HENDERSON COUNTY–Commissioners’ Court of Henderson County voted July 19 to extend the burn ban it originally enacted June 21. That ban runs through July 21, with the following 30-day ban extending from that time.
County Fire Marshal Shane Renberg reported that the July 18 Keetch-Byram Drought Index, which measures moisture in the soil, shows Henderson County has a region with a county low of 595, a portion at 734 (the highest in the county) and that the index indicates a 695 average across the county.
Most of the county is over 700 on the index, Renberg said, with 97% of the county classified to be in extreme drought, he added. Renberg has said at previous meetings that 575 on the index is the threshold to consider a burn ban.
The county has had 105 fires over the past 28 days, which is the time since the June burn ban began, Renberg told the court. The county also is under a red flag warning through July 19, he added. The National Weather Service defines a red flag warning as high temperatures, very low humidity and strong winds.
“We’re to the point now where I’m starting to worry about other activities outside, as well, that we still allow,” Renberg said. The fire marshal said he’s concerned about outdoor cooking, welding, people mowing (such as with brush hogs) and outdoor work that includes metal, such as fencing. The county also has had fires because of blown electrical transformers and lightning strikes, he added.
Renberg told the court that as far as drought goes, Henderson County is in a worse situation than 2011, another dry year with above-average temperatures in the summer. “We’re just at the point now that where half-acre grassfires can turn into hundred-acre grassfires in no time,” Renberg said.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Scott Tuley expressed concerns about fireworks. “I think we need to tighten our hands on that, somehow,” Tuley said. 
According to Renberg, “We would have to have a disaster declaration to tell people you can’t shoot off fireworks. We’re getting there.”
County Judge Wade McKinney said there were more fires that were “rampant” around the county in 2011, in the same time period. “Our community needs to be commended on just exactly how fewer fires that we have had,” McKinney said.
The court also voted to set an Aug. 2 public hearing about an application for designating The Forest Grove Reinvestment Zone under powers granted by the Texas Tax Code’s Chapter 312. The Forest Grove property is located northwest of Athens and is in Precincts 1 and 2.
Vistra, the Irving-based parent company of TXU Energy and Luminant, announced plans in Sept. 2020 to construct a 200-megawatt solar electricity-generating facility on the land, which was acquired originally for a never-built coal-fired power plant.
The tax code chapter also is known as the Property Redevelopment and Tax Abatement Act. Chapter 312 governs tax abatements, which the Texas Comptroller defines as agreements between a local government and a property owner to exempt part of the taxes owed in return for improvements to the property.
The court also approved setting an Aug. 23 public hearing on a request of posting a 30 MPH speed limit on County Roads 1400, 1402, 1403, 1404, 1405, 1406, 1408 and 1436, located in Precinct 1. The court also approved setting an Aug. 23 public hearing on the request of a “No Thru Truck” ordinance on County Roads 1402, 1403, 1404, 1405, 1406, 1408 and 1436, located in Precinct 1.
Those county roads are in Precinct 1 north of State Highway (SH) 31, covering the area between SH 198 in Malakoff and State Loop 7 in Athens.
The court also approved a floodplain application for a parcel of land in the Leisure Land subdivision, located in Precinct 2. The land is owned by the Property Owners of Leisure Land, County Floodplain Administrator Joy Kimbrough said, with work involving a 20-foot extension of an existing culvert.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Scott Tuley said the property is at a former boat ramp which has a washout at the end of the existing culvert that’s become a safety hazard. The court also approved a request for Precinct 2 to perform work on the property.
In other business, the court:
• Approved a request from AgriLife Extension Agent Spencer Perkins for out-of-state travel to the American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Youth Horse Show in Oklahoma.
• Approved a replat of two lots (and a portion of a third lot) into one lot in the Pinnacle Club, located in Precinct 2.
• Approved the payment of fiscal year 2022 bills in the amount of $402,302.13.