CANYON CITY The Grant County Court will continue a hearing on the proposed Monument Rural Fire Protection District at 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 18, at the Grant County Courthouse.

The hearing began with a session Wednesday afternoon at the Monument Senior Center that was marked by a few outbursts from residents frustrated with the process.

County counsel Ronald Yockim said the intent of the hearing is to determine who wants in or out of the boundaries identified on a proposed district area map submitted last year to the county.

We are here to modify the boundaries, he said.

Yockim ran the hearing with County Commissioners Scott Myers and Boyd Britton. County Judge Mark Webb was absent, attending the Greater Oregon Behavioral Health Inc. conference in Bend.

The hearing is the latest step in the efforts by a group led by Roy Peterson to form a rural district to protect homes, barns and other structures from fire. They petitioned the county last year to create the district, but the process bogged down when the county government cited concerns about the legal descriptions submitted to define the district boundaries.

Peterson sued in state court to force the county to move ahead. In late April Circuit Judge William D. Cramer Jr. ordered the County Court to take action on the district proposal within 45 days.

The county set the hearing for May 16, but continued it to Friday after learning that Peterson had a schedule conflict on Wednesday.

The county and the district backers remained at odds Wednesday over the map being used for the district. The county contends it must use the map submitted at the start of the petition process, while the proponents say a map based on the people who signed the petition is the one to use.

Jerry Cowger, a district proponent, insisted the county has the wrong map and that if you didnt sign the petition, youre not in the district.

However, Yockim said the map originally submitted is the one the county must use, and it does include some properties not represented on the petition.

About a dozen property owners asked to be excluded from the district on Wednesday. They also were required to say why the proposed district would not benefit their properties, and most said the remoteness or access challenges would mean fire response could be too little, too late.

Some said they already keep a green space around their buildings, and a few said they have their own fire equipment.

Some were frustrated because they already wrote letters asking to remain out of the district. However, those letters were requested before Court members learned that to opt out residents also must say why they would not benefit from being in the district.

Boyd Britton took blame for the duplication of efforts.

I didnt know what the hell I was doing, he said. I apologize.

Yockim reined in the discussion when residents touched on questions about the need for another district or impacts it might have on other services. He reminded the group that, by law, the hearing was only to take testimony from those who might want to be included or excluded.

At one point Cowger turned to question Monument city fire chief Jeremy Boyer about the capacity of his fire truck, but Yockim interrupted the exchange.

That angered Cowger, who replied, Our rights are being taken away little by little every day by people just like you lawyers.

One resident asked about absentee landowners who had written to opt out.

Britton said he would accept the letters already in the record, but Yockim stressed that they still need to address the issue of benefit. To be certain, landowners who want to opt out but couldnt make it to Wednesdays meeting were urged to attend the Friday meeting or to send their request to the county. They can email to burtonl@grantcountyor.gov or send a fax to 541-575-0065.