County enacts another burn ban

GROVETON — The dry conditions throughout the county spurred the Trinity County Commissioners Court to issue another burn ban for the county.

Commissioners met in a special session on Friday to approve an order prohibiting outdoor burning for all unincorporated areas of Trinity County, which could create a public safety hazard and increase wildfire risk.

The ban means no outdoor burning such as brush piles, trash piles, or land clearing fires. Household trash may be burned only inside a burn barrel or above-ground enclosure that has a screen cover, an adult present, and a nearby water source. Outdoor cooking in contained grills or fire pits is allowed if a water source is nearby.

•At a regular court meeting on Feb. 10, the court, after a lengthy closed session, approved personnel action forms, after some discussion about why one of the forms was modified just before being seen by commissioners.

While Commissioner Tommy Park admonished the Sheriff’s Office about changing the item “five minutes before we meet,” Sheriff Woody Wallace said the change was a mistake.

In other business, the county:

• approved the application for grants for a spay and neuter program, the Texas Indigent Defense Commission grant;
• issued a proclamation as required by the Community Wildfire Protection Plan grant;
• approved new resolution requirements for e-Grant applications; and
• left the current employee benefits policies and procedures in place without discussion.