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Commissioners assign DES duties to county assistant and lift short-term burn ban
Summary
The board reassigned emergency management duties internally to an assistant already training in the role, confirmed no extra ongoing pay for now, and voted to lift a week-long burn ban after recent rain and firefighting input.
The Griggs County Commission approved reassigning the county’s DES (emergency management) responsibilities to an assistant in the State’s Attorney’s office who has been receiving training and attending regional meetings. Commissioners discussed training, travel and on-call duties and amended the motion so the employee’s current additional monthly stipend remains unchanged for now.
At the same meeting the board lifted a temporary, chair-issued burn ban enacted after a recent fire. Officials said rain and reduced fire risk allowed the ban’s removal, though they discussed creating a formal system of burn restrictions tied to state red-flag warnings or high fire danger for future use.
Context and votes: The county’s state’s attorney outlined DES responsibilities, noting the role includes on-call duties, regional meetings and training; the commission voted to keep the position in-house, assign it to the trained assistant and maintain the current stipend structure pending a budget review. The motion to end the burn ban carried by voice vote.
Implementation: The DES designee will coordinate with the state and local fire departments on burn-restriction guidance and grant deadlines; the commission asked the new designee and staff to develop a system for communicating restrictions to residents who may lack social media.
Representative quote: The county attorney noted the difficulty of enforcing burn bans and suggested ‘‘burn restrictions’’ tied to clear red-flag conditions as a future approach.
