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New take on the lump discussion...

I live in a neighborhood that is governed by a homeowners' association with the annoying restrictive covenants and board.  Shortly after moving here, I received a letter from our HOA complaining of the fact that I had been observed discarding my dog's "feces" by dumping it into the retaining pond in our back yard.

I grew up on a farm watching cows walk into our ponds and taking dumps.  We ate the fish that we caught from those ponds.  Regardless, the HOA letter was soon followed up by an official letter from our "City Sewer Engineer."  (Who knew there was such a thing?)  This second letter informed me that a complaint that I had polluted our neighborhood pond had been investigated, but that no evidence of the act had been found.  (I'm imagining that frog men had dived our pond searching for my dog's turds... How effective is that use of my taxpayer's money?)  Seriously? There's even a fountain in the pond.  A couple times through the fountain's pump, and that stuff would be macerated and ready to biodegrade.  But no.  Apparently, if evidence of my dog's poop had been found, I could have been fined $5,000.  

Anyway, that brings me to my lump discussion.  Since the dog turd fiasco, I have been discarding both my dog's "feces" and my BGE lump charcoal ash neatly at the shoreline of the pond and kind of letting it naturally settle into the cracks of the stone rip-rap.

New notice from the HOA on the new HOW Website for the neighborhood: Someone has been disposing of dog poop and some sort of planting soil or something within the rip-rap of one of our ponds.  This action needs to cease.

Uhhhh...  OK.  

I guess the obvious option is to dispose of my ash (and dog turds) in my garbage cans, but that seems sincerely dangerous, as I keep my garbage cans in my garage and out of public view (as is required by HOA covenant).  A single coal that is still hot could burn my house down.  (And then the HOA would have to approve my new building design.)

How does everyone else dispose of their ash?



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Comments

  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,168
    I collect the ash after cleaning the bottom of the BGE in a metal bucket.  Once the level clears around half I then offer it to the garbage can and follow-on collector.  I have made the offering as soon as the day following a cook but that is rare.  No issues to date.  FWIW-

    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • kl8ton
    kl8ton Posts: 5,410
    Metal garbage can (short enough to fit under large while cleaning ash). I use it to clean the fireplace too. It gets dumped once a month or so in the woods. It could be placed in a garbage bag at that time and put into trash container. 
    Large, Medium, MiniMax, & 22, and 36" Blackstone
    Grand Rapids MI
  • NautiRogue
    NautiRogue Posts: 118
    ColtsFan said:
    I pick up poop with a shovel and put it in a bucket lined with a Kroger bag. Once it's full, I tie it up and throw away. My ash stays in its ash pail for months and then gets dumped in the garbage too. I'm kind of on the side with the HOA on this... No offense 
    No offense taken, but hermetically sealing your dog's poop in a plastic bag for it to fail to biodegrade in a landfill doesn't make sense to me.
  • My neighbor told me to stop dumping my ash in our adjacent spillway in between our fence line once. Said it wasn't good for the kudzu growing between our houses. 

    One midnight run of round up and....well he got the message. 

    All I'm saying is if there "no pond, no problems"

    "Brought to you by bourbon, bacon, and a series of questionable life decisions."

    South of Nashville, TN

  • Legume
    Legume Posts: 14,602

    All I'm saying is if there "no pond, no problems"
    That's gold right there.
  • Legume
    Legume Posts: 14,602
    Ash gets spread around the yard, poop gets tossed over the fence as I walk around the yard - but I back to acres of undeveloped greenbelt.  I tell myself the dog poop keeps the coyotes away from our yard.
  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    gmac said:
    Dog poops where he wants. Who am I to second guess his choices. Ash gets dumped on the garden. 

    Move. Seriously. Someone tells me I can't wander out onto the deck naked at 4 am to take a leak and there's gonna be some problems. HOA is a ridiculous concept. 
    Sorry, but on this one I disagree. HOAs have become almost necessary due to the actions of some - I know and understand the issues of freedom of choice etc, but there have to be some rules (well at least some seem to think so).
    For example, the dog turds under discussion much depends on the dog. My St Bernard creates dog turds the size of egg plants, take one hell of a crack in rip rap (at least that I've seen) to cram one or two of those puppies into. I pick up the poop, and simply flush it. No fuss no bother and it is disposed of in a safe and reliable manner - might be a challenge if you are not on city sewers. In our municipality there are dog parks with containers for dog waste, both while in the park or for those choosing to bring waste from home to the receptacles. It is actually illegal to dispose of pet waste, including kitty litter, in the garbage. And you thought you had it tough!

