Bryan County Commissioners Scott Goad, Justin Boone and Brandon Carr voted to table a resolution for a countywide burn ban during a Monday meeting.
Calera Fire Chief Brian Norton recommended tabling it for now and addressing it again during the next meeting scheduled for Jan. 12. He said burn indexes are low this week.
“If the wind picks up and it gets to 70 degrees, yeah you could have a fire,” Norton said. “If we don’t get rain this week, we’re probably going to need it on 12th.”
Norton expects that a burn ban will be needed at some point due to weather forecasts.
“Right now, it’s looking about February 15 until probably April, we’ll probably be under a burn ban during that time frame if the forecast holds,” Norton said.
Commissioners voted for Carr to be chair of the Board of Bryan County commissioners and for Boone to serve as vice chair.
Bryan County Emergency Management Director Cody Allen asked about using the community center at the fairgrounds as an emergency shelter where people can stay in the event of a disaster, and they don’t have anywhere to go. He said the Red Cross asked about emergency shelter locations. Commissioners agreed it could be used for that.
Construction of a single-story building that will house the district attorney’s office at 301 N. Fourth Ave. is expected to begin soon.
“We’ve awarded all of the bids,” Carr said. “We’re waiting on them to break ground. They had to resubmit one item to reopen for bids, but other than that, they’re ready to start. I anticipate it starting any day now.”