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Christina Casha From: Ellen Holmgren Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2023 10:03 AM To: Matt Maciel Cc: Pleasanton City Clerk; Ellen Clark; Diego Mora Subject: RE: Gas Powered Leaf Blower Ban (Item #17) Dear Matt Maciel, Thank you for your email to the Mayor and City Council. This email acknowledges receipt of your message. If this comment relates to an item on the current City Council agenda and you would like to submit written public comment, please visit https://forms.cityofpleasantonca.gov/f/writtenpubliccomment. Please note that the public comment link will close at 12 p.m. on the Council meeting date, and no comments will be accepted after that time. Thank you for your interest in the City of Pleasanton. Regards, Ellen Holmgren, Administrative Assistant City of Pleasanton From: Matt Maciel Sent:Tuesday, November 7, 2023 9:47 AM To: Mayor and City Council <citycounciI@cityofplea santonca.gov>;Jeff Nibert<jnibert@cityofpleasantonca.gov> Subject: Gas Powered Leaf Blower Ban (Item #17) ***[EXTERNAL]This message comes from an external organization.Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links,especially from unknown senders.*** Good morning Mayor&Council, I would like to relay my concerns about the proposed ordinance banning the use of gas powered leaf blowers in Pleasanton. Even though battery powered blowers have made great strides in providing more CFM, they still lack sufficient runtime to be the only available option for every user category. Manufacturers downplay this issue by advertising their runtimes on the medium or low speed settings to make it look like their batteries have adequate stamina. Traditional commercial grade gas powered manufacturers, like Stihl & Makita have made great strides over the years in developing powerful blowers that are both environmentally friendly and quieter. Makita offers several leaf blowers that are powered by a 4 stroke motor. 4 Stroke motors do not burn oil in their gas and run at a much slower RPM, which makes their motor much quieter. Stihl has developed a blower which uses aerodynamic technology (muffler if you will) in the air wand that significantly reduces noise from air flow, making it quieter than a similarly sized battery unit. Also, both Stihl and Makita offer leaf blowers that "meet or exceed EPA& CARB" requirements. A big complaint about gas leaf blowers is the noise they produce. There is also a misconception that battery units are much quieter. However, when comparing Stihl & Makita blowers to similarly sized battery units,the battery blowers are at most, only 5 decibels quieter. That is hardly something to write home about. 1