Stillwater Minnesota bans all OWB outright.
- Thread starter Curlycherry1
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themaddhatter
ArboristSite Operative
I will be watching craigslist for some great deals on used OWBs in Stillwater 
Good thing I live between two cities in a township. We have probably 50% penetration around me of OWBs, and everyone keeps to themselves for the most part
Good thing I live between two cities in a township. We have probably 50% penetration around me of OWBs, and everyone keeps to themselves for the most part
welder15725
ArboristSite Operative
Soon there will be no campfires.
What's with the diversity #### spewing from palmrose? Will an OWB burn better/cleaner if there is a lower percentage of whiteys like me? WTF?
Sure wish they would just go after the dirty burners. Regulating everyone only stops the people that do it right anyways. Unless you live on the outskirts of Stillwater, I can't really see an OWB fitting in. Just inviting trouble by installing one.
Sure wish they would just go after the dirty burners. Regulating everyone only stops the people that do it right anyways. Unless you live on the outskirts of Stillwater, I can't really see an OWB fitting in. Just inviting trouble by installing one.
What's with the diversity #### spewing from palmrose? Will an OWB burn better/cleaner if there is a lower percentage of whiteys like me? WTF?
Sure wish they would just go after the dirty burners. Regulating everyone only stops the people that do it right anyways. Unless you live on the outskirts of Stillwater, I can't really see an OWB fitting in. Just inviting trouble by installing one.
Funny! Got to watch statistics; I used to live just South of Stillwater, in Bayport.When the last census came out the news reported that if you were a black, unmarried woman you might consider moving to Bayport, as it was where the highest number of single black men resided.They neglected to mention that around 99.99% of these gents were locked up in the prison there!
palmrose2
ArboristSite Operative
What's with the diversity #### spewing from palmrose? Will an OWB burn better/cleaner if there is a lower percentage of whiteys like me? WTF?
Having read that the city is kind of "artsy fartsy" (my term), I was curious about the demographics. They struck me as odd. I've lived in Flint, mi./Northern mi./Staples, MN/Marthas Vinyard, MA. I was stationed @ Fort Leonard Wood, MO and Furth Germany while in the US Army. People and cultures are interesting wherever you go. I've got nothing against Whitey. He is me.
P.S. I bet whiteys like you are a little more tolerant of wood smoke than the good folks in Stillwater.
Dalmatian90
Addicted to ArboristSite
My town is 91.5% white and 7% from two or more races...my guess is almost all that 7% are French-Canadian who count that as two races when deciding what box on the census to check
Sounds like from Curlcherry's description they have one pig-headed bad apple. I wonder if they tried to get him using existing nuisance laws and failed so now they have to do an all-or-nothing ordinance?
Update on Stillwater OWB Ban
Getting a bit more back on track, here is an update from the local paper today:
http://www.twincities.com/ci_14659947
Stillwater neighbors balk, so resident's boiler banned
A frugal resident installed a lawful outdoor wood burner to save home heating costs. Now, after a neighborhood outcry over smoke, haze and health concerns, the stove is illegal.
By Mary Divine [email protected]
Updated: 03/12/2010 09:27:37 AM CST
Stillwater resident Jeff Shaleen uses a small chainsaw to cut dried oak to get the fire started Monday morning, March 8, 2010 in his wood-fired boiler. After Jeff Shaleen lost his job last year at Andersen Corp. in Bayport, he began looking for ways to cut costs. At the top of his list was his heating bill, which ran about $250 a month in the winter. So Shaleen worked out a deal for cheap wood with a friend who owns a tree service, then spent about $8,000 installing an outdoor wood-fired boiler behind his house in Stillwater. His heating bill dropped to about $45 a month, and he figures he has saved more than $1,000 this winter.
But Shaleen's money-saving measure comes with a price: smoke billows from the stack of a small shed in his back yard at 916 Holcombe St. After neighbors complained, city officials decided to put a damper on Shaleen's plan. Outdoor wood boilers will be banned in the city starting later this month. "They are a public nuisance because the smoke they produce is a public health concern," Community Development Director Bill Turnblad said. "I think the city council was surprised by the volume of negative responses from neighbors. They were particularly concerned about the asthma and respiratory complaints."
