by Beth Kassab | Feb 8, 2024 | City Commission, Election, News, Uncategorized
Sen. Jason Brodeur files -- then immediately withdraws -- preemption on leaf blowers
The amendment would prevent local governments from banning the gas-powered devices
Feb. 6, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Sen. Jason Brodeur launched a stern but fleeting attempt to prohibit cities like Winter Park from banning gas-powered leaf blowers.
In a short exchange during a meeting of the Senate Committee on Community Affairs on Tuesday, Brodeur said Winter Park was the impetus behind the idea, but immediately withdrew the amendment he filed on an unrelated bill. He warned he would “keep the language” and potentially make a harder push to preempt local governments from mandating electric leaf blowers another time.
“I intend to keep working with the city of Winter Park to show them if they keep doing nonsense like this to hurt their small businesses it’s going to be a lot worse later,” he said.
Brodeur, the Republican who represents Winter Park and Maitland along with Seminole County, called the city’s ban on gas-powered leaf blowers “preposterous” and “akin to mandating that you screen in pools.”
(In fact, Florida statutes do require new pools be enclosed, fenced or meet other safety measures to pass a final inspection.)
State legislators have responded to local officials in recent years with an increasing number of preemptions — measures that take control away from from elected city and county leaders.
The idea of “local control” was once the mantra of many Florida Republicans. But that has evolved into cheerleading a heavier-handed state government, particularly when the topics resonate as the ideological battles or culture wars popularized by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The Florida Legislature has removed the ability of local governments or school boards to have a say in matters such as setting renewable energy standards, gun ranges, tenants’ rights, affordable housing projects and the books on the shelves at public schools.
Vice Mayor Sheila DeCiccio, who is running for mayor, said during a forum at the Winter Park Library on Thursday that she understood the reason Brodeur pulled the amendment is because of the number of cities in South Florida who “complained bitterly” that they are very satisfied with their bans on gas leaf blowers.
She noted that Winter Park adopted the gas leaf blower ban in 2022, joining cities such as Naples and Bicayne Bay, because of noise complaints during the pandemic. She said city officials believed at the time that waiting 30 months — or until July 1 of this year — to enact the ban was enough time for landscape companies to transition to new equipment.
In addition to regulating noise, the ban takes an incremental but significant step away from the emission-producing devices.
“This decision reflects the city’s dedication to prioritizing environmentally conscious practices as well as its commitment to sustainability, reducing noise and air pollution, and protecting the water quality of its lakes,” according to a recent city press release. “Gas-powered leaf blowers are known for their noise and significant environmental impact, emitting harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. These pollutants contribute to air quality degradation and pose health risks to both residents and the environment.”
In January, commissioners approved a $50 utility bill rebate for any resident who purchased an electric leaf blower. That move sparked debate over the ban, originally passed in 2022 but with a 30-month delay before it begins in July.
Landscape companies complained about the cost of high-grade electric models, the duration of the batteries and the weight of the equipment on workers’ backs.
Mayor Phil Anderson proposed an additional six-month delay of the ban, but commissioners voted 3-2 in a special meeting called on the topic to keep the July 1 start date.
A city web page is now devoted to the reasoning behind the ban as well as this comparison of gas-powered vs. electric leaf blowers.
The city’s comparison shows that the upfront cost of the electric devices and their batteries are far higher than the gas-powered models. But the cost of operating each model per hour is lower for the electric blowers when the cost of electricity vs. gasoline is factored in.
The city says its Parks & Recreation Department has replaced 98% of its leaf blowers with electric models and 100% of its trimmers. It’s also invested in two zero-turn lawn mowers and three utility carts.
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by Beth Kassab | Feb 2, 2024 | City Commission, News
City aims for 80% renewable electricity by 2035
The plan calls for the city to purchase 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2050
Feb. 2, 2024
By Beth Kassab
City Commissioners recently signed off on a plan to steadily increase the supply of renewable energy it purchases to light homes and businesses until it ultimately reaches 100% in about 25 years.
