Resident who says she’s irritated by smell of dryer sheets plans petition drive to have nuisance ordinance enforced

For Amy Leder, the distinctive odor of dryer sheets that sometimes lingers over parts of Port Washington is a cloying stench that brings on a physical reaction.

“It clogs my throat. It gives me a headache,” Leder said. “It doesn’t happen that often, but when it happens, I can’t be outside.”       

Leder, who lives on West Walters Street, said she is circulating a petition calling for the Kleen Test Products to contain the odor within its plant at 603 N. Moore Rd.

“This action will greatly enhance the quality of life and business opportunities in Port Washington, reduce allergic discomfort ... as well as save residents money by not having to air condition their homes to exclude the stink of Kleen Test,” the petition reads in part.

“They don’t have to close it down,” Leder said. “I just want them to get a better filtration system.”

Leder said she didn’t know about the company when she moved to Port Washington more than two years ago.

“If I had known I had to smell dryer sheets, on some days really intensely, I would not have moved here,” she said.

“Since I’ve been here, I find very few people say, ‘I love the smell of Kleen Test.’ Some people don’t notice it. Most people can’t stand it.”

Leder said she has called City Hall and Kleen Test to complain about the odor to no avail. Because of that, she put together a petition asking the city to enforce its public nuisance ordinance in regard to the odor.

City Administrator Mark Grams said the city has received few complaints about the company in recent years.

“She (Leder) is the first to complain in a long time,” he said.

Several years ago, he said, the city received a number of complaints about the odor, but since then the company has installed a new filtratation system and instituted a policy not to leave doors open.

That has largely solved the problem, Grams said, although there are occasions when the distinctive scent can be detected in the city.

“I haven’t smelled it much lately,” he added.

Mayor Scott Huebner said he, too, has received few complaints about the company.

“If the company’s not emitting anything hazardous, I don’t see where we would take any action,” he said. “If any action needs to be taken, it would probably have to be through the Department of Natural Resources.”

Huebner noted that many communities have distinctive smells, not all of them pleasant, and they linger all the time.

“You go to the Fox Valley and you smell paper mills,” he said. “This isn’t an everyday smell. They have taken steps in the past to minimize the odor. I don’t think it’s been as bad as in the past.”

Ron Dillahunt of the DNR said the agency has not received any complaints about Kleen Test for the past couple years.

“I have talked to a few people about Kleen Test in the past,” he said, adding that the DNR worked with the firm in the past to minimize odors.

The firm uses internal air scrubbers to reduce odors at the plant, he said, and keeps its doors closed.

“Those are the main things they can do,” he said.

The firm, he said, is not required to have an air permit from the DNR because its emissions are below the standards set by the agency.

Odor regulations are subjective, Dillahunt said, adding that the agency looks at frequency, intensity, duration and objectionability.

“It is not a foul-smelling odor,” he said, “The intensity hasn’t been that high when I’ve smelled it.”

A call to Kleen Test Products for comment was not returned.

Comments on creating public growing space next to Interurban Trail in Port to be accepted at Aug. 3 meeting

Port Washington gardeners may have a new place to plant flowers and vegetables next spring.

A community garden with 65 plots is proposed to be created on one-half acre of city-owned land next to the Ozaukee Interurban Trail, south of Hales Trail and kitty-corner from Kaiser Park.

A public meeting on the proposal will be held from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 3, at the Niederkorn Library’s community room.

Organizers are seeking input on the location, advice and looking to create a list of people who may be interested in renting a plot or helping with the garden.

Information gathered at the meeting will be presented to the city’s Parks and Recreation Board at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11.

“They (board members) are very interested in the idea,” said Derek Strohl, who is organizing the community garden effort. “They just want more community input.”

Strohl, who has been working on a community garden “on and off” for six years, last year worked on plans to develop the garden near Dunwiddie Elementary School.

Those plans were derailed, he said, when the Port Soccer Club, which developed the site about a decade ago as a soccer field but hadn’t used it in about five years,
decided it needed the space.

Strohl reviewed a number of other sites before settling on the current area.

The garden would be fenced, in large part to protect it from deer that live and feed in the area, he said.

Several years ago, Strohl noted, he proposed creating the garden on a site northeast of this one but people in the area overwhelmingly rejected it because of the
deer population.

A small path will have to be built for handicapped accessibility, as will a couple raised garden plots. The remainder of the garden will be in-ground.

The fence will be the biggest part of the expected $3,000 in start-up costs for the garden, Strohl said. Grants and donations will be sought to cover the cost.

The garden plots are expected to cost gardeners about $25 annually.

“We’re very optimistic we can raise the money this year so we can open the garden next spring,” Strohl said.

He would like to till the ground this fall and incorporate large amounts of compost into the soil. In spring, the fence would be built.

The biggest challenge, Strohl said, will be water.

“We could spend many thousands of dollars putting in water pipes,” he said, or much less to install two 250-gallon tanks and filling them from a nearby hydrant.
Gardeners would then use a spigot to fill watering cans.

In time, he would like to convert the tank spigots so a hose could be attached.

Strohl said he and three others have been working on the project, but would like others to join them.

“We need a board,” he said, noting rules for the garden need to be drawn up. “We’ll need help with the construction. There’s a lot of work to be done.

“But we’re overdue for this. Our community needs this. We need our children to grow up knowing where their food comes from. People need to be able to grow their
own food, even if they live in an apartment and don’t own land. People who don’t have land think, ‘I can’t have a garden.’ There’s no reason why we can’t have that.
We have plenty of public spaces.”

Playgrounds and concert venues are widely accepted uses for public lands, Strohl said, and gardens should also be.

“It’s a worthwhile activity for a community,” he said. “I get a lot of comments from people who say they’re excited about this.”