By Dave Baumeister, County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – At this week’s meeting, the Minnehaha County Commissioners enacted a burn ban, which went into effect immediately.
Even though some rain was expected during the week, not knowing exactly how much or where it would fall left commissioners in the position to default to Emergency Manager Jason Gearman, who spoke of the extremely dry conditions around the county.
At their June 22 meeting, this issue originally came up, but with the Independence Day holiday close at hand, commissioners wondered whether the ban would be enforceable, even though several county volunteer fire chiefs were present to ask for the ban.
Gearman and Brandon fire chief Robert Dykstra, who is also president of the Minnehaha County Firefighter’s Association, didn’t have exact numbers but they said on July 3, 4 and 5 at least 27 calls were answered in just three county areas.
Based on the radio traffic, they believed the overall number was much higher.
Most calls were to extinguish fires in ditches which were all thought to be caused by fireworks.
But it does seem like the holiday weekend was survived without major incidents, so the commission took the opportunity on July 6 to enact a ban going forward.
The new ordinance that is now in effect states “all open burning … is hereby prohibited within the boundaries of Minnehaha County, South Dakota, exclusive of any incorporated municipality within the county.”
While the ban went into effect as of the passage of the ordinance, it will remain in place until Commission Chair Dean Karsky decides otherwise.
And he plans on making that decision in conjunction with Gearman when conditions become less hazardous.
‘No Smoking’
Commissioners heard the first reading of a new ordinance banning the smoking of cannabis products in similar ways tobacco is currently limited, but with a few tighter restrictions.
At the first reading the draft ordinance read: “The Minnehaha County Board of County Commissioners hereby find that consuming and/or smoking cannabis in any public place or in any place that is open to the public is a public nuisance in that such consumption and/or smoking annoys, injures, and endangers the comfort, repose, health, or safety of others.”
As it clarifies: “For purposes of this ordinance the terms ‘public place’ and ‘place open to the public,’ shall be defined to include:
- any area to which the public is invited,
- any area in which the public is permitted,
- any place of employment, and
- any area in, on, or around any public place including without limitation: parking lots, elevators, lobbies, hallways, corridors, and areas open to the public within any place of business, place of employment, or multifamily residential buildings.”
Whether or not commissioners meant for this to be more limiting than the rules for tobacco use, which current language would indicate, is something that could be clarified in the second reading.
The second reading of the ordinance, which will include any public comment, will be at the next meeting on Tuesday, July 20. At that time, commissioners will vote on making this smoking rule official.
The Minnehaha County Commission meets the first, third and fourth Tuesdays of each month on the second floor of the administration building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
At each meeting, a time for public comment is scheduled for things not already on the agenda.
