The city council wants water restrictions lifted as much as residents do, finally taking action to modify the Drought 3 level. Water customers can't increase watering or start washing their cars just yet, though … not until the city makes sure its system can handle it.“We’re not sure we can support two zones running at the same time. We want to give everyone the same 16-hour [window] to water [on trash day], but we’ll have to look at scheduling,” Hal Cranor, Executive Director of Public Works, told the council Tuesday evening.Cranor asked for more time to look at the system, but members of the council refused to wait any longer to approve modified watering.“We can’t wait another two weeks,” said councilman Thad Helsley.
Mayor Pro Tem Brian Loughmiller agreed.“We can act now, [agreeing] to twice a week watering and increasing to 20,000 gallons before we collect the surcharge, then make a staff-level decision [about when to start] after we see what the system can handle,” Loughmiller said.
While some council members spoke of wanting to get rid of the surcharge on the heaviest of the water users, they said they realize the surcharge was necessary as proof to the state that the city is working toward conservation. The state, Loughmiller explained to meeting attendees, tends to delay or even deny water-related permits to municipalities not working to conserve water.“Creating new [water] sources will be hugely important to us in the next five, 10 or even 50 years,” Helsley said. “We certainly don’t need to jeopardize our ability to get permits for these projects.” Before the council passed the modified restrictions, Mayor Bill Whitfield asked for a friendly amendment.
“We know people are going to be out there washing their cars and wanting to wash their house windows, but they’ll have to have a nozzle on their hose,” Whitfield said, asking that this enforcement guideline be added to the ordinance.
The council unanimously passed the modifications. As soon as Cranor’s office verifies the best schedule for watering, instructional letters will be sent out to all city water customers
