MAYFIELD — Town Board members heard more complaints about outdoor wood boilers at a Town Board meeting Thursday, but officials could not agree on what restrictions, if any, they should place on the boilers.
Aaron Howland approached the board with pictures of his property clouded in smoke from a neighbor’s wood boiler. He said his property is inundated with acrid smoke from his neighbor’s wood boiler, and it is much worse during the warm spring and summer months.
“During the summer, the materials just sit in there and smolder for hours on end,” he told Town Board members.
Howland said he is unable to open his windows because of the smoke, which he said gathers and stagnates because of thick pines surrounding his property.
Elizabeth Howland, Aaron Howland’s mother, agreed.
“I have big windows and I would love to open them to get a cross-breeze, but I can’t,” she said. “There’s no way I can leave the house for any period of time and leave my windows open.”
She said she lives on a cul de sac surrounded by pine trees, which aggravates the situation.
“We’re more like a city block,” she said. “Houses are close to one another.”
Aaron Howland said he owns a wood boiler, but he considers his neighbors and shuts it off in the summer.
Pete and Mickey Nelli, who are Elizabeth Howland’s neighbors, agreed.
“All we’re asking for is a little consideration,” Pete Nelli said.
Aaron Howland suggested the town legislate when people can use their wood boilers. He recommended the town place a ban on using them during the summer.
Supervisor Alan McLain said legislating wood-boiler use is difficult for towns and villages.
“I’m worried about energy prices and telling someone they can’t heat their water in the summer,” he said.
McLain said many people use wood boilers in an effort to save money on their energy bills.
Aaron Howland asked board member Jack Putnam, who said he sells wood boilers, how much a person using a wood boiler would save in a month during the summer.
Putnam estimated a savings of about $30 to $40 per month, and said that would be on the “high end.”
At an April board meeting, members discussed possibly legislating a requirement for smokestack height.
They also considered creating a law that would require wood- boiler owners to place their boilers a certain distance from their neighbors’ property.
The Howlands, Nellis and two other people present at the meeting said such laws would be inadequate.
They said the smoke from wood boilers can travel and permeate a large area, regardless of stack height or distance from property lines.
McLain agreed with the residents, saying he has received many complaints about wood boilers. He said there needs to be some kind of legislation.
“It’ll probably take a while, but we’re confident we’re going to come up with something,” he said.
Kayleigh Karutis covers rural Fulton County. She can be reached at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.
