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City committee discusses leaf-burning issue

Vandalia officials and a small group of residents discussed for an hour on Tuesday afternoon whether the city should continue to allow leaf burning, or whether it should offer alternatives to it.
At the end of that hour, aldermen present for that meeting agreed that this will not be an easy decision to make, and not one to make before getting as much input as possible from local residents.
Mayor Rick Gottman asked the city council’s streets committee to hold a meeting on the leaf-burning issue after he received numerous complaints about heavy smoke spreading from Rogier Park on the evening of a high school football game.
Alderman B. John Clark, chairman of the streets committee, kicked off Tuesday’s meeting by saying that city officials “want to do what the most people think we should do.”
Mary Martin, a respiratory therapist at Fayette County Hospital, and Shannon Lurkins, another FCH employee who lives near Rogier Park, voiced strong support for banning leaf burning.
“Nothing is more scary than not being able to breathe, and leaf smoke is probably the worst thing for people who have lung disease,” Martin said.
“There is so much carbon dioxide and other chemicals in the leaf smoke, and the particles (from the smoke) are so small that they are inhaled into your lungs and stay there forever,” she said.
“A lot of the toxins that are released are cancer-causing agents,” Martin said, noting that her department at FCH sees a large increase in patients during the leaf-burning season.
“Our ER is a lot busier, people are admitted to the hospital and some are even transferred to other hospitals,” she said.
“We even have patients who are afraid to leave their homes, because they know that they won’t be able to breathe,” Martin said.
Asked by Clark to explain the difference between leaf smoke and smoke from wood-burning, Martin said that leaf smoke “just permeates and stays on the ground.
“As long as you are burning seasoned wood and the right kind of wood, (the smoke) is not nearly as dangerous,” she said.
Martin also told city officials that tests performed on patients with lung disease after they have been subjected to leaf smoke show that their breathing capacity is reduced by 50 percent.
Clark read a letter from Dr. Michael Darmadi in which the doctor states that smoke from nearby leaf-burning infiltrates his office, causing problems for patients with respiratory issues.
Lurkins, who said she lives near Darmadi’s office and walks in Rogier Park, also spoke out on problems caused by leaf smoke.
She said that she sees FCH patients walking on the Lincoln Loop Walking Trail, and those patients are wearing masks because of the leaf smoke.
Also, she said, smoke from Rogier Park spreads across Fillmore Street, making driving hazardous. “It’s hard to drive through the smoke and watch for kids and pedestrians.
“The smoke is pretty thick, and it concerns me.”
Also, Lurkins said, “I can’t open my windows on nice days. It chokes me up, and I don’t even have a lung problem.
“It’s a nuisance – it really, truly is,” she said.
Chad Feldpouch, a former alderman who serves on the Vandalia Park District Board, asked about the city’s ability to pick up leaves with its vacuum truck.
Public Works Director John Moyer said, “I’ve got it running all of the time, but I can’t be everywhere at once.
“The problem is that not everybody gets them (leaves) out at the same time.”
Alderman Neil Clark said, “In my estimation, we have a health problem and an economic problem.
“We put health before economics, obviously. Health has to come first, but the fact of the matter is, if we don’t burn leaves, John (Moyer) has to run over town.
“Do you know how big the city of Vandalia is, how many days, weeks, months it would take, how much it would cost the city, with our economic problems, to buy fuel?” he said.
Clark said he believes the answer to allow burning on only certain days, with the city giving residents notice of the burning days.
On those days, he said, “Those who have a problem with asthma, emphysema, stay in your homes.
“Am I completely out of line?” Clark said.
Alderman Jerry Swarm said, “I would rather see us do the pick up, but then again, it’s going to run into money and where are you going to put the leaves?”
Currently, leaves picked up by the city are being dumped on the farm owned by a city employee.
With much of the discussion related to the burning of leaves in city parks, Vandalia Park District Superintendent Gary Oldham said, “We definitely got a problem.
“I’m sure the citizens of Vandalia like to have a clean park. If we have to quit (burning), then we’re going to start getting complaints. People are not going to like what they see.”
Oldham and park board President Mark Miller said leaf pickup is not a logical alternative for the parks.
“We’ve got so many trees,” Miller said, “and we just planted about 100 more, so it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
B. John Clark passed out copies of the city ordinance governing burning, which states, “No person shall burn any garbage, trash or other substance giving off an offensive smell or smoke within the city.”
Police Chief Larry Eason said that ordinance needs to be fine-tuned, because it is “virtually unenforceable” in its current form.
“What you find offensive, I don’t find offensive,” he stated as an example of how the ordinance is so subjective.
Keith Meadows, the city’s code enforcement officer, agreed.
“It’s a matter of interpretation,” Meadows said, adding that leaf burning was a regular topic of discussion when he served on the city council.
“This is nothing new. People aren’t sicker now than they were years ago.
“We fought this then, and we never did come up with a solution. We fought this virtually every year,” Meadows said.
“Like B. John said, it’s going to take a lot of compromise,” he said.
Another former alderman, Bret Brosman, also said he was involved in leaf-burning discussions during his tenure on the council.
Brosman said he believe the city could be “offering choices, and make one of the choices a drop-off spot (for leaves) at a central location.
“That’s something I always thought we should make official and publicize it as an option,” he said.
Martin and Lurkins said they would like to see the city try other options.
Martin said she favors the city prohibiting leaf-burning and explaining leaf-disposal options.
“Does it hurt to try it?”
Lurkins agreed.
“Give out the other choices and see how people react. That
Neil Clark said he was going on the record with the statement, “I am most concerned about the health of our citizens … above the economics. But the economics play an extremely, extremely important part.
Later in the meeting, Clark again expressed his opinion, saying he believes that the city should designate burning days, and notify the public of those days, as well as canceled and rescheduled burning days due to weather conditions.
“We have to burn leaves. This city cannot afford to pick up the leaves – we can’t do it. It’s just physically impossible,” he said.
To that, Lurkins responded, “You don’t know (if alternatives would work) unless you try it.
I think we need to try something different,” she said to Clark, “to see how the people of Vandalia feel, not just you.
“We’ve got to give that a chance, because we haven’t tried it,” Lurkins said.
Alderman Russ Stunkel sided with Lurkins.
“I think we should do more options, at the very least,” Stunkel said.
“I think change is due, I do,” he said, adding that of 12 residents contacting him on the issue, 11 oppose the burning of leaves.
B. John Clark said that based on discussions at Tuesday’s meetings, “The way I feel, we’re not going to vote on it Monday night.”
Gottman confirmed that. “We have got to get input from the public.”
With the leaf-burning season nearing an end, Stunkel said the council has an opportunity to take some time making a decision.
“There’s no reason to rush anything,” he said.
B. John Clark passed out the results of a survey recently performed by Executive Secretary LaTisha Paslay. Paslay contacted nine area communities to learn how they handle the disposal of leaves.
Salem, for example, has residents put leaves in bio-degradable bags, and city employees pick up yard waste two days each week.
A number of years ago, the city tried offering leaf pickup as an alternative, requiring residents to put the leaves in clear, bio-degradable bags.
That requirement was subsequently dropped, due to complaints from residents about the cost and availability of those bags.
Moyer said of the alternatives to burning, he prefers that residents bag their leaves for pickup.
“I’ll pick up any bag,” he said.
 

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