Greenwood denies permit for outdoor wood burning unit
The Greenwood City Council voted 3-2 last week to deny an outdoor wood burner permit to a Depot Street resident after two neighboring property owners objected to the application.
Mayor Jim Schecklman broke a 2-2 tie Council vote to deny the permit to Dale Lindner. Lindner recently installed a wood burner at his 207 Depot St. residence and applied to the city to use it yet this winter. As per city practice, it then sent letters to adjacent property owners to ask if they had any objections.
Two neighbors did, with one writing a letter and the other appearing at a Jan. 20 monthly Council meeting. Both property owners said they were concerned about possible issues with smoke from the burner lingering in the air.
“You’re not going to be able to open your windows or doors, that smoke is just going to be locked there,” said one of the residents.
Lindner said he has placed the wood burner in a spot on his property where the prevailing winds should direct the smoke away from neighbors.
“The only place it’s going to flow is toward my field,” he said.
Also, Lindner said wood burners do not necessarily generate excessive smoke if wet, green wood is not being used.
“If you burn dry wood, it’s not going to be that bad, and that’s all I burn is dry wood,” he said. “I’ve had a wood stove in either my house or in my garage since I moved to town. That’s probably 15 or 16 years ago and I’ve never had a problem before.”
Council member Doug Schlough, who noted he has an outdoor wood stove at his place on the north side of town, said dry wood is the key.
“As long as you’re burning clean, dry wood, most of the time it’s not a problem,” he said. “Ninety percent of the time, it’s not an issue.”
Schecklman said it is city practice to check with neighbors when an application such as this is made. That protects residents from problems that may result. In this case, Schecklman said he can see where smoke could be a problem.
“That would be hard to live with. I can see that completely,” he said.
If it’s a problem only 10 percent of the days, “That’s a lot of days per year,” Schecklman said.
Schlough and Ryan Ashbeck voted to approve the application, while Tracy Nelson and Travis Petke voted against it. That left Schecklman to cast the deciding vote.
In other business, the Council approved a bid of $34,995 from Gross Motors for a new city squad vehicle. That bid was slightly higher than the bid of $34,744 from Emerald Motors, a Milwaukee dealership. The Council opted for the slightly higher bid due to the closer location of the dealership.
The Council plans to spend approximately $50,000 on the squad vehicle and the equipment for it. The city will be keeping its 2014 squad, and the cage and other equipment will stay in it, giving the city a fully-equipped backup vehicle. Police Chief Bernie Bock said most of the equipment in the 2014 unit would not fit in the new model.
The city will be selling its 2014 squad, which has been the backup. It agreed to allow Main Street Motors to sell the 2014 unit (for a cost of $250 to remove equipment and a $200 sales fee) and expects to get approximately $10,000.
