The public will have an opportunity to comment on a pending ordinance on “Regulation of Burning for Muscatine County” after the first of three readings was approved by the Muscatine County Board of Supervisors.
Chris Jasper, director of Emergency Management and 911 for Muscatine County, presented the ordinance to the board of supervisors during a public hearing at the board’s regular meeting on April 21. There will be two more readings of the ordinance.
The ordinance establishes requirements for certain types of controlled burns in Muscatine County. Among requirements is that all open burning is prohibited during National Weather Service Red Flag Warnings issued for Muscatine County.
The first offense for violating the ordinance during a state- or fire department-issued burn ban or National Weather Service Red Flag Warning calls for a civil penalty of up to $250, court costs, plus reasonable Federal Emergency Management Agency costs for responding fire departments.
“This is just an ordinance for open burning out in the county,” Jasper said. “Really, we’re not doing anything different than what we’ve been doing for several years. Banning burning during a Red Flag Warning as well as when the fire chiefs vote and determine that conditions are not favorable for burning.”
The ordinance would allow for enforcement of burn bans when there are short Red Flag Warnings, for example, for 2- to 3-hours’ duration.
“If the weather service issues a Red Flag Warning, it’s an automatic no burning in the county for the duration of the Red Flag Warning,” Jasper said.
Red Flag Warnings are posted on the Emergency Management Facebook page.
Dale Maxson with The Nature Conservancy in Iowa said the proposed ordinance will make things easier for the conservancy because the conservancy only has a few days a year that it can safely do the work of using prescribed fire to manage their lands.
Region close-out plan
Lori Elam, CEO of the Eastern Iowa Mental Health and Disability Services Region, presented the board of supervisors with its close-out plan for the region because a new behavioral health service system for Iowa will begin July 1.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds approved House File 2673 on May 15, 2024, which includes the transition of behavioral health services from a mental health and disability services system to a behavioral health service system. The bill also transfers disability services to the division of aging and disability services of the department of health and human services.
Eastern Iowa MHDS Region will work with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, the Administrative Service Organization and Disability Access Point “to ensure service coordination/navigation occurs for every client served by the Region,” the close-out plan said.
“Because of the new system, we are required by HHS to have a close-out plan. The MHDS Regions are ending June 30 of this year,” Elam said.
The plan includes a budget, which is “probably the most important piece of the plan,” Elam said.
“It includes dollars that address bills, claims that come in after July 1. We’re always a couple months behind with some of our providers,” Elam said. “We had to estimate how much money we will need to cover those bills after July 1 because we’re still liable because the service occurred prior to June 30.”
The budget document shows a deficit of $246,173.
“HHS has stated that they will help the regions who show a deficit in their close-out plan,” Elam said. “We’re not the only region who’s showing a deficit. There are three or four other regions.”
For more information, the public can go on the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services website “Frequently Asked Questions” at https://hhs.iowa.gov/bh-ds-faq.
Historic oak tree in West Liberty
Historic Preservation member Bill Koellner alerted the board to the location of Iowa’s second oldest red oak tree in West Liberty.
“The first one is in Burlington,” Koellner said. “If you go into West Liberty on Highway 6, Wapsie Park, there’s a bridge there. There’s a shelter. On the north side of the shelter within 20 feet is the second oldest red oak tree in the state of Iowa.”