Washington County supervisors keep burn ban in effect after drought concerns

The Washington County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on July 23 to keep a countywide burn ban in place and to revisit termination at its next meeting after supervisors described persistent dry conditions in parts of the county.

County staff had proposed a resolution that would both ratify the declared emergency—effective 2 p.m. July 12—and terminate it at midnight on July 23. Several supervisors urged caution. "I've had 6 tenths of rain ... I'm still crunchy in my house," Supervisor McCall said, urging a delay. Supervisor Stevens said farmers were still hauling water and that isolated showers had not eased the drought: "It's still extremely dry," he said.

A substitute motion to keep the original declaration in effect and to revisit the question at the next meeting passed 7-0. County staff said they will bring a termination resolution for the board’s consideration at the next meeting.

The transcript references a resolution number during debate; the document read aloud at the meeting was identified in the agenda packet and was discussed as the instrument both to ratify the July 12 declared emergency and to frame its termination if the board had chosen that course.