    If your soil is quite acid (low ph) adding lump ash is OK, if your soil already has a high ph, not a good choice. My egg and Primo are so efficient there is just not much ash, keep it in an ash can and into the garbage every month or so. 

    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • GrillSgt
    GrillSgt Posts: 2,507
    Google dog poop septic. They work well for medium size dogs, would need 2 for big dogs. Metal ash can with top for ash. 
  • Hntnhrd
    Hntnhrd Posts: 713
    I owned a house within an HOA once. Never again!!
  • HeavyG
    HeavyG Posts: 10,323
    Some ash from wood/lump fires gets spread in the garden. Some goes into a plastic bag/trash. Ash from Kingsford bricks tends to fill up a small metal pail and then into plastic bag/trash.

    And, don't toss your dog poop into the stormwater retention pond in your neighborhood. If you do it everyone will want to do it and if everybody is doing it that causes problems which is why rules prohibiting that exist. One problem is highlighted by the fountain you see in your photo. That fountain isn't there just to look pretty. It is there to help aerate/oxygenate the water.

    A major problem experienced by neighborhood retention ponds is the water becomes starved of oxygen which causes one set of problems. Tossing in dog poop contributes also to another potential problem of nutrient overload. Sometimes those ponds will experience a huge algal bloom which scums over the and and can really stink. Neighbors around such ponds love it when that happens. :)

    Tossing dog poop into the trash/landfill isn't the preferred method but I guess that's what many/most folks in the 'burbs do. The preferred method is to just flush it down your toilet. Another alternative is to install one of these systems: https://www.amazon.com/Doggie-Dooley-Original-Ground-Disposal/dp/B00WMMMIX6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492291570&sr=8-1&keywords=doggie+dooley

    HOA's exist for a reason. Why people that hate HOA's buy into a neighborhood controlled by an HOA has always puzzled me.
    “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk




  • tarheelmatt
    tarheelmatt Posts: 9,867
    Turds stay wherever they are pinched. 

    Ash goes in the woods, garden beds, or flower beds. 
    ------------------------------
    Thomasville, NC
    My YouTube Channel - The Hungry Hussey
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  • gmac
    gmac Posts: 1,814
    gmac said:
    Dog poops where he wants. Who am I to second guess his choices. Ash gets dumped on the garden. 

    Move. Seriously. Someone tells me I can't wander out onto the deck naked at 4 am to take a leak and there's gonna be some problems. HOA is a ridiculous concept. 
    Sorry, but on this one I disagree. HOAs have become almost necessary due to the actions of some - I know and understand the issues of freedom of choice etc, but there have to be some rules (well at least some seem to think so).
    For example, the dog turds under discussion much depends on the dog. My St Bernard creates dog turds the size of egg plants, take one hell of a crack in rip rap (at least that I've seen) to cram one or two of those puppies into. I pick up the poop, and simply flush it. No fuss no bother and it is disposed of in a safe and reliable manner - might be a challenge if you are not on city sewers. In our municipality there are dog parks with containers for dog waste, both while in the park or for those choosing to bring waste from home to the receptacles. It is actually illegal to dispose of pet waste, including kitty litter, in the garbage. And you thought you had it tough!

    If your soil is quite acid (low ph) adding lump ash is OK, if your soil already has a high ph, not a good choice. My egg and Primo are so efficient there is just not much ash, keep it in an ash can and into the garbage every month or so. 

    You are well within your right to disagree. 
    Mt Elgin Ontario - just a Large.
  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262

    I see both sides.  I'm a farm guy living in the city.  No way I'd ever live in an HOA.  Living in the city is bad enough.  But, those in an HOA are true city people, and they have & enjoy more refined standards.  I respect that is how they like things.