Outdoor wood boilers run all day and tend to smoke a lot, Turnblad said. He explained that when the fire reaches the desired temperature, it is smothered, and "smothered fire creates a lot of smoke." A number of metro cities have restricted or banned wood burners, including Forest Lake, Oak Park Heights and Burnsville. Inver Grove Heights is considering an ordinance.
Officials from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency say they have been fielding more complaints about boilers this winter than in previous years, and they encourage people who call with complaints to contact their local officials. MPCA officials were researching a possible state emission standard for outdoor wood boilers but put those plans on hold when they learned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was considering a national standard, said John Seltz, supervisor of the MPCA's air policy unit. Environmentalists say the smoke from a boiler, especially an older, used model like the one Shaleen uses, can be overwhelming and irritating. "They generate a lot of particulates in the air, which is our concern," Seltz said.
Outdoor boilers typically burn inefficiently and produce more smoke than other home-heating devices, said Kathy Norlien, a research scientist in the indoor-air unit of the Minnesota Department of Health. Studies show that outdoor wood boilers might emit more than 10 times the fine particulate matter that wood stoves emit because more wood is usually burned for longer periods of time and outdoor wood boilers burn less efficiently. "They smolder for a long time," Norlien said.
Central Boiler, in Greenbush, Minn., is a leading manufacturer of outdoor wood boilers and built the 1999 model Shaleen installed. Rodney Tollefson, the company's vice president, said newer models produce less smoke than older models like Shaleen's. The company promotes the boilers as environmentally friendly because they burn wood, a renewable resource, he said. The company advises buyers in densely populated areas to make sure the height of the smokestack exceeds the peaks of the roofs of nearby homes. "I have never seen a situation where they can't have a chimney high enough to resolve the situation," Tollefson said. Other common suggestions for reducing irritation for neighbors include restricting chimney locations and requiring setbacks from neighboring properties.
Shaleen, 31, said he followed proper procedure, getting a permit from the city to install the wood boiler and having it inspected. He said he even put up a fence so passing motorists wouldn't be able to see the boiler. "You did everything right," city council member Jim Roush told Shaleen at a meeting this month. "This was uncharted territory for the city. Nobody really knew what the ramifications were. There was an overwhelming number of complaints." "I went through all the hoops," Shaleen said. "I can't believe they can do this to me after I spent the money and put in the lines, and now they say I can't use it. What are they going to ban next? All wood-burning fireplaces?"
He said his boiler should have been "grandfathered in," and because city officials rejected that option, he wants reimbursement for purchasing and installing the unit. If the city doesn't pay up, he said, he plans to take the city to court. "I'd be happy with $15,000 to cover the time, materials, effort and what it's going to take to get it out," he said. Shaleen said that no longer using the boiler once the ordinance goes into effect is not an option for him. "If I do that, my lines will freeze," he said. "The city didn't do their due diligence on it."
He said he has responded to neighbors' complaints by extending the smokestack 10 feet — it's now 21 feet above the shed roof — and buying "extra-dried wood" that smokes less. But one of Shaleen's neighbors complained that smoke was still a problem. "It's not good when you wake up in the morning and your lower house has a pungent wet poplar/pallet burning smell," Scott DeMars wrote in an e-mail to city officials dated Jan. 19. "Why should my family and 3-year-old twin boys have to put up with smoke smell and haze all day every other day living in the city of Stillwater?"
Mary Divine can be reached at 651-228-5443.
Getting a bit more back on track, here is an update from the local paper today:
http://www.twincities.com/ci_14659947
Stillwater neighbors balk, so resident's boiler banned
A frugal resident installed a lawful outdoor wood burner to save home heating costs. Now, after a neighborhood outcry over smoke, haze and health concerns, the stove is illegal.
