Support Flows Our Way

The community is coming together in support of our attempt to harness Minnesota's Wind!!!  Many people have expressed their disgust with the city in person, by commenting on stories in the newspapers and good old fashioned fan mail.

One of the letters we have received from a resident of Mound dated 3/25/11 reinforced our opinion that we are doing the right thing and why.  Several passages stood out to me:

'Your system seems smart, 21st century, and a step in the correct direction.  How typical that a government system, even a local one, would "road block" such a good idea..'

'If Go Green Energy romances Orono into an acceptable language for a turbine ordinance, God Bless America!!'

You can see the final passage for yourself....

GreenMan

Sued for 'Going Green'

Sorry for the delay .... I know the rumors are flying .... but yes, we have actually been served by the City of Orono to remove our wind turbine!!!

We have been busy huddling with our  Counsel in an undisclosed location (possibly within the state of Minnesota, or not considering my tan) preparing our response to this outrageous Lawsuit.

All Oronians should be up in arms over the waste of time and money by an already stretched city budget.

Look below and please let me know what is so terrible about what we are doing...........other than not cleaning up the yard.........

Photo Courtesy of:
 Brett Strusa
Lakeshore Weekly News



GreenMan

My Kingdom for a Pole

After the new year and we were getting back to business, I realized that the city of Orono had not replied to our response.  It had been a full month and no contact in any form.  My turbine was due at the end of January and once more I was put in the position of having to beg my city to do something that is perfectly legal according to thier code, or proceed ahead with my project. 

The next step was to prepare my pole.  I purchased a 10+' length of 10" schedule 40 pipe, 1" plate for the base and flange, and 7/16" plate for the gussets.  We (Alias Dennis & I) cut the pipe to 10' and used a 'stand up' mill to cut the base plate, flange as well as the holes within them.  The gussets were cut on a band saw.  We decided to go with 6 oversize gussets instead of 4 as it was a cheap way to increase the strength of the pole.  Our buddy the welder put this assembly together straight and true.

I had my choice of paint, powder coat or galvanizing.  I chose hot-dip galvanizing as it was the most cost effective and durable alternative (they claim 100 years at the galvanizer).  So we loaded my 440 pound pole into the truck with three other poles prepared for a roof mount in St Paul.  The bottom of the poles is painted with an oil based paint to mask the pole, preventing the pole from being galvanized in the area where it is to be welded to the building.  The galvanize let off some dangerous fumes if welded to.

GreenMan

Our Response

An employee of the city of Orono had told me to remove my footing and threatened me with criminal prosecution (shouldn't any legal threat from a public institution come from their lawyer?).  It was time to reinforce my position and respond in such a manner as to fend off the arbitrary harassment I was under. I found  appropriate legal representation and we put together a response letter defending my right  to go green on my private property. We also point out the vagaries in the city ordinances and building permit denial.  Further, we point out the lack of city enforcement on other similar items which populate the city. The following list highlights the basis of our response:

• the city staff did no due diligence on the issue presented them
• the city of Orono has had plenty of time to develop renewable energy ordinances
• the reasons for denial were nonsensical and did not apply
• a city cannot arbitrarily deny everything it cannot think of
• the city of Orono allows variances to gain access to sunlight, thus declaring renewable energy a right
• similar items are located throughout the city even though they are not allowed by the zoning code
• basketball hoops
• light poles
• hot tubs
• bug zappers
• hot tubs
• and more...

I ran the letter by my wife, we signed it and sent it off on Dec 6, 2010.  I also sent a copy via certified mail (as Melanie had done to me) to ensure they could not say they did not get it, it was delivered on Dec 6 as well.

To this day, March 6, 2011, I have not received a response to my letter from the city.  Yet I have had the police in my yard taking pictures over a property issue and the city of Orono exceeded it's authority (illegally?) by trying to stop an approved stated electrical inspection.

One has to wonder what is going on behind closed doors up at city hall.....


GreenMan

**Alert** City Tries to Block Electric Inspection **Alert**

Some times the monster never quits rearing it's ugly head.....

The city of Orono went beyond it's authority once again today and attempted to block the state electrical inspection of my wind turbine. 

Imagine my surprise when the inspector called and told me the city would not let him inspect.  I said they had no authority to do so as I do not need a building permit for my turbine and I had already applied and paid for my permit.  He said he would check with the state and get back to me.  When he did, he explained that I needed my electrical contractor to file for the permit instead of me as the homeowner.  He said that is because I will beconsidered a commercial electric entity, therefor I need a commercial contractor according to the law.  However, he did also state that the state would ignore the permit issue as being out of thier realm of responsibility.

Alas, no inspection today, but a few more hoops to jump through.......


GreenMan

It's Up!!!!!

Finally, after many months of patience and effort, the inner core to the Wind Turbine is installed.  I still have to run the wiring, pass inspection and be approved by Xcel Energy for thier interconnection agreement and install the Darious Blades.   But it is up!!!!!

                      

GreenMan

**Alert** Visit from the Orono Police Department **Alert**

Who would have thought going green could be so dangerous to others .....

We spent a Saturday putting up my pole and attempting to install the wind turbine on top of it.  We were very close to getting the turbine installed, within 6", but had to  shut her down for the day as it was getting late and everybody was tired.

