire more people and create jobs, Marbleheader's can afford it.

In some communities that have banned gas-powered blowers, landscape gardeners have taken to putting a generator on a truck and then running electric blowers from it.

I hope the tight vote is a message to our local landscapers that there is a real concern regarding the noise & debris these machines stir up. My hope is that this debate has inspired landscapers and homeowners alike to be more conscientious about how and when they use these tools.

I understand that residents try to ban Leaf Blowing due to the noise. Leaf-blowers often wear noise protection on their ears. So they don't want to go deaf but even a short distance away, we're to tolerate this noise? I like peace and quiet so I'm for banning them - entirely!!! And I will explain why.
What people don't seem to realize is that all that blowing stirs up things besides just the dislike of noise. Pollen, allergens and other airborne particles are now thrown up into the air while we breathe it all in. Landscapers will blow stairs and walkways clean (instead of using a broom). I watch these little hurricane and think 'Isn't it great that we breathe in particles of dog feces, cat dander, feathers, and who knows what else.' There's been such an increase in diseases such as Asthma, Cancers and other breathing disorders. Each year the Meteorologists tell us that the pollen count is at an all-time high and so are the "bad air" days. Besides our lungs, it can't be good for our eyes either. I encourage people to read the article below from The New Yorker about this health hazard. It's about a residential community (wealthy development) in California, like some neighborhoods here, the consequences caused by the blowers, and some of the residents' fight to limit their use. Noise pollution? It's much more dangerous than just that. As a long-term Swampscott resident I suspect some people share my concerns.

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=2010-10-25#folio=054

@Ron. Did you even read that article? It proves nothing! Do you honestly believe that the air quality will vastly improve by simply banning landscapers from using blowers? No more Asthma or cancer if we don't run small gas engines OUTDOORS? Then why is smoking allowed outside? And what would we have to ban next? All motorized equipment of any kind? If you believe everything in this article, next people will be saying that the reason more of our children aren't doing better in school is because their neighbor uses a leaf blowers once a week. If you are really that concerned about it than go after the manufacturers.

@Mouth of The Harbor. Way to perpetuate bogus stereotypes. Not everyone in Marblehead is rich enough to "afford" higher costs for lawn care. So I guess if your elderly or disabled and can't take care of your own lawn care or just plain average as far as income goes then just let it pile up. Dog feces and all. I'm sure no one will complain about that. And I suppose landscapers are somehow beneath you because their profession involves dirt and noise? Sadly there are many out there that are inconsiderate about how and when they use the equipment but most are more professional than that and don't deserve your snotty comments.

I am so happy that the residents of Marblehead defeated the banning of leaf blowers. Good for everyone for seeing through the maze of hysterical opinion (not fact) put forth by Mr. Bergonzi and his supporters. I personally have seen no data comparing the effects of a windy day in Marblehead compared to what a leaf blower does. I would think the amounts of "floating dog poop" it creates would be similar. Maybe Mr. Bergonzi should try to ban the wind in Marblehead at next years Town Meeting. Better yet, how about cars, computers and electric can openers? And if we're going to do away with all our conveniences why don't we just change our name to Lancaster and live like the Amish? Furthermore, trying to use the City of Cambridge as an example of who banned leaf blowers is assinine. The People's Republic of Cambridge would ban electricity and indoor plumming if they could. Here's an idea for the supporters of the ban - if you don't want leaf blowers used on your property tell your landscaper to not use them! Pay the extra money and save us all from ourselves that way. Don't make your hysteria everyone elses problem. Hooray for Marblehead!

no more leaf blowers, spray painting, aerosol cans, power washing, street sweeping, dogs barking, horns, house sanding, solvent based paints!!! What else???

forgot- thank you Bob

What I've never understood is why anybody would waste the effort or money to remove all the leaves (and grass clippings) anyway. As someone pointed out, they are natural fertilizers. It is my experience that a rotary lawnmower will chop the leaves fine enough that they won't smother the grass. People worry about the additional costs if leaf blowers are banned. Why do they waste money on removal to begin with?

But if people still insist on removing all that good natural fertilizer from their property, maybe they should follow the Cemetery Department's example (see Article 15 of the Town Warrant) and use a leaf vacuum instead. As long as it makes enough noise to satisfy the user or homeowner it should do the job very well.

if we ban leaf blowers why don't we go ahead and ban outboard engines, chain saws, 4th of july, nail guns, street cleaners, the bus and people talking in the street. as for the dog waste being blown in the air maybe people should start picking up after their dogs considering its the law.

(from previous)
My 2 1/2 year old son is pre-asthmatic which means he has the potential to develop a chronic inflammatory disorder of the respiratory airways, which is characterized by coughing, wheezing, tightness in the chest, and difficulty breathing. It is a serious and sometimes life threatening disorder, but if managed properly, it can be controlled. "Managed" and "Potential" being key words here. If he is exposed to the presence of certain environmental conditions (triggers) such as tobacco smoke, household pets, and dust mites and toxic chemicals* (see next post) he can develop the condition. Okay...keep him away from smoke...check. Pets...check. Dust mites...check. Toxic chemicals........well maybe? I don't need studies to show me that these blowers are not good for us. I can't tell you how scary it is for my son and us to watch as he struggles to breath after the leaf blowers infiltrate our air. Isn't it time we stop the pettiness and worry about our health and the health of our children? How are these other communities surviving without the use of these things? We need to rally around our family & neighbors health and well being instead of worrying about how pretty we want our lawns or who lives where. Isn't that the most important thing anyway? If something isn't good for us let's find another way. That is how things work successfully.