By Mary Divine [email protected]
Updated: 03/12/2010 09:27:37 AM CST
Stillwater resident Jeff Shaleen uses a small chainsaw to cut dried oak to get the fire started Monday morning, March 8, 2010 in his wood-fired boiler. After Jeff Shaleen lost his job last year at Andersen Corp. in Bayport, he began looking for ways to cut costs. At the top of his list was his heating bill, which ran about $250 a month in the winter. So Shaleen worked out a deal for cheap wood with a friend who owns a tree service, then spent about $8,000 installing an outdoor wood-fired boiler behind his house in Stillwater. His heating bill dropped to about $45 a month, and he figures he has saved more than $1,000 this winter.
But Shaleen's money-saving measure comes with a price: smoke billows from the stack of a small shed in his back yard at 916 Holcombe St. After neighbors complained, city officials decided to put a damper on Shaleen's plan. Outdoor wood boilers will be banned in the city starting later this month. "They are a public nuisance because the smoke they produce is a public health concern," Community Development Director Bill Turnblad said. "I think the city council was surprised by the volume of negative responses from neighbors. They were particularly concerned about the asthma and respiratory complaints."
Outdoor wood boilers run all day and tend to smoke a lot, Turnblad said. He explained that when the fire reaches the desired temperature, it is smothered, and "smothered fire creates a lot of smoke." A number of metro cities have restricted or banned wood burners, including Forest Lake, Oak Park Heights and Burnsville. Inver Grove Heights is considering an ordinance.
Officials from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency say they have been fielding more complaints about boilers this winter than in previous years, and they encourage people who call with complaints to contact their local officials. MPCA officials were researching a possible state emission standard for outdoor wood boilers but put those plans on hold when they learned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was considering a national standard, said John Seltz, supervisor of the MPCA's air policy unit. Environmentalists say the smoke from a boiler, especially an older, used model like the one Shaleen uses, can be overwhelming and irritating. "They generate a lot of particulates in the air, which is our concern," Seltz said.
Outdoor boilers typically burn inefficiently and produce more smoke than other home-heating devices, said Kathy Norlien, a research scientist in the indoor-air unit of the Minnesota Department of Health. Studies show that outdoor wood boilers might emit more than 10 times the fine particulate matter that wood stoves emit because more wood is usually burned for longer periods of time and outdoor wood boilers burn less efficiently. "They smolder for a long time," Norlien said.
Central Boiler, in Greenbush, Minn., is a leading manufacturer of outdoor wood boilers and built the 1999 model Shaleen installed. Rodney Tollefson, the company's vice president, said newer models produce less smoke than older models like Shaleen's. The company promotes the boilers as environmentally friendly because they burn wood, a renewable resource, he said. The company advises buyers in densely populated areas to make sure the height of the smokestack exceeds the peaks of the roofs of nearby homes. "I have never seen a situation where they can't have a chimney high enough to resolve the situation," Tollefson said. Other common suggestions for reducing irritation for neighbors include restricting chimney locations and requiring setbacks from neighboring properties.
Shaleen, 31, said he followed proper procedure, getting a permit from the city to install the wood boiler and having it inspected. He said he even put up a fence so passing motorists wouldn't be able to see the boiler. "You did everything right," city council member Jim Roush told Shaleen at a meeting this month. "This was uncharted territory for the city. Nobody really knew what the ramifications were. There was an overwhelming number of complaints." "I went through all the hoops," Shaleen said. "I can't believe they can do this to me after I spent the money and put in the lines, and now they say I can't use it. What are they going to ban next? All wood-burning fireplaces?"
He said his boiler should have been "grandfathered in," and because city officials rejected that option, he wants reimbursement for purchasing and installing the unit. If the city doesn't pay up, he said, he plans to take the city to court. "I'd be happy with $15,000 to cover the time, materials, effort and what it's going to take to get it out," he said. Shaleen said that no longer using the boiler once the ordinance goes into effect is not an option for him. "If I do that, my lines will freeze," he said. "The city didn't do their due diligence on it."
He said he has responded to neighbors' complaints by extending the smokestack 10 feet — it's now 21 feet above the shed roof — and buying "extra-dried wood" that smokes less. But one of Shaleen's neighbors complained that smoke was still a problem. "It's not good when you wake up in the morning and your lower house has a pungent wet poplar/pallet burning smell," Scott DeMars wrote in an e-mail to city officials dated Jan. 19. "Why should my family and 3-year-old twin boys have to put up with smoke smell and haze all day every other day living in the city of Stillwater?"