But the next day, Sunday, I found the Orono PD snooping around my property and taking pictures.  I was to get a verbal 'stop work' order from the officer as directed by city staff. But, as there was no work going on that day, he was relieved of his duty and we parted ways amicably.



GreenMan

The Legal Threat from the City

The most shocking bit of news came about a week after the Stop Work order was posted.  I received 2 letters from the city of Orono. One was sent via regular mail, the other via certified mail. They were identical letters with the added cost of certified mail using the citizens of Orono's tax money.  I am not sure what the city was thinking, but ratcheting up their intimidation was not going to deter me from accomplishing my goal of capturing my renewable resource. 

The first paragraph of the letter notes my building permit application denial, then falsely states city staff observed installation of the footing.  City staff never saw what I was doing as I and my alleged partners in crime were there the whole time and the city never showed up.

The second paragraph contained the legal threat and other comical statements.  I was told to "cease and desist" in bold print and was given 6 days (until Nov 24, 2010) to remove a 4'x4'x4' reinforced footing in order to avoid legal action by the city of Orono.  What an amusing statement as most unused footings in residential areas are simply covered with dirt or other means to hide them when they are unwanted and not in the way of other projects.  I was also told that my property would be reinspected (which is difficult given it was never been inspected in the first place) for compliance and failure may result in possible criminal action.  Now the city of Orono was going to criminalize going green.

The most laughable part of this paragraph was the last sentence proclaiming that I should not hesitate to call Melanie Curtis if I had any questions.  Why?  To be incorrectly quoted city ordinances?  Or simply to allow one more opportunity to abuse her power (or lack thereof).  Why has she NEVER tried to contact me??  Why the threats?   I am a citizen of this city and my taxes contribute to her salary.  Her role should be to help me accomplish my goals, not vice versa.  What is wrong with this picture?

I was now in the position of having to retain counsel, an added cost, for going green.  My attorney was able to get me a 1 week reprieve asThanksgiving was coming and the weather was very stormy during the 6 days I was allowed to remove the footing.

The timing of the above letter was perfect as I already had my footing in and there was no more work to do until my pole and turbine arrived in 6-8 weeks.

It was now time to make our position completely clear to the city staff...........


GreenMan

The 'Stop Work' Order

I was not at all surprised to see the 'Stop Work' Order posted on my door by the city of Orono the day following my angry neighbor's rant. The order is not clear and does not refer to what work I should stop.  It does state:

 "78-7 Orono municipal code requires permit to erect, construct, remodel, etc. NO WORK UNTIL PERMIT IS ISSUED" 

I did not know that a footing was considered illegal in Orono.  Many neighbors have footings for things such as basketball hoops, light poles, mailboxes, yard statues, etc.  The city of Orono can guess as to what I am putting on my footing, but they have no way to know for sure, and made absolutely no attempt to contact me and find out.  They simply took the word of an angry neighbor and over-reacted as quickly as possible.

So here I was with conflicting documentation from the city of Orono:

• Building request denied, you cannot do it at all.
• No work until a building permit is issued.

Well, which is it, can I or can't I?  It sure seemed to be an endless circle that cannot be won.  Upon receiving advice from an attorney friend, who claims he is a 'good' lawyer, we decided to disregard the order as it is quite vague and therefor, unenforceable.  The order was a moot point at that time as I had the footing installed and complete and there was nothing to do until my wind generator arrived in a couple of months.



GreenMan

The Angry Neighbor

Neighbors come in all shapes and sizes, different attitudes and different perceptions. In one of the neighborhoods in which we own a home, it has been our experience that if you do not fit into their view of how you should live, then you are someone who should be harassed and punished by all available means until you capitulate and live their way.  It is a "wound up" way of living which breeds unwanted participation in people's personal lives and property.

What we have experienced:

• a pair of beagles are sent out any hour of the day or night to bark relentlessly and loudly
• complaints about where we park a vehicle in our own driveway
• someone feeding geese and ducks until they are overwhelming and dangerous
• someone piling stuff all over your lakeside yard instead of putting it away nicely (and then complaining about how other's stuff looks)
• calling the police and complaining to the city that a curb is being installed to protect our property from years of water damage due to repeated city street overlays
• building a fence on our property (without a survey), and then the other property owner is taken aback that we want it moved to their side of the property line

The above are some of the reasons why I was not surprised when one of my neighbors became angry and started yelling at me for installing the wind turbine footing.  I had shown him my plan and listened to his concerns.  I agreed that I would attempt to work with the city to accomplish my goal of providing some of my own energy. 

When he began his angry questioning of me through the row of arborvitaes. I took it in stride and calmly tried to explain that the city chose not to work with me, had no real authority to deny my project, and therefore, had overstepped it's bounds. None of these facts deterred him from become more and more belligerent.  He began throwing phrases out such as, "You better have a good lawyer" and "I am going to city hall first thing in the morning", even though it is none of his business what I choose to do on my property.

Towards the end of his rant, I said to him, "----, you don't have to be angry."  To which he replied with the loudest voice I heard yet, "I'M NOT ANGRY!!!" and went stomping off.

After he left, I turned to alias Dennis and asked, "Is it me, or was he mad?"

To which alias Dennis replied in his typical way of understatement, "He sure wasn't happy."


Thus the foundation was laid for more harassment by the city...........



GreenMan