SALEM — The Salem Town Board voted Monday to ban outdoor wood-burning furnaces on small, suburban lots.

Board members voted unanimously to approve the ordinance, which will prohibit the installation of the wood-burning furnaces on lots smaller than 15,000 square feet. The ordinance will not affect homeowners who already have the furnaces in place. It also allows the units on larger properties.

Chairman Linda Valentine said she had suggested the town create the ordinance based on problems in neighboring communities, where some residents have complained that smoke from the furnaces is a nuisance.

“It came up because Pleasant Prairie and Wheatland both had big problems with these,” Valentine said.

Based on comments from the audience, the board did drop one proposed provision of the ordinance which called for yearly inspections of the units by the fire department.

Residents in the audience complained that a yearly inspection is not required on standard furnaces in homes, or on wood-burning fireplaces in homes, and should not be necessary for the outdoor furnaces. Board members agreed, and opted to strike that provision.

The board voted 4-0 to approve the ordinance. Supervisor Patrick O’Connell was absent.

Dedicated deputy

Also Monday, the board heard a proposal from Kenosha County Sheriff Dave Beth for a dedicated deputy for the community.

The Sheriff’s Department contracts with neighboring Paddock Lake and Bristol to provide a dedicated deputy for those communities. Beth said a similar contract for Salem could provide a deputy to patrol Salem, including a dedicated squad car for the town.

Beth said the contract could offer some of the benefits of a police department — including additional revenue from citations — without the associated costs.

Board members said they would consider such a contract during discussions for the 2011 budget.

This year, the town opted to increase enforcement by its existing public safety officer, including increasing traffic enforcement in problem areas. As a result, the town is talking to Twin Lakes about using dispatch services from the village for the town’s public safety officer.

Administrator Patrick Casey said the town first approached the Joint Services department that handles dispatching for the Sheriff’s Department and Kenosha Police Department, but were told they would not be allowed to use a channel on the Joint Services transmissions.

“We’re not exploring, nor do we have any plans, to have a full-time police department,” Casey said. But he said the public safety officers need to have a way to communicate with law enforcement for safety during traffic stops and ordinance enforcement.

“We don’t ever want to have a situation where you have an officer hanging out there by themselves,” Casey said.