At their meeting on Friday, the Bryan County Commissioners had several items on the agenda including if they should have a hearing to open a road, decision to put the burn ban back into effect and approving material bids.

The first item on the agenda was appointing a chairman for the commissioners. Tony Simmons, commissioner of District No. 2, was nominated by Commissioner of District No. 1, Monty Montgomery. Simmons then nominated Montgomery as vice-chairman. Both nominations were seconded by Ivan Kelly, commissioner of District No. 3.

The fifth item on the agenda for the meeting was a “request for a hearing to open section line of Radio Road/Wilson to Camelot Forest South Border.”

Montgomery said that this request seemed to be in his district. Therefore, he had looked this situation over to see if the commissioners even had jurisdiction over this area as it was inside city limits.

Montgomery said that he had researched through the district attorney and attorney general’s office whether the commissioners did have jurisdiction in a township or city limits. The district attorney pointed out that the commissioners do have jurisdiction throughout the county, but both the district attorney and attorney general agreed that decisions inside city limits would be left up to the city.

Also, Montgomery said that it would not make any sense for them to open a road in an area where by law the commissioners would not be able to maintain it. So, the request was disapproved for a hearing as the commissioners would not have authority in the area in question.

The next item on the agenda was a letter from the Rural Fire Chiefs Association requesting that the burn ban be reinstated until the county gets a sufficient amount of rainfall. The request was approved and the burn ban was put back into effect.

The seventh item on the agenda was over having an inspector for the courthouse elevator. The commissioners realized they did not have enough information on the different options, or what the costs were. They motioned to table the item until the next meeting in order for further research to be done on the matter.

There was also an approval by the commissioners to transfer funds from R3 to the Fair Board. This was to make up for funds that had accidently been taken out of the Fair Board for a bill.

The commissioners also approved several other items including six month material bids on metal, gravel, oil and other items they would need. They also discussed equipment auctions with one in March at Oak City, and another at McAlester in May.