In 2017, the Representative Town Meeting resolved that Westport would try its best to become a Net Zero community by 2050.
We were one of the first municipalities in the state to set that goal.
How achievable is it?
Last night, the RTM approved — by a vote of 23-8 — a request from the Parks & Recreation Department superintendent to spend $862,670 for a 4-year lease program for 12 pieces of maintenance equipment for the Longshore Golf Course.
The current equipment has been in service an average of 13 years, with approximately 240,000 miles each.
A look at a joint meeting last week of 2 RTM committees — Parks & Rec, and Finance — sheds light on the opportunities, and challenges, that town officials face.
Right now, the committees learned, up to 80% of Parks & Rec’s mechanic’s time is spent repairing equipment. That works out to $65,000, plus $27,000 in replacement parts. Nearly $100,000 is spent annually, keeping old equipment working.
The Longshore golf course needs constant maintenance. (Photo/Dave Dellinger)
The state bid process means we’d pay the lowest price available. Parks & Rec officials selected Toro. They’ve been using that company, and have maintenance equipment to service Toro specifically.
Some of the equipment sought is not available in electric models. Triplex mowers are — but cost $26,000 more apiece. Four mowers would add $104,000 to the price, plus charging stations.
In addition, there is a 1-2 year wait time for the electric versions. Perhaps, committee members said, it makes more sense to consider electric mowers at the next lease.
The cost of the new equipment will be recovered by raising golf fees. With 36,000 rounds played a year, raising fees by $2 to $5 a round would generate about $200,000 a year. Full recovery would take 4 years.
The 4-year leases include a $1 buyout. After that time, the town has rights to place them up for auction to recover full value of the machines.
The plan would be to embrace the leading technology then, with new equipment.
Golf is the number one revenue producer for Parks & Rec. Committee members noted the importance of maintaining the Longshore course at a “very high level.”
Officials noted that Parks & Rec is the department in town that has “most embraced electric machinery.”
One attendee said that the town should have a broader discussion about electric and automated mowers. They would reduce manpower and other costs, and place a greater focus on sustainability everywhere.
The RTM Finance Committee approved the proposal for new equipment 4-1, with 1 abstention. The RTM Parks & Recreation Committee also endorsed the prooposal, 5-1, with 1 abstention.
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Sustainable Westport was not pleased with the committees’ recommendations. They said:
Sustainable Westport supports all efforts to reduce community emissions.
Entering into a 4-year lease for 12 pieces of gas-powered golf course maintenance equipment will have deleterious effects on both human health and the environment. We encourage the town of Westport to be a leader in sustainability instead of quickly dismissing further investigation into electric alternatives.
Mike West, superintendent of the Parks & Recreation Department, reported to the RTM Parks and Recreation Committee that some, but not all of the equipment needing to be replaced, was available in an electric model.
Would the town consider purchasing some of the 12 pieces in an electric model? It does not need to be all or nothing.
Other towns are implementing electric maintenance equipment successfully (click here).
We understand that there is a premium to going electric, but in order to fully understand the cost and benefit, we should see an analysis that includes fuel and maintenance savings.
Sustainable Westport defines sustainability as the intersection of economically responsible, environmentally sound and socially just reduction of impact on resources.
In 2017 Westport town leadership, the RTM and Sustainable Westport overwhelmingly approved the town goal of being Net Zero by 2050. To achieve this goal, we need to move to reliable, resilient and renewable energy and electrifying our lawn and maintenance equipment, as well as cutting down on excessive and unnecessary use of gas-powered equipment is a move in the right direction.
Gas-powered maintenance equipment is a major source of carbon monoxide, which when inhaled cause fatigue, headaches, confusion, and dizziness due to inadequate oxygen delivery to the brain.
One hour of gas blower use creates as much pollution as driving a sedan 1,100 miles; small engines, like those found in gas leaf blowers, are a larger source of smog-forming emissions than passenger cars.
Westport and Fairfield County already has one of the highest ozone levels in the state. Gas leaf blowers are a major source of nitrogen oxide, which combines with VOCs and sunlight to form additional ground-level (“bad”) ozone. The EPA recommends any area with high ozone levels restrict gas leaf blower use.
Fuel spillage associated with gas-powered equipment contributes to groundwater pollution.
Encouraging the reduction in the use of gas powered lawn equipment is part of an overall goal to transition to zero emissions lawn equipment, which is a key component of moving closer to becoming a Net Zero community.
Westport needs to honor its commitment to using best efforts to get to Net Zero by 2050 and we do that, in part, by making small changes. Electrifying Longshore maintenance equipment is a great place to start.
As the Parks & Recreation Department noted at the RTM committee meeting, “golf is the number one revenue producer for P&R.”
Longshore golf course is a highly visible and popular community asset that is frequented by Westport residents of all ages.
Let’s show Westport residents that Westport cares not only about providing a well-cared for and maintained public golf course, but that Westport also cares deeply about doing so in the most sustainable way feasible.
