Denver postpones buying $25.5 million in gas-powered lawn equipment

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The Denver City Council postponed Monday until Aug. 19 spending $25.5 million on lawn equipment for maintaining city parks and golf courses.

Council member Sarah Parady made the motion to postpone until Aug. 19 voting on two contracts. The first is for $17 million with Pattlen Enterprises. Another is for $6.5 million with Potestio Brothers Equipment. A third contract is for $2 million with Colorado Golf and Turf Inc.

Parady noted that buying mostly gas-powered lawn equipment for its golf courses doesn’t coincide with the city’s climate goals. She invited state air quality experts to speak at the meeting regarding the hazards of gas-powered lawn equipment. David Sabados said such devices contribute to ozone depletion. Unlike vehicles, the equipment does not have catalytic converters to mitigate air quality hazards, he pointed out. He also said the state already has outlawed cities from using small gas-powered lawn equipment such as leaf blowers. He said if the ban is extended to larger equipment such as lawnmowers the city could be left with millions of dollars in equipment that it cannot use.

Denver’s vast park acreage

According to a memo from city staff to the council, the Parks and Recreation Department oversees 250 Denver-area parks consisting of more than 6,000 acres, approximately 13 mountain parks encompassing over 14,000 acres, and seven turf golf courses, “all of which need to be maintained with mowers and other landscaping equipment. Every park and golf course has different terrain and obstacles that need to be negotiated with the landscaping equipment.”

According to the memo, much of the city’s landscaping fleet needs to be replaced due to age. “In May, the city solicited proposals for the purchase of a variety of landscaping equipment, parts, and vehicles to maintain the diverse natural landscapes across the city’s vast acreage.”

During the two-week postponement, state air quality experts will prepare a report showing the impact the equipment would have on the environment.