County commissioners elect to keep burn ban on
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Young County Auditor Cheryl Roberts and Assistant Auditor Marsha Sumpter present expenditure requests from Justice of the Peace Pct. 3 Stan Mahler and District Judge Stephen Bristow during the Commissioners Court Meeting Monday, Oct. 28. (Leader photo by Nathan Lawson)
The Young County Commissioners Court decided to take no action on the burn ban, during their Oct. 28 meeting, which keeps it in effect. The ban was placed by the commissioners in their Oct. 15 meeting.
The commissioners elected to not take action because of the threat of wildfires and the need for more rain within the county.
“I hope by the time we take it (the ban) off, we got garbage (containers) full of water,” Pct. 1 Commissioner Mike Sipes said. “(…)I had a good visit with Mark Stanford, head of the Texas Forestry Service out in Abilene, this last weekend and they are predicting a really tough year as far as fires.”
This means no one can burn trash or brush, or have an open campfire in any unincorporated area of the county. The ban will remain in effect until Jan. 13, unless the court lifts the ban.
The only exceptions to the ban are cooking in enclosed pits or burns authorized by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality such as firefighter training, public utility, natural gas pipeline or mining operations, planting or harvesting of agricultural crops or burns that are conducted by a prescribed burn manager. Violations of the ban are a Class C misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine up to $500.
Other items
The court elected to set a budget of $925 for a lighting project at Stan Mahler’s, Justice of Peace Pct. 3, office in Olney.
Young County Sheriff Travis Babcock gave his September activity report for the sheriff’s office and Young County Jail. He said the jail currently had 58 inmates.
The commissioners ratified agreements with Graham Hospital District and Olney Hospital District. The agreements are approved annually and supports the district’s ambulance services by payment of $35,000 each.
The court decided against continuing a warranty with HART for the hardware of elections equipment. They determined the cost of $4,300 to be too high for a service which had been utilized sparsely during their three-year warranty.
For the rest of the story, see the Wednesday, Oct. 30 edition of The Graham Leader.
