BROOKINGS — The burn ban has been lifted in the county following a 5-0 vote by the Brookings County Commission at its June 16 meeting.
The decision came after Emergency Management Director Bob Hill told commissioners that fire chiefs in the county were comfortable with lifting the ban — information that Hill received from Dave Jacobson, the chairperson of the Brookings County Fire Chiefs Association.
“One caution I would put to anyone listening to this discussion right now is, just because the burn ban is lifted, I would be extremely careful when choosing to burn,” Hill noted. “I have no objection to lifting the burn ban. We just have to realize parts of Brookings County are not as wet as other parts of Brookings County. Be careful out there.”
Commissioner Shawn Hostler also offered some advice prior to the vote.
“Just because if we do vote to lift this, it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a good idea for them to contact their local fire department and notify them anyway and dispatch,” he said.
Hill recommended people call the dispatch center at 605-692-2113.
“Just let them know you’re burning a field at such and such area,” he said. “That way, if it does get out of control, they can get the fire department out there.”
Hill noted that dispatchers pass this information directly to the local fire chief, ensuring a faster, better-coordinated response in a worst-case scenario.
“It also helps that if a resident sees a fire and calls it in, dispatch will then know it’s a controlled burn,” Commissioner Larry Jensen added.
The ban was put in place on April 7 in response to dry conditions throughout the county at the time. Recent rains have alleviated some of those worries, but the U.S. Drought Monitor, in its June 18 update, still showed most of Brookings County in a severe drought, with the northwest corner experiencing moderate drought conditions.
Severe drought extends to the west and south of Brookings County as well, with a big pocket of extreme drought in parts of Lake, Moody and Minnehaha counties. Conditions improve the further north you go, with moderate and abnormally dry conditions dominating in Hamlin and Deuel counties. Kingsbury County is almost evenly split between moderate and severe drought.
In other business at their June 16 meeting, commissioners:
• Agreed to give $500 to the Balloons Over Brookings event on July 17-19. The funds were approved on a 3-2 vote, with commissioners Kelly VanderWal, Jensen and Hostler in favor, and Dave Miller and Doug Post voting no following a debate over the merits of the donation.
• On a 5-0 vote, approved a retail on-off sale wine and cider license for Bella Casa Wedding & Event Venue, a new business near Aurora.
• Debated the membership makeup of the 16-member 765-kilovolt transmission line subcommittee.
Some commissioners questioned having an Xcel Energy representative on the committee, given that Xcel is partnering with Otter Tail Power Co. on the PowerOn Midwest project. Debate centered on whether the representative’s industry expertise outweighed potential conflicts of interest regarding the project’s future.
The board, which is nonvoting and advisory only in nature, will meet again at 7 p.m. on July 9 at the Brookings City & County Government Center in Room 300.
• During the public comment period, listened to two residents — Carla Dieter and Jeff Struwe — who want the county to discontinue its $25,000 contribution to the Brookings Public Library because of the residents’ concerns regarding content contained within materials available to young adults at the library.
— Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
Leave a Reply