Ector County lifts burn ban

While the burn ban in Ector County has been a hot topic with residents for almost a year, another agenda item made the most noise at Monday’s commissioners’ meeting.

In an unusual showing in the commissioners’ court, the meeting room was packed with about 30 supporters of Fiesta West Texas who were there to listen to arguments from Richard Esparza, organizer of the event to extend the concert hours of the event from 11 p.m. to midnight.  Don Thorn, director of the Ector County Coliseum also attendance.

In the end, commissioners voted 3-1 to grant the festival a one year variance that will allow them to have outdoor concerts until midnight. Pct. 1 Commissioner Freddie Gardner, who represents the Coliseum area, was the only commissioner to vote against the item.

The variance only applies to Fiesta West Texas and the policy will be reviewed by the court at a later date. The policy was put in place in 2009 after several noise complaints were made by residents in both the city limits and out in the county about the noise coming from the festival.

“In the year we developed this policy, we received just an extraordinary large number of complaints about the noise because; the direction the stages were pointed, the decibel level of the music, the late hours, as well as the wind, contributed to spreading the noise,” Ector County Judge Susan Redford said.

Thorn, who was in favor of keeping the 11 p.m. policy, said Esparza and the organizers have done a great job with keeping the noise at a lower level and reducing the number of complaints in the previous years since the policy went in effect.

“I don’t think the extra hour isn’t really going to hurt anything,” Thorn said. “I understand exactly what they’re saying.”

Esparza said the extra hour would bring in additional revenue to both the county and the city.

 “I want to say thank you to the county commissioners for giving us the extra hour,” Esparza said.

Complaints regarding those who park near residences or are loud or disorderly during the event are outside of the commissioners’ court’s jurisdiction, Redford said, and complaints should be made to the police department or sheriff’s office.

Another agenda item included commissioners revisiting the almost year-old burn ban that has been in place for Ector County.

Voting to remove the ban, Redford said the ban would allow residents in the county to get rid of potential wildfire fuel such as trash and debris. Some items such as tires and plastic are still illegal to burn.

“If you’re going to burn, burn carefully,” Redford said.

The burn ban was also on the agenda during the commissioners’ Jan. 23 meeting, but failed to lift the ban after Redford cast the deciding vote to keep it in place. This time around, the item passed 3-1.

Commissioner Precinct 3 Dale Childers said that despite his reservations and vote against lifting the ban, he’s not completely against it.

“What this does is open up (burning) on these large piles of debris and it’s too dangerous,” Childers said. “If the wind blows, all this moisture will be gone.”

The Keetch-Byram Drought Index stated as of Monday, Ector County was at 574 — one point below the 575 mark where burn bans are usually put in place — and the Texas Forest Service stated 103 counties in Texas still had a burn ban in place.

Sunday, Odessa received about 0.07 inches of total precipitation and meteorologist Ryan Barnes with the National Weather Service in Midland said rain chances are possible Friday and Saturday.

The burn ban lift also got support from an unusual source: West Odessa Fire Volunteer Fire Chief Jimmy Ellis.

Previously stating he was in favor of the burn ban because of the drought, Ellis said he thinks people understand the drought conditions and can be more reasonable when they decide to burn. Ellis also said because of the ban, the number of fires the West Odessa volunteers have been called out to has decreased.

“With us being a little light, a little slower, I’ve had time to get caught up on maintenance on my trucks,” he said.

@OAgovernment

COMMISSIONERS ALSO:

• Postponed a presentation from MOTOR MPO on the status of the Highway 191 Corridor study due to the presenter being snowed in while in Lubbock..
• Approved the polling places for the 2012 primary election.
• Approved the remaining appointees to the Ector County Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Policy Executive Committee.
• Accepted a donation of $18,817.01 from the Rochester family for the remodeling of the Rotary room at the Ector County Library.
• Accepted a $100 donation for the Ector County Sheriff’s Office new K-9.
• Approved the transfer of the title for a sheriff’s office vehicle to an insurance company.
• Denied a out-of-state travel for Octavio Carrillo and Charlie Pierce to attend Non Emergency Medical Transportation conference in Baltimore, Md.
• Approved the disposition of a 2005 Volvo motorgrader.
• Approved new carpet at the Ector County library.
• Approved bid specifications for liquid asphalt emulsion, asphalt patching material, grade-based material, seal coat aggregate and water.
• Approved one bid for the lease of oil and gas development at Odessa-Schlemeyer field.
• Approved the annual archiving projects for Ector County.
• Approved a resolution authorizing a grant application with the Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission for funds for the Ector County Environmental Agency.
• Approved the 2012-2013 Victims of Crime Act grant application for the District Attorney’s Office.
• Approved applying for a community development block grant for a project at the Salvador M. Guerrero Southside Senior Center.
• Approved all new hires to have direct deposit and request current employees who receive printed checks to convert to direct deposit effective Oct. 1.
• Approved selling the property at 213 Hudson Ave., for $3,400.
• Approved selling the property at 1016 Jefferson Ave., for $4,000.
• Approved selling the property at 1020 Jefferson Ave., for $4,000.
• Approved two transfers of $47,950 total from the Bad Boy Blast funds to the sheriff’s office Departmental Furniture and Equipment for laptops in department vehicles.