Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Resident asks city to ban leaf burning

A resident of Gurdon has asked city officials to ban all forms of burning within the city limits. Mayor Clayton Franklin addressed the issue with the Gurdon City Council on Monday, Dec. 17.

Franklin said the city had been approached about the possibility of banning burning in the city because of the effects the smoke-filled air often has on some residents. He said he just does not see the ban as a possibility in Gurdon.

The resident was most concerned with the burning of leaves. Franklin said he had checked with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, and that agency has no restrictions on the burning of leaves or other types of brush. He said the state leaves the decision up to local governments.

The City of Gurdon does have an ordinance on the books concerning burning, Franklin said, and the ordinance does place some restrictions on burning but does not outlaw it. The existing ordinance prohibits the burning of household garbage but allows for the burning of brush.

Some restrictions placed on burning brush within the city include a ban on burning at night. Burn piles must also be kept away from buildings and out of ditches. A constant supply of water must also be kept at the burn site.

Recorder/treasurer Tambra Childres said the city cannot ban the burning of leaves because the city would then have to provide an alternate way for residents to dispose of the brush. Leaves cannot be picked up by the citys garbage truck, Childres said, because they cannot be taken to a landfill.

We dont have the manpower or the money to pick up leaves, she said. There would have to be a solution before we could ban burning.

Franklin said anyone with complaints about burning should be referred to the ordinance.

Gurdon City Marshal Don Childres was in attendance at the meeting and said the Gurdon Police Department would begin cracking down on violators of the current ordinance.

I think its a good ordinance, Franklin said.

The council had no other business to conduct at the meeting.