Winter Park is one of a dwindling number of cities that owns its electric utility, which means it has the power to choose where to purchase its energy.
This chart shows the increase in renewable energy sources for Winter Park over the next 25 years.
Mayor Phil Anderson said the plan allows Winter Park to purchase more solar energy without increasing costs for utility customers. That’s because the cost of undergrounding powerlines in the city is already built into electric rates and as that project ends by 2030, the idea is to use that portion of the budget for more renewables.
“I came from being a skeptic to appreciating that we have an amazingly run electric utility and I’m looking at it and saying, ‘Yeah, we can do this,'” Anderson said during the meeting. “This is one of the biggest decisions that the city gets to make.”
Today natural gas makes up the bulk of the city’s power supply, which is common across Florida utilities. But the city is hoping to move away from fossil fuels into more solar and, eventually hydrogen combustion turbines. 
The hydrogen option is expensive today, but the city is banking on a general principal of new technology — a decrease in cost over time.
The plan, which commissioners approved last month, calls for 80% renewable energy by 2035 with an increase to 89% by 2042. If the forecast holds, the supply will reach 100% renewables by 2050.
During the debate over electric vs. gas-powered leaf blowers at a special commission meeting last week, some resident accused the city of focusing on the singular devices without committing to a larger effort toward renewable energy.
Commissioner Todd Weaver, who is one of the leading environmental advocates on the board, noted the new push toward rewewables.
“Over the last seven years some of us up here, even before we were elected, considered a sustainability action plan,” he said.
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by Beth Kassab | Feb 1, 2024 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
Commissioners don't budge on gas-powered leaf blower ban
The debate over how to keep leaves off lawns provoked angry outbursts
Feb. 1, 2024
By Beth Kassab
A proposal by Mayor Phil Anderson to delay the start of a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers by six months failed to gain traction Thursday morning as commissioners held a special meeting to discuss the change that is rivaling brick streets, the new library and multi-story buildings for controversy in Winter Park.
Instead, the board voted 3-2 to keep the July 1 start date, but delay imposing any fines until Jan. 1, 2025. Commissioners Kris Cruzada and Todd Weaver voted against the fine delay. Cruzada said his main concern was specifying regulations related to noise from the machines. Weaver argued that the 30-month delay in enforcing the ordinance since it was passed in 2022 was enough time for residents and landscape companies to comply.
The outcome is essentially the status quo because commissioners already acknowledged at a meeting last month that fines and aggressive enforcement weren’t the intent of the ordinance. City Manager Randy Knight said he did not expect code enforcement staff to actively patrol for violations, but rather respond to questions and reports of problems.
The debate surrounding how residents or their hired services should remove fallen leaves from their lawns grew louder in recent weeks since the commission approved a $50 utility bill rebate for residents who purchased electric versions of the devices.
Representatives from landscape companies have said they didn’t know about the new rule and told Anderson and City Manager Randy Knight in a meeting last week at City Hall that the cost of the electric blowers would crush their businesses.
Thursday’s meeting turned loud at times with Anderson twice pausing the meting to call on the audience twice to follow basic decorum. A dozen people spoke against the ordinance during public comment, including owners of landscape companies.
“We’re a small business and operate with historically small margins,” said Eric Kobb, the owner of one company, who estimated it would cost him about $100,000 to transition his crews to electric blowers and another $50,000 or more in additional yearly costs. “Where does this money come from?”
Chad Carter, another owner of a landscaping service, said his crews require about 20 blowers. He estimated the cost of each one would go up from about $500 to $2,000.
“How am I going to pay for that?” he asked. “The customer is going to have to pay for it.”
Another speaker criticized the commission for the ban, calling it “fascist,” and attempted to discredit the commission by pointing out that Winter Park’s electricity utility purchases its power from fossil fuel sources. Commissioner Todd Weaver attempted to point out that the commission recently passed a long-term plan to move to at least 80 percent renewable energy sources.
