Proposal on burning moves ahead

A proposal concerning outdoor burning in Columbia County was favorably forwarded Monday by a county committee.

That proposal calls for subdivision residents to first ask for outdoor burning restrictions to be added to their subdivision covenants. If a neighborhood doesn't have enforceable covenants, the proposal then calls for individuals to ask the county commission to consider a restriction on outdoor burning for that particular neighborhood.

Members of the county's Community and Emergency Services Committee voted unanimously to allow the proposal to go forward to the county commission's next meeting.

Pam Tucker, the county's emergency services director, said the proposal also calls for a strong public education program about what already is and isn't allowed concerning outdoor burning and how complaints should be handled.

"We'll see how it works,'' Commissioner Steve Brown told Tucker about the proposal.

In other action at Monday's meeting, the committee heard that Beda Johnson had started her first day on the job as the Columbia County Convention and Visitors Bureau's first director. Johnson, who had worked as a membership services coordinator for the Morris Museum of Art, accepted the job in early March.