*-Air Pollution—A single leaf blower operating for an hour emits as much pollution as 40 cars idling during the same amount of time. (http://www.greenwichcalm.org/apps/blog/show/6583443-health-hazards-of-leaf-blowers)
-Leaf blowers stir up over two pounds per hour per leaf blower of dangerous particulate matter including but not limited to cat, dog, and rodent feces, pesticides, and street dust which may include mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium and nickel. (The American Lung Association)
-Leaf blowers spew a number of toxic chemicals including but not limited to carbon monoxide, benzene (a known carcinogen), 1,3 -butadiene, acetaldehyde, and formaldehyde (possible carcinogens). (California Air Resources Board, “A Report to the California Legislature on the Potential Health and Environmental Impacts of Leaf Blowers,” http//www.epa.gov/oms/regs/nonroad/equip-Id/hhsfrm/f00007.htm)

If prevention is, in fact, the best medicine, then we need to pay much closer attention to the role chemicals in the environment play in the rise of disease, related health care costs, and human suffering. In New York Times article by, Nicholas Kristof highlights the issue in his column "Do Toxins Cause Autism?" Kristof's piece refers to an article by Dr. Philip Landrigan, professor of pediatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and chair of the school's department of preventive medicine. Kristof writes: The article cites "historically important, proof-of-concept studies that specifically link autism to environmental exposures experienced prenatally." It adds that the "likelihood is high" that many chemicals "have potential to cause injury to the developing brain and to produce neurodevelopmental disorders."
While his article is full of cautionary language, Dr. Landrigan told me that he is increasingly confident that autism and other ailments are, in part, the result of the impact of environmental chemicals on the brain as it is being formed.
"The crux of this is brain development" he said. "If babies are exposed in the womb or shortly after birth to chemicals that interfere with brain development, the consequences last a lifetime."

Read more: http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/chemicals_and_our_endangered_children/#ixzz1sh5HUn2g

Read more: http://healthychild.org/blog/commentschemicals_and_our_endangered_children/#ixzz1sh4zJoeA

Even is autism is not an issue, environmental toxins can effect a child’s attention span and ability to focus which does not allow them to learn and prosper to the best of their ability. Also, what about the elderly and people with other medical conditions? We can't ban everything that people don't like and I certainly don't like the thought of someone telling me how I should live but shouldn't we ban something that we know is hurting people? If we are against banning just for banning's sake we might still have DDT.

Marty Riskin summarized the leaf blower issue better than any of us. Check the Reporter Opinion page for his summary.

LEAF BLOWER BAN FAILS DUE TO LACK OF VALID DATA
Mr. Bergonzi and others, have claimed that there is documented information supporting the argument that blowers pose a serious and real public health issue. My question is directly, where is this proven documentation?
Government, scientific, and environmental communities, along with, The American Medical Association, the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, have no valid published data (with the exception of gas powered emissions) supporting Mr. Bergonzi’s claims.
IF leaf-blowers cause public health issues, that's a very good argument for banning them. Almost everyone agrees on that point! But where is the verified data? There is no valid published scientific data. There are no studies by reputable scientific sources that support their claim. One would think that if the information is out there, it would be readily available and accessible, not just to these concerned citizens, but at the very least, to every public health agency, including our own Board of Health.
The fact that a number of intelligent, outspoken, and interested people have argued the issue at some length (at Town Meeting and elsewhere) without pointing to a single source for authenticated scientific information, raises the question: are the health claims valid?

"If you don't like it then MOVE" or any variation of that ego maniacal sentiment is one of the dumbest statements regularly made on this and other local sites. That is not how things work in the country. Learn about the issue, form an opinion, and share it (or not), but get used to the fact that we are ALL entitled to our opinion on a given topic. If you're going to disagree with someone try taking the time to formulate an intelligent response rather than a thoughtless & ignorant directive to "move on out".

nick what a shame that people cant get along. i have lived here all my life,born at the mary alely hospital ,do you know where that is?this town has changed a lot over the years,dont know if thats a good thing or not.i miss the old days and im not very old.this town has gotten very strange , would you want to make things different then they were? now ill be a jerk, if you dont like it here the way it is, dont push your views on other people,i wish you all could have been in the 60s,you probaly would have left,,thats when we were a town that got along.go drive your big suv's talk on your phones and complain about something else! you all make me sick! marblehead forever! (go back to were you came from,they probly dont like ther either) good night and good health to you all.be good or be yourself.

Nick you silly old coot. Just like other things, everybody has their opinion. The ban/restriction LOST ... AGAIN. And will forever hence. Stay in town if you like. Forever losers.

This wil NEVER, NEVER, NEVER pass. Never.