By KATHY HAGEMAN
Dickinson County public information coordinator
Dickinson County Commissioners on Thursday approved an amendment to the county’s burning policy which gives district fire chiefs the option to allow burning for ag purposes even though other types of burns remain banned.
“This has been an issue for years, but it may be worse this year,” said County Administrator Brad Homman. “The ag community has to do mandatory burns for CRP properties to be eligible for funding and there’s a deadline to complete that process. If we’re in a burning ban, they’re (ag producers) unable to do that legally. We are suggesting an amendment to the resolution that authorizes a third category for burning.”
Previously, the county’s burn ban policy was “either/or” -- burning or no burning, with the decision-making ability for each district placed on the fire chief.
However, the “all or nothing” policy has made it difficult for ag producers who must burn grassland to meet CRP requirements.
Homman said he was contacted by Fire District No. 1 Chief Paul Froelich about the issue several weeks ago and during the April 7 work session county commissioners heard from residents Mike Chamberlin and Rodney Chamberlin who asked them to consider modifying the burn policy to allow the responsible burning of grassland.
The Chamberlins said they had planned to burn 31.7 acres of CRP on April 2 when they learned Fire District No. 1 was the only district in the county in a burn ban.
Mike Chamberlin said burning the CRP was necessary for the field to be replanted, but the burning had to occur within a certain timeframe to meet federal crop insurance coverage deadlines and planting cut off dates. In 2020 there was an 11-week timeframe from when the field was burned to the time it was replanted with soybeans.
“If we use that 11-week time frame we would have needed to burn the CRP on or before April 4 to meet the June 20 guideline,” Mike Chamberlin said.
Difference in burns
Froelich told commissioners during their April 21 meeting there are days when conditions are safe to burn pastureland, but not brush piles or other burns. Brush and some other materials can smolder for days after a burn.
“Then we’re in extreme fire danger, the wind blows the embers out and starts a fire on something that wasn’t supposed to burn,” explained Liberty Township Fire Chief Russ Riffel.
Froelich said he’s seen several instances of long-smoldering brush fires, including one that was set in January east of Chapman that “is still burning.”
However, Froelich believes agricultural burning should be allowed even while other burning is banned.
“It’s in our favor to allow the agricultural people to burn that grass because it removes that fire load from our district. So, allowing that is hazard mitigation,” Froelich said.
Having the third option in county policy allows burning to be restricted, but still allows ag burning.
Besides creating the new category, the amendment approved Thursday also gives fire chiefs the ability to give the decision-making authority to another person in the department.
Online map
County residents can go online at www.dkcoks.gov to check the burn restrictions map. Areas in green allow all burning, red means burning is banned, and yellow means grassland only may be burned.
Residents who plan to burn still must call 911 dispatch to register so a record of who is burning may be kept.
“That way we’re not sending fire personnel out to a controlled burn,” Homman said.
911 Advisory Board
The county’s burn policy and communications were the main topics of discussion during the recent 911 Advisory Board meeting, Homman told commissioners.
The meeting was the first for the advisory board since the COVID-19 pandemic. The advisory group was created in 2000 with the purpose of bringing together leaders working in emergency services to evaluate and recommend changes in policy, procedures or funding changes to the commission and/or Homman.
Besides recommending changes to the burn plan, the board reached the consensus that it is time to research and examine switching over to the state’s 800 communications system in the future.
Homman said the county would need to begin budgeting for that.
During work session, Russ Riffel asked the commission to consider a paging repeater for fire and emergency responders in the Woodbine/Liberty Township area. He said that area is “in a dark spot” when it comes to receiving pages.
Homman asked if the township would consider paying a portion of the cost to install the equipment, explaining that Solomon was asked to pay when it had a similar request.
Casey Reidy, a Liberty Township board member and firefighter, said he thought that was possible.
Steep drop off
Riffel also asked about the possibility of widening or building shoulders on 1400 Avenue from Rural Center School to Woodbine, due to the steep drop off from the asphalt into the ditch. Over the years, the situation has caused numerous wrecks, he said.
Homman said he and Road and Bridge Supervisor Martin Tannahill had discussed the situation and they felt the county could apply for grant funding from the Kansas High Risk Rural Roads (HRRR) program.
Homman said that the project would entail two or three phases and would likely take four to five years before work could start. As always when applying for grants, funding is not guaranteed but applying “puts the project on KDOT’s radar,” he said.
Through the HRRR program, the state pays 90 percent of the project cost, while the county pays 10 percent.
“You have to be able to show there’s a risk,” Homman said. “It won’t be difficult to justify the risk.”
Other
●The Dickinson County Commission will not meet Thursday, April 28 so commissioners can attend the annual KCCA (Kansas County Commissioners Association) conference. The commission voted to have one commissioner sign payroll.
●The commission appointed Reidy to serve as the commission’s representative to the 911 Advisory Board.
●Township Day will be May 2 at Sterl Hall for all township officers. This will be the first meeting since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
●The annual meeting of the Dickinson County PBC (Public Building Commission) will be at 9:30 a.m. May 5 in the commission meeting room. The PBC, which includes four members of the public and the three commissioners, are the lienholders for the jail/courthouse renovation project.
●Homman and Tannahill met with Clay County Commissioners April 18 to discuss construction of the First Road bridge, located between both counties. Clay County Commissioners voted to authorize paying 28 percent of the construction cost based on its county’s valuation.