    I'm always doing things folks in an HOA wouldn't be crazy about.  Today I was using an angle grinder on a trailer in the driveway for 3 hours.  My neighbors are ok with that.

    Phoenix 
  • kjs
    kjs Posts: 111
    There are a ton of crazy HOA stories. Can't say I am shocked that people would complain about someone disposing of stuff in the retention pond.
  • stlcharcoal
    stlcharcoal Posts: 4,684
    Glad I live out in the woods......no hoa, unincorporated area, no neighbors I can see.

    On the ash, any fire will be gone within 48 hrs Max.  Get a metal trash pail and empty it into a trash bag when it gets full.  No need to worry.
  • saluki2007
    saluki2007 Posts: 6,354
    I lived in a HOA once. I became the president and then no one could say crap.
    Large and Small BGE
    Central, IL

  • logchief
    logchief Posts: 1,415
    Just throw it in the trash, that's the easy way and yes HOA are a pain in the ass a lot of times.
    LBGE - I like the hot stuff.  The big dry San Joaquin Valley, Clovis, CA 
  • THEBuckeye
    THEBuckeye Posts: 4,230
    Dump in the dark of night. 
    New Albany, Ohio 

  • EggNorth
    EggNorth Posts: 1,535
    Ah yes, dog owners ... I live near a school and everyone let their dogs go wherever, it got so bad a few years ago they stopped the kids from going outside during recess.  Now dogs are banned on school property.

    Back to the question, I store it in a metal bucket for a while then put it out in the weekly kitchen waste collection, they even take dog waste in there.
    Dave
    Cambridge, Ontario - Canada
    Large (2010), Mini Max (2015), Large garden pot (2018)
  • Wolfpack
    Wolfpack Posts: 3,551
    edited April 2017
    Dump my ash into plastic city provided trash can. No issues

    i have a 5 gallon bucket I use to clean ashes and then dump straight into trash can- 


    As for dumping in the yard:
    http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state/newsdetail.cfm?NewsID=12505


    Greensboro, NC
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,429
    edited April 2017
    Anytime I get something from Amazon, I fill the empty box with dog poop (the bubble wrap isn't necessary), carefully tape it back up, and leave it on the front step in view of the street when I leave for work.  
    It worked for awhile, but not anymore (course, my dogs went and died, too).  
     =) 
    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure


  • Hans61
    Hans61 Posts: 3,901
    @Botch haha! Wish you could've seen them open it! 
    “There are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body.”
    Coach Finstock Teen Wolf
  • westernbbq
    westernbbq Posts: 2,490
    I am not a fan of HOAs as they put too many restrictions out there...and sometimes hoa board members do not act in the best interest of those they are representing.   I do agree that some form of governance and control is necessary and i dont have another option for replacement of the hoa concept.  Maybe the concept is good but the execution in many cases isnt


    I let my fires die off for days and i do put ash in garbage. Same with dog poop, although i dont let that sit around for days....that would be a disaster!
  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 18,944
    HOAs respond to the squeaky wheel.  
    A bison’s level of aggressiveness, both physical and passive, is legendary. - NPS
  • YukonRon
    YukonRon Posts: 16,984
    Ash goes on gardens, compost pile, and in a pinch the fire pit. Don't have a dog yet, but when I do, I will figure something out on the best manner to dispose properly.
    "Knowledge is Good" - Emil Faber

    XL and MM
    Louisville, Kentucky
  • PirateBill
    PirateBill Posts: 259

    I feel that my method will work for you @NautiRogue, I also have a overbearing HOA and have found that my "turn into the skid" method has worked wonders.

    I built a large fire pit (read: dug a big a$$ pit) now I burn my dog poops along with random scraps of tire and other refuse, once I got a notice I replied with a bag of burning poop on everyone's porch. I am a true believer that if you escalate the fight to a level nobody is comfortable with they will leave you alone... Now I'm the crazy guy in the neighborhood and nobody messes with crazy.

    Fight like a man so you don't die like a dog

    - Calico Jack Rackham

    1,000 watt Sharp - 1.1 Cu. Ft. Mid-Size Microwave and one sweet steakager (retail 229$) 

    Scruffy City a.k.a. Knoxville, TN.