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Palouse eyes burn pile after chipper shut down

The city of Palouse is considering a citizen’s proposal for a burn day in town after discontinuing a wood chipper program in January.

At a city council meeting May 22, Mary Estes asked the council to consider holding a few burn days per year for legal yard waste.

Palouse discontinued the wood chipper program, which cost more in city staff time than it proved to be worth.

After much discussion at the council meeting, the issue of burn days was sent to the Police, Fire and Safety committee to explore options.

While Whitman County is one of two counties in the state to allow this type of burning, Palouse has not permitted individual burning for five years after the council put in a disposal burn ban due to reported health issues.

“It was some irresponsible burning and some irresponsible reporting,” said Palouse Fire Chief Mike Bagott. “It was getting to be an everyday occurrence.”

The chief indicated that when fires were lit in town many calls came in to the police and fire departments.

As a result of the hassles and expenditures of fire and police department time, the burn ban was passed and the chipper program started.

“The interest in burning has come back again,” said Bagott. “The concern is that like the chipping, a few bad eggs bringing things to burn that they’re not supposed to.”

The chipper program was suspended Jan. 1 due to the cost of city staff time needed to monitor the operation.

“We were victims of our own success,” said Mayor Michael Echanove, explaining that the program drew a lot of users, but it took city staff to check for material which could not be chipped and to keep the area clean.

“The truth is the fees just didn’t cover all of the expenses involved,” said Echanove.

The state Department of Ecology deems legal to burn any natural, unprocessed vegetation. No grass or wet foliage is allowed.

There is a compost pile in Palouse for the latter.

If a burn pile is designated, Chief Bagott indicated that a place northeast of town would be ideal, since the wind often comes from the southwest.

“I’m absolutely in favor of it if all the logistics can be put together to keep it safe and secure,” Bagott said.

Author Bio

Garth Meyer, Former reporter

Author photo

Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.

 

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