(“06880” covers the environment, town politics, recreation — separately, and when they intersect. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
The RTM members who voted to approve this deal should be ashamed of themselves. Ditto for Parks & Rec for proposing it. The Town is now locked into using dirty, polluting equipment for 4 more years—and probably longer—because selling gas-powered equipment at the end of the lease may not be so easy (some jurisdictions are already moving to ban it) and because replacing it with greener equipment will cost the Town at least another $1 million—so the pressure will be on Parks & Rec to make do with what they have.
The sad fact is that Parks & Rec never investigated alternatives, never considered or consulted other vendors, and never factored in the improved operating and maintenance costs of greener equipment. And what makes this even more egregious is that Parks & Rec is already an especially “bad citizen” when it comes to the environment, as it continues to use gas-powered leaf blowers year-round, having managed to finagle an exemption from the Town’s leaf blower ordinance. In addition, it continues to use toxic herbicides and pesticides and to push for the use of artificial turf on playing fields—even though we now know that artificial turf leaches PFAS into our water and our children are at risk every time they step onto one of those fields.
This latest decision makes a mockery of our promise to become a Net Zero community.
thank you for your input
06880 is affected by our national policies. The new president administration will extract more oil and gas from the earth and relax environmental regulations. Perhaps some town leaders take their cues from these policies.
Biden pumped more fossil fuels than Trump so whats your problem?
If Westport is interested in sustainability, then don’t do plastic turf fields
In addition to not being helpful to striving for a net zero by 2050 goal, if the town itself doesn’t purchase and use electric leaf blowers, how can they expect the private for profit landscapers around town to comply with the ordinance and how can they enforce it? I have tried over and over again to get my landscapers to purchase and use the electric leaf blowers and even switched to a company that said they would use the electric leaf blowers, but still non of them are using them.
I was told by landscapers that not only are the electric ones more expensive to purchase, they also don’t keep a charge long enough to do an entire lawn so they have to purchase extra batteries and be able to recharge them all the time, which takes longer than refilling the gas tanks for the gas leaf blowers. They also said they aren’t as strong as the gas powered ones so everything takes longer.
The town and parks and rec need to set an example if they want others to comply! Very disappointing!
Beth: Our ordinance only covers the summer–when there’s no real need to blow. So what the landscapers are telling you just doesn’t hold water. Battery life might be an issue in the fall–when there are a lot of leaves–but not during the summer. You might remind them of that next time they try to sell you that story. But yes, you are right: the Town should be setting a good example!
Anyone else concerned about the resources utilized to sustain the more recent gigansions which make McMansions look like mere cottages and they were bad enough. The amount of oil, electricity etc that is being consumed in underused space is unconscionable considering family size. What are homeowners thinking in regard to this? Permeable surfaces are disappearing before our eyes. The light pollution
alone is concerning as well with seemingly no consideration for neighbors. A 9800 square foot all window” New England Farmhouse” recently completed on my street glows like a supermarket on a country road and an affront to the senses nevermind a waste of energy.
Sustainability is more important than ever and we have a lot of making up to do for lost time and resources. The town for one can, and should, lead by example for starters. How on earth can they expect landscapers to comply if they themselves are egregious offenders??
Also, Homeowners and prospective buyers could consider how their footprint is effecting our town and planet. Is anyone thinking longer term or is immediate gratification the norm of the new Westport?
Someone should talk to The Patterson Club. They have robotic electric mowers on every hole working throughout the day.
Westport’s RTM is where progress goes to die.
I’d be interested to know if in addition to the fact that the cost is covered by raising golf fees, the RTM considered or discussed the potential rise in cost of health insurance of town employees due to exposure to noise and pollution or the cost to our (particularly) younger and older residents for asthma, COPD, and other respiratory diseases.
Werner: even after golf fees are increased next year, they will NOT be enough to pay for this lease, which means that the taxpayers will get stuck paying for the balance. And no, they did not consider any other increased costs (like fertilizer, seed, labor, insurance, etc.), which means that we will get stuck with that too, since there won’t be one dollar left over for any other increased costs.
What a disappointment that vote continue polluting is. There’s a part of me that feels 75 years is enough for the Westport RTM.
At the outset, the intent of the purchase of Longshore Golf Course in 1960 was for residents only. The joke was “buy a house in Westport and you get a country club membership for free.” Now nearly as many non-residents play it as residents due to its expensive upkeep requirements. While I grew up on the short 5,400 yard course, it is by no means a championship level links. Great for kids to learn on but it appears it has become a money pit? Want a clean environment, get the school kids on those 1/4 filled buses and put some teeth in the leaf blower ordinance.
I applaud the eight RTM members, Sustainable Westport Now, and Valerie Jacobs, who give me hope that change is possible. I agree with Morley—it’s hard to see the benefits of the Westport RTM in its current form.
golf courses should be banned if you want net zero which is a pipe dream.