Yet another person even likened the policy to “Hitler.”
Anderson said the idea behind the 30-month pause after the ordinance was first passed in 2022 was to give companies time to naturally upgrade their equipment under the premise that the gas-powered machines would need to be replaced every two years or so.
“We naively felt the market would work,” he said.
Weaver defended the ordinance as an improvement for environmental and public health.
“For me, this is about exceptional quality of life,” he said. “We could have done something more harsh like implement it sooner … we could have done what California does and ban all gas-powered tools.”
He said there is misinformation circulating about how the devices must be charged, which he said can be done in workers’ vehicles. He also noted the batteries are recyclable.
Anderson, who will leave office by April after the March 19 election because he is not running for another term, asked for the city to call a check-in meeting or work session with landscape companies and others in April.
Because the commission did not decide to alter the original ordinance, the issue will no longer appear on the city’s next regular meeting on Feb. 14.
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by Beth Kassab | Jan 30, 2024 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
Special commission meeting called on gas-powered leaf blower ban
The City Commission will meet on Thursday to discuss next steps
Jan. 30, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Mayor Phil Anderson has called a special meeting of the City Commission for Thursday at 9 a.m. to discuss how to handle a growing number of concerns about the ban on gas-powered leaf blowers that is set to take effect July 1.
The Commission passed the ordinance in 2022, but approved a 30-month delay in enforcement to give residents and landscape companies time to prepare.
But in recent weeks, landscape companies have said they did not know about the upcoming ban and expect the cost and other impacts of battery-powered equipment to be overly burdensome.
Anderson said a meeting he had last week at City Hall with representatives from landscape companies, equipment manufacturers and one company that is already using all-electric equipment was insightful.
“That meeting was really productive with some ideas shared,” he said. “So Thursday’s meeting is to sort of process that meeting and decide what we might want to do.”
He said he still expects the issue to be discussed at the next regular commission meeting on Feb. 14.
The ban was passed as an ordinance and any changes to it such as a delay in the start date or a full repeal would require specific public notice and two votes at two meetings.
Thursday’s meeting will allow the commissioners to have an open discussion to decide what changes, if any, they want to make.
Earlier this month, commissioners passed a $50 rebate in the form of a utility bill credit for residents who purchase electric leaf blowers.
But that does little to help the companies that serve thousands of lawns in Winter Park and use industrial level blowers that can cost $1,300.
In addition to concerns over the cost of the new equipment, landscapers have said the battery powered devices will slow down their work because they are less powerful, require charging and are heavier on workers’ backs.
“To comply with this law, more equipment on the trailer means more fuel costs to haul that equipment,” read one flyer that asks people to join in opposition to the ban. “This will result in higher costs to the homeowners and the landscaping companies purchasing and running generators to charge the blowers’ batteries.”
In Florida, Naples and Miami Beach have also approved bans. The Washington Post reported recently that cities across the country have put similar bans on gas leaf blowers into place such as Washington, D.C, and Evanston, Ill. California is set to begin enforcing a statewide ban on the sale of new gas-powered lawn equipment. Naples also enacted a ban.
Electric equipment is healthier for humans and the environment because there are fewer toxic emissions and comes without the jarring buzzsaw-like grind of a gas engine.
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by Beth Kassab | Jan 26, 2024 | City Commission, News
Opposition builds against gas leaf blower ban
Landscape companies met at City Hall and now the ban scheduled to take effect on July 1 will be up for discussion at the next City Commission meeting
Jan. 26, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Representatives from landscape companies met Thursday with Mayor Phil Anderson and City Manager Randy Knight in an effort to blunt what they say will be a financial hardship brought by a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers set to be enforced starting this summer.
A city spokeswoman said a discussion on the topic will be scheduled for the next City Commission meeting on Feb. 14.
