Camillo Calls For Resignation Of Greenwich Board Of Health Chair

GREENWICH, CT — Last Thursday in a special meeting, the Greenwich Board of Health suddenly repealed the town's noise ordinance, effectively causing the state noise ordinance to take over. As a result, First Selectman Fred Camillo is now calling for Board of Health Chair Joel Muhlbaum to resign.

"The decision last week by the Greenwich Board of Health to cede local control over our noise ordinance to Hartford is beyond disappointing. It is outrageous and it happened because of the Board of Health’s inability to address in a timely and thoughtful manner the proposal from Quiet Yards Greenwich to limit gas-powered leaf blowers to the summer months," Camillo said in a statement Monday.

"If someone cannot find the courage to deal with an issue on a board that they serve on, then I would expect that person to resign from that position. In this particular case, I believe the Chairman of the Board of Health should step down and the board should be reconstituted with an understanding of its members’ role in keeping Greenwich independent from Harford in matters important to our citizens," Camillo added.

The Board of Health this past summer rejected a proposal on limiting gas-powered leaf blowers from Quiet Yards Greenwich (QYG), which is a community group that has been looking to solve what it says is a community-wide problem of excessive noise and pollution from the popular landscaping equipment.

QYG proposed a phasing out of the popular landscaping equipment over four years, with restrictions on usage during certain months because of noise concerns and possible health risks associated with the equipment.

Muhlbaum noted during the special meeting that the Board of Health's subcommittee on gas-powered leaf blowers found "conflicting information" between the studies and the source material submitted to the board, and added that there was no data that explained "why there are human health risks that would prompt a five-month ban on gas leaf blower use and not the rest of the year when gas leaf blowers are allowed to operate."

"As such, if we remove the ordinance from the Board of Health's purview including its supervision, fine impositions, or violations and the granting of variances, it will allow the RTM to avoid conflicts and give the RTM a clear and unencumbered pathway to crafting its own RTM-governed noise ordinance," Muhlbaum said.

The special meeting lasted 10 minutes, and there was no public comment or discussion. Muhlbaum read a lengthy resolution and said 23 towns and cities within Fairfield County have adopted a noise ordinance through common councils, RTMs and other representative bodies, not boards of health.

The Greenwich RTM on Monday night was slated to discuss a proposed amendment to the town's noise ordinance from QYG that would prohibit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in town.

The RTM voted 141-50-1 to postpone the item until the legislative body's January meeting.

Muhlbaum, who was appointed to a four-year term on the Greenwich Board of Health in 2021, could not be immediately reached for comment Monday.