(Shenandoah) — Shenandoah’s revamped water conservation ordinance is now in place.
By a 3-1 vote Tuesday evening, the Shenandoah City Council approved the third and final reading of an amendment to Chapter 93 of the city’s water conservation ordinance. Council members then formally adopted the amendment by that same vote. Under the amendment, conservation stages 1,2,3 and 4 would be replaced by water watches, warnings and emergencies. City Water Superintendent Tim Martin covered another change in an interview with KMA News–residents are now allowed to use water hoses to fill buckets.
“Currently now, we’re not supposed to use a hose to fill up anything–to fill up a bucket or water a yard,” said Martin. “In the new one, you will be able to use a hose to fill your bucket. So, we kind of changed some language like that.”
Also allowed is the use of a rain barrel to collect precipitation. Like the previous ordinance, Martin says the amended regulations outline penalties for conservation violators.
“The first violation is, you’ll simply get a call or letter from me saying, hey, you know, you can’t do that,” he said. “The second one will be a written notice of violation of two times the water bill. And then, the third one would be, I think it goes to five times the water bill. And then, if there’s continuous breeches of the water conservation, they could have their water turned off temporarily until either the fines are paid, or until they can comply.”
Councilman Jeff Capps once again cast the lone dissenting vote, reiterating that water restrictions should be imposed on local businesses.
“I did talk to Mahlon (Sorensen),” said Capps, “and he said we do have legal rights to control the water of businesses. I still think we should possibly think of some way that they (businesses) should have to do some conservation, too, with stage 4, or in the new ordinance, stage 3, if it gets worse. I think we need to be ready for the worst.”
Martin, however, questioned whether regulating the amount of water businesses use is the direction the city should take.
“I’ve seen one ordinance where, basically, the residential side would be limited to 6,000 gallons a month,” said Martin. “So, what happens when you start restricting quality of life, if we were to enact something like that, then the residential businesses and stuff would have to do the same, since you’re affecting quality of life issues, such as allowing only a certain amount of water per month, or you would get fined or possibly shut off. (I) do not want to go in that direction, but that is one of the legal ways that you could do that.”
In a related note, the council by a 4-0 vote approved Ahlers and Cooney as bond counsel for the Fremont Channel Aquifer project. Councilman Richard Jones was absent.
In other business Tuesday, the council…
—approved 90-day extensions for nuisance properties for Scott Young at 318 Lake Street and Valerie Croll at 508 5th Avenue. Both property owners are required to update the council on the progress of each abatement near the end of the 90-day period.
—approved the sale of city-owned property, a 1991 Ford truck with a boom by sealed bid. All bids are due by 10 a.m. April 24.
—approved rates and salaries for part-time, seasonal and full-time employees. The full list is available at Shenandoah City Hall.
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