Michael Cripe
Special to the Citizen
Due to a few objections, the city of Dearborn has postponed its decision to allow open burning in a limited capacity.
During the Monday, May 13 board of alderman meeting, plans to enact an amendment to the town’s burning ordinance were put on hold.
Though the policy only allowed open burning in a limited capacity, a number of citizens, including members of the fire board, had disagreements with the amendment.
Issues brought up at the meeting included how the change would affect those with breathing issues and burning taking place too late in the evening.
Until the fire department can take a look at the proposed changes, the burning amendment is tabled for further discussion until July.
“Are you guys just plain against open burning?” alderman Don Kerns said in the midst of the open burning discussion.
Toward the beginning of the meeting, Kerns was also decided to serve as board president if the mayor is absent in the future.
Another important topic of the meeting was the handling of bill payment.
Alderman Breanna Cheadle is aiming to increase the amount of time citizens have to pay certain bills. This could mean investigating to shorten mailing process or allowing citizens to pay bills online.
Cheadle also described a potential collection enforcement, though she does not expect to have a draft for the enforcement until the next meeting.
OTHER NOTES
The renaming of the community center is under way as payments for the new panels and stickers were discussed.
There will be a town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 8 where citizens can argue for chickens to be allowed in Dearborn.
The board of aldermen may add a member in the future, though no decision will be made until further research is done.