The ban, which is aimed at reducing noise from the machines as well as emissions that are harmful to the environment, was passed in 2022, though the City Commission opted to delay enforcement until July 1 of this year to give residents and companies time to transition to electric and battery-powered equipment.
But people representing the landscaping companies said few in the industry knew about the upcoming change until recently and have not prepared.
Earlier this month, commissioners passed a $50 rebate in the form of a utility bill credit for residents who purchase electric leaf blowers.
But that does little to help the companies that serve thousands of lawns in Winter Park and use industrial level blowers that can cost $1,300.
In addition to concerns over the cost of the new equipment, landscapers have said the battery powered devices will slow down their work because they are less powerful, require charging and are heavier on workers’ backs.
“To comply with this law, more equipment on the trailer means more fuel costs to haul that equipment,” read one flyer that asks people to join in opposition to the ban. “This will result in higher costs to the homeowners and the landscaping companies purchasing and running generators to charge the blowers’ batteries.”
In Florida, Naples and Miami Beach have also approved bans. The Washington Post reported recently that cities across the country have put similar bans on gas leaf blowers into place such as Washington, D.C, and Evanston, Ill. California is set to begin enforcing a statewide ban on the sale of new gas-powered lawn equipment. Naples also enacted a ban.
Electric equipment is healthier for humans and the environment because there are fewer toxic emissions and comes without the jarring buzzsaw-like grind of a gas engine.
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by Beth Kassab | Jan 25, 2024 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
Commissioners must detail net worth unless lawsuit blocks new rule
Winter Park commissioners will consider at the next meeting whether to join a lawsuit to try prevent the financial disclosure rules from taking effect
Jan. 25, 2024
By Beth Kassab
About 12 miles south of Winter Park in another affluent city centered on a different chain of lakes, four out of the seven elected commissioners in the city of Belle Isle have resigned over new and far more detailed financial disclosures required by the state.
The new law, which beginning this year requires elected city officials to detail their net worth including assets and liabilities valued at $1,000 or more by July, is sparking resignations across Florida and, now, a legal challenge.
While no elected officials have resigned in Winter Park, city commissioners are now mulling whether to join a lawsuit that City Attorney Kurt Ardaman said he expects to be filed in early February.
Mayor Phil Anderson said during the discussion at Wednesday’s meeting that the new requirements appear intrusive.
“Note that no one resigned so come July 1, there’s going to be stuff out there we wouldn’t have normally had to do,” Anderson said. “You care about your community, but you also care about your privacy. This seems to be a pretty big reach into your privacy.”
Form 6, which has been filed by the governor, lawmakers, school boards and other constitutional officers for many years, is a new requirement for city officials as a result of changes by the Florida Legislature last year. Until now, city officials filed a far less detailed disclosure known as Form 1, which asked for sources of income, property and liabilities, but did not require any dollar amounts.
The forms are then added to a Florida Commission on Ethics database searchable by the public.
Commissioner Todd Weaver expressed concerns over potential theft over having to list expensive items in his home.
“I just feel like its an open invitation for theft,” he said. “I think its egregious.”
But the form allows officials to report household items as an aggregate figure without a detailed list. The detail required is related to financial assets, property, business interests and any debts. Liabilities are then subtracted from an official’s total assets to determine net worth.
While a number of elected officials have called the change an overreach, the ethics commission uses them as a way to provide the public with accountability when it comes to understanding any conflicts of interest an elected official might have. The forms could also serve as a check on whether officials appear to be privately profiting from holding public office.
Ardaman said the city would pay a $10,000 flat fee to join the lawsuit. He said multiple cities he represents are considering whether to join.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that in surveyed local governments in Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties, and found that eight elected officials have resigned. They include two in Edgewood, one in Casselberry, and one Windermere, in addition to the four in Belle Isle.
Commissioners set another discussion on the topic for Feb. 14.
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