At the beginning of their May 12 “town hall” meeting, Bulloch County commissioners rescinded the county’s ban on open burning of yard debris, which had been in effect since April 22 because of severe drought conditions.

The ban ordinance had no expiration date but carried a provision that it would “remain in effect until drought conditions improve and the Board of Commissioners formally rescind” it. The ordinance provided specific exemptions for outdoor cooking and government-conducted or state-permitted controlled burns.

But the Georgia Forestry Commission itself had issued its own ban for 91 counties, including Bulloch, also April 22, and so was not issuing any permits until rains recently resumed. The GFC reduced that ban to 17 counties further south – Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Glynn, Jeff Davis, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Ware and Wayne counties – on May 5.

“The state rescinded their burn ban, I consulted with our fire chief, and we feel like we’re able to ask the commission to rescind this,” said Bulloch County Manager Chris Eldridge. “Obviously, we still ask people to be careful and be vigilant. But we have had some rain, and then it helps that humidities are up as well. So we felt comfortable with doing this.”

Commissioners made and seconded a motion and voted 5-0 to approve.

Then the “town hall” portion of the meeting began, with county department heads and other staff members introducing themselves. Citizens then talked with the staff members and commissioners one-to-one about various concerns.