Mary Divine can be reached at 651-228-5443.
Thanks for the update,Philbert. I went to High School in Stillwater, so I like to keep up. I find it interesting that "particulates" are the new bogeyman.Here is an interesting article regarding the people who come up with these new threats to your health and well-being.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/03/californias_toxic_air_scare_ma.html
Mind you, I don't think anyone has the right to stink up a neighborhood with smoke.This fellow needs to change his operation.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/03/californias_toxic_air_scare_ma.html
Mind you, I don't think anyone has the right to stink up a neighborhood with smoke.This fellow needs to change his operation.
Roll another one gunny. It's a 9 year old thread.
jwilly
ArboristSite Operative
Here in the great state of NY. I have not seen this enforced locally but several towns have banned OWB's altogether.
What are the Part 247 requirements regarding the purchase and siting of a new OWB?
All OWBs sold on or after April 15, 2011 must be certified for sale in New York by the DEC. Manufacturers must apply for certification for each model they want to sell in New York. A list of models that may be sold in New York is maintained on the DEC's website. Notice to Buyer forms must be provided to prospective buyers by distributors (sellers) of OWBs.
A used OWB moved from one property to another shall be considered a new OWB at the second property and subject to all provisions applicable to new OWBs. Therefore, the used OWB must be a model certified for sale in New York and the seller must provide prospective buyers with a Notice to Buyer form. The setback and stack height requirements must also be met.
All new OWBs must be equipped with a permanent stack extending a minimum of 18 feet above ground level. If a new OWB is subject to a valid nuisance complaint, the DEC may require that the permanent stack extend up to two feet above the peak of any roof structure within 150 feet of the OWB.
All new OWBs must meet minimum setback requirements. Residential-size new OWBs (thermal output ratings of 250,000 British thermal units per hour (Btu/h) or less) must be sited 100 feet or more from the nearest property boundary line. Commercial-size new OWBs (thermal output ratings greater than 250,000 Btu/h) must be sited 200 feet or more from the nearest property boundary line, 300 feet from the nearest property boundary line of a residentially-zoned property and 1,000 feet or more from a school.
What are the Part 247 requirements regarding the purchase and siting of a new OWB?
All OWBs sold on or after April 15, 2011 must be certified for sale in New York by the DEC. Manufacturers must apply for certification for each model they want to sell in New York. A list of models that may be sold in New York is maintained on the DEC's website. Notice to Buyer forms must be provided to prospective buyers by distributors (sellers) of OWBs.
A used OWB moved from one property to another shall be considered a new OWB at the second property and subject to all provisions applicable to new OWBs. Therefore, the used OWB must be a model certified for sale in New York and the seller must provide prospective buyers with a Notice to Buyer form. The setback and stack height requirements must also be met.
All new OWBs must be equipped with a permanent stack extending a minimum of 18 feet above ground level. If a new OWB is subject to a valid nuisance complaint, the DEC may require that the permanent stack extend up to two feet above the peak of any roof structure within 150 feet of the OWB.
All new OWBs must meet minimum setback requirements. Residential-size new OWBs (thermal output ratings of 250,000 British thermal units per hour (Btu/h) or less) must be sited 100 feet or more from the nearest property boundary line. Commercial-size new OWBs (thermal output ratings greater than 250,000 Btu/h) must be sited 200 feet or more from the nearest property boundary line, 300 feet from the nearest property boundary line of a residentially-zoned property and 1,000 feet or more from a school.
OK....who done it..?
yeah,,hes a zero...……..Roll another one gunny. It's a 9 year old thread.
You've got a surplus of green wood, I'll take it for free..I can send you my address.
Feeding trolls shall be frowned upon!Roll another one gunny. It's a 9 year old thread.
with you, being a major troll...……….Feeding trolls shall be frowned upon!
, morning, troll!how you doing,,one of AS's spambellys?????????????
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