The burn ban has officially been lifted for Erath County after being in place since May.
Over the past week the ban had been temporarily lifted by County Judge Alfonso Campos was advised by the fire marshal it was safe to do so.
Since there have not been any significant fires in the past week and the area has seen much needed rain, Fire Marshal Tommy Shelton advised the commissioners court on Monday, Sept. 12 that it was probably safe to release the ban.
Those wanting to burn need to call in a burn prior to igniting it at 254-965-3318. It is recommended that you have a fire break/fire ring around burn piles to assist fires from getting out of control. A person must remain with the burn while flames are present and emergency management advises to call 9-1-1 immediately if the fire becomes out of control.
The commissioners court also set its proposed tax rate – 0.4119 per $100 valuation – which is the no new revenue rate. Out of this rate .4230 is designated for maintenance and operations (M&O) and .0125 is designated for debt.
This rate is approximately .0236 lower than last year’s tax rate.
Campos explained the county was seeing $447,797 in new property taxes simple due to growth and improvements, which is a 2.55% increase.
Commissioners will hold a tax rate hearing and approve the budget at a meeting Sept. 22.
The commissioners approved the long-awaited new subdivision ordinance that they have been working on for many months.
“This is huge,” Campos said. “Thank ya’ll for all of the hard work.”
An agreement for police services between Bluff Dale ISD and the Erath County Sheriff’s Office for a school resource officer was approved with Bluff Dale paying the salary and the county providing the benefits.
The position is in the process of being filled.
IT director Colby Reynolds gave an update on the progress of live-streaming commissioner court meetings, which is expected to start by the beginning of October.
Emergency Management Coordinator Cyndi Smith was given a nod of approval to move forward with applying for two grants – one would help fund a new weather radar aimed to help provide advanced warning from storms moving in from the west and another one to help re-seed county areas after wildfire damage and help put burn ban signs throughout the county and at fire stations.