They won’t have any money until December, but the Bryan County Fire Tax Board will start meeting this month.

Commissioners named the seven members of the new board at their regular meeting on Monday. Fire Tax Board members include three officers from the Bryan County Fire Chiefs Association; three people selected by each commissioner; and Kiamichi Technology Center Director Mike Goodwin.

Besides Goodwin, the members are BCFCA President Brian Norton, Vice-President Jason Norris and Secretary/Treasurer Andy Daniels; Ralph Houser (appointed by Monty Montgomery), Tommy Shepherd (appointed by Tony Simmons) and Mark Bolen (appointed by Jay Perry).

The BCFCA officers are not automatically officers of the new Fire Tax Board. Until the new board meets on August 21, there are no officers, and Bryan County Clerk Tammy Reynolds will serve as meeting secretary until officers are elected.

The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 21 in the courthouse annex. Norton was in favor of forming the board quickly to “get ahead of the game” and take care of various matters before the first tax revenue arrives in mid-December.

Voters in June approved a one-quarter cent sales tax on all purchases made at Bryan County businesses, to benefit the various fire departments, the communication center and BCFCA. It will go into effect on Oct. 1.

Commissioners addressed several items during a 2.5-hour meeting on Monday morning:

• An interlocal governmental agreement was approved with the Town of Silo to overlay a portion of Silo Road. The mayor of Silo agreed to pursue a federal REAP grant to help defray costs of the project.
• A 17-ton vehicle weight limit was approved by resolution for County Road N-3815, better known as Robinson Road between Blue and Caddo. The road has sustained damage from trucks using the road as a cutoff from US 69 to US 70 due to road work on the federal highways.
• County Treasurer Nancy Conner informed commissioners of several bank accounts using the county’s tax ID number illegitimately. Some of the accounts appeared to be dormant or abandoned, such as a 17-cent account for 4-H Club, and $51 in an account for the sheriff’s “Special Response Team.” None of the accounts utilize tax dollars, and the commissioners opted to send letters to the four entities instructing them to file accounts under their own tax ID numbers.
• Conner also informed the board of four properties which did not sell in the most recent property auction. The commissioners voted to hire surveyors for two of the properties in question.