Erath County’s burn ban is continuing and fireworks can be sold and used after discussion at the Monday, June 13 Commissioners Court meeting.
Erath County Fire Marshal Tommy Shelton said the burn ban needed to remain in effect and currently, the county did not meet the drought threshold to implement a ban on selling or using fireworks.
“The deadline to decide is tomorrow and currently Erath County sits at a drought index of 495,” he said.
To implement a firework ban, the drought index determined by the Texas A&M Forest Service needs to be 575 or greater.
Shelton said that by the time firework sales begin, he has no doubt the county will be at the 575 mark but according to the local government code, the ban must be implemented no later than 10 days prior to when firework sales begin. This prohibition would be for such items as bottle rockets or those aerial fireworks with a stick, and would not prohibit any professional firework shows from occurring.
Commissioners heard from Black Mountain Energy Storage representative Dan Ditto about a proposed energy storage site named Lucky Bluff Bess to aid Oncor in storing electricity.
The location is on 15 acres and aims to add an additional 13.5 acres to accommodate a new Oncor substation off of County Road 300. The company was asking for a variance to permit access to the project site with-out obtaining 200’ of road frontage on a 60 foot wide piece of land.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Dee Stephens asked Ditto if he had not received a proposed change document with a 130 foot change instead of the 60 foot change.
“We aren’t giving you 60,” he said.
Commissioners expressed concern about trucks being able to navigate the road without enough frontage and potentially taking out posts.
Ditto said he understood and could have new plans drawn up before the commissioners court meeting June 27.
Overall, the $75 million project will add a battery energy storage system to help resolve transmission congestion and to increase electric reliability.
The court decided to honor the memory of Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Bart Greenway by donating the sign outside his Dublin office to his family. Judge Greenway served as JP from January 2011 until November 2021 when he passed away unexpected while in office.
A notice of annexation of 37.848 acres of land in Erath County into the Dublin city limits was presented to the court. The acreage is located near Allsup’s off of Hwy. 377.
A preliminary concept plan was given on a subdivision to be built on Lingleville Road near R&R RV park. The proposed subdivision will have 14 lots with a minimum of 3 acres per lot. The concept plan has been submitted to Joe England.
Angela Hunt, an employee of Erath County as Chief Juvenile Probation Officer, was presented with her 25 year service award and will be retiring. A party was held in her honor Monday.
Several replats were approved at the June 13 meeting including two in Mountain Lakes, essentially making smaller lots larger.
“This is just a little more room between neighbors,” Commissioner Joe Brown said, who was running the meeting since County Judge Alfonso Campos was absent.
A variance was approved on parcels off Farm-to-Market 3025 having to do with the size of the lots and driveway requirements. The motion passed unanimously with Commissioner Jim Buck abstaining.
Another variance was approved off County Road 138 where A 15.44 acre tract of land had already been subdivided into 7.44 acre and 8 acre pieces without prior approval because the owner did not know a variance was required on tracts less than 10 acres.
After being tabled in the previous month, a variance request by Texan Ranch West Subdivision was approved regarding the length of the road. A six month extension because of a building material delay was granted to the Tiny Home Retreat.
A public comment by Richard Baker was given, urging the commissioners court to post all backup information regarding items on the court’s agenda online for easy public access.
“I discussed this with you guys last month and you said you would look into it,” he said. “We just want to be informed.”
Baker also asked commissioners if they had a conflict to make sure they recused themselves from voting and to explain why they were abstaining.
In other business the court:
■ Approved EMS/Fire licenses to be added to the Tyler Public Safety Software
■ Recognized June 15 as Elder Abuse Prevention Day
■ Allowed Emergency Management Coordinator Cyndi Smith to become a Notary to assist in the County Judge’s office.