MITCHELL – The Mitchell City Volunteer Fire Department made the request to have authority to issue citations for open burn violations within the city.
The ordinance will give authority to the fire chief, and two assistant fire chiefs, Mitchell Building Commissioner Bill Sallee, and Mitchell Police Department to issue citations for violations of open burning or nuisance fires.
This authorization will provide relief to the Police Department in situations when an officer is unavailable and cannot issue a citation or warning following burn violations.
The Department will first give warnings to individuals who violated the burn policy, which can be turned into a citation if they cause a violation again.
City Attorney Byron Steele will assist in writing the request into the ordinance as an amendment to the current policy, which will be voted on during a future meeting.
All residents are subject to Indiana Open burning regulations by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
