"We had bantered around the idea of replacing the old gas powered mower last year after receiving a lot of negative e-mails from folks in the building", said Mary Decker. "People objected to smelling the fumes brought into the building by the air intake valves, also the machine was noisy."
Another challenge in using a gasoline powered mower was the fuel storage, according to Ms. Decker. Storage of gasoline posed a safety issue. The solution was to purchase an electric mower for maintenance of the Town Hall front lawn area.
Ms. Decker continued, "It was suggested that I mow in the evening, but since there are always people in and around the building that was not a real solution. We let it ride until mowing season came around again and John (Imbimbo- Ms. Decker's Supervisor) asked if I would like to take a look at battery operated mowers...I couldn’t think of a better solution to the noise and fumes..."
The Maintenance team also thought it was a good continued step in the direction of energy efficiency. Last year they purchased an electric weed wacker. Both tools produce no fumes and significantly less noise than their fossil fuel powered counterparts.
On a final note Ms. Decker added, " It really would have looked ridiculous having me push a gas powered lawn mower around the front lawn sign asking for people to switch to greener energy, wouldn’t it?"