NORTH OGDEN — Once or twice a year, a large plume of smoke billows up near the foothills of North Ogden.

Almost always, it’s a controlled burn being conducted at the city’s green waste facility at 2700 N. Mountain Road. 

As one of only two Weber County cities with a green waste disposal site, North Ogden collects material like brush, leaves, grass and tree branches. According to Mayor Brent Taylor, the city lets smaller items like leaves and grass decompose. But bigger items, such as logs and large tree branches, are burned.

• RELATED: Northern Utah cities opening green waste drop-off sites for wind storm debris

Taylor says those burns typically happen once in the spring and once in the fall. And more often than not, when the smoke starts to hit the sky, the city begins to field calls from residents complaining about the air.

“Every time we do these burns, we get complaints from people asking why we can’t take some other approach,” Taylor said. “It’s a fair question, but it might not be as simple as it seems.”

Standard-Examiner file photo

In light of residents’ concerns, Taylor said the city administration and council will discuss the burn policy as they work through this year’s budget. 

Taylor said there are three real options for the policy: Keep conducting the burns; stop burning and raise green waste usage fees from $2.50 to $7 to cover shredding costs; or stop burning and raise monthly garbage fees on every resident by about 50 cents a month, which would also cover costs of shredding.

• RELATED: Pleasant View plans to burn large green waste pile early Thursday

If the city were to stop burning, Taylor said, it could hire a company to shred items or buy the equipment and do it themselves. If the city did its own shredding, Taylor said, it could sell mulch to residents to offset some costs.

“But either way, both of those choices are going to cost money,” the mayor said. “You’re going to have to pay for equipment and personnel. Burning doesn’t really cost us anything, but we understand it has environmental drawbacks, too.”

On his public Facebook page, Taylor posed the question to North Ogden residents, asking them to vote on their preference for the burn policy.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 445 votes had been cast, with 225 people voting for the city to keep burning. Eighty-one people voted to raise garbage utility fees and only 17 voted for the green waste usage fee increase. The remaining 122 votes were cast for other options. 

Taylor acknowledged the poll isn’t scientific and includes only a fraction of the city’s population, but it gives the city a starting point to for discussions.

• RELATED: Ogden to make green recycling easier

To meet certain Environmental Protection Agency requirements, the city is already planning for increased storm drain and sewer fees this year. Taylor said residents might not be receptive to another utility fee hike to curtail the controlled burns.

Donna Kemp Spangler, spokeswoman with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, said there are statewide regulations for open burns to help minimize emissions. According to the UDEQ website, open burn permits are issued in Weber County only between March 30 and May 30, and again from Sept. 15 through Oct. 30.

For burns to take place, the clearing index, which is a measure of the atmospheric mixing and wind speed, must be 500 or greater. The UDEQ says a clearing index of 500 or less is considered poor atmospheric ventilation.

Ogden city also has a green waste facility, but that community shreds all waste materials.

North Ogden will likely approve its final budget in June. 

You can reach reporter Mitch Shaw at mishaw@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @mitchshaw23 or like him on Facebook.