Alice Pickering
Wyoming Area ReporterSummer is coming and Wyoming residents have begun watering lawns and on new home sites, sod is being laid. At the same time the city council is working to make the cityís sprinkling ordinance specific and enforceable.
City staff is working on methods of accounting for the amount of city water pumped, reconciling that with the amount of water sold in the city. Administrator Jill Teetzel, Maintenance supervisor Bill Eisenmenger and Engineer Lee Elfering have met to determine how to track those using city water, but not paying for it.
Teetzel checked with neighboring communities about their watering regulations. The management team estimates 10 percent of residents have shallow wells or pump from lakes/ponds to irrigate lawns.
Up to now, residents told city officials they had wells and were placed on a list of those-sprinkling-from-their own-wells. The proposed change in the ordinance would require an inspection before being placed on this list.
Charged with coming up with an ordinance, Teetzel and city staff proposed a permit fee for those with their own wells, a minimal $5 to cover the cost of inspection.
Rules, water use
The DNR and Bureau of Water and Soil Resources (BOWSR) control water appropriations. According to Elfering the city needs a permit from the state to pump more than 10,000 gallons a day or one million gallons a year.
Before the DNR granted the permit for the city to drill and develop its third well, it had to file a water conservation plan. It also has to provide proof the plan has been implemented. This led to the city ordinance for odd-even sprinkling policy, with watering prohibited between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Eisenmenger identified at least two instances when the tower water levels were critically low with only about eight or 10 feet of water in the towers. Once during a fire, the department and police had to use a PA system to ask residents to stop lawn watering.
During one eight-day dry period last August, he reported water use ranging from 705,000 and 1,140,000 gallons of water. Average water use is calculated in January. This is about 250,000-300,000 gallons a day. This was at a time when the city had only two wells.
The water appropriation permit allows the city to pump 150 million gallons a year. Eisenmenger documents the number of gallons pumped against the number gallons sold. Between 13-14 million gallons of water are unaccounted for. The city must account for it or face substantial fines.
Water meters needing repair would account for some of the loss. It is also possible some residents are not reading cards right. A water main break would seldom account for more than about 250,000 to 300,000 gallons lost, according to Elfering.
In answer to a question from Haag, Eisenmenger said some sprinkler systems are in violation of city ordinance; plumbed into the water lines before they reach the water meters, so some residents are not paying for all the water they use.
Proposed change
The proposed ordinance would keep the odd-even schedule for everyone, with watering banned between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., whether residents use city water or have shallow wells.
Rationale is consistency of enforcement and the cost of staff time required to check every reported/suspected violation. Enforcement calls for steeply increasing fines for violators of the odd-even watering schedule.
The draft proposes a $5 fee to cover the cost of well inspection.
Resident Kevin Teel suggested inspecting every sprinkler system to eliminate violations, and then those with their own wells could water when they wish.
Council member Ted Phillips objected on behalf of those who irrigate with water from their own wells or the lakes, believing their lawn watering should not be restricted since they have paid for the shallow wells and are actually saving water for the city.
Mayor Vern Haag agreed. His family uses laundry rinse water to water shrubs and lawn. This also would be prohibited.
Council member Lynn Koalska said those being honest could still only water every other day. Council member Sandy Standridge said it makes enforcement easier. Council member Martin English agreed with Koalska and Standridge.
For the interim, the council approved a $25 sprinkler inspection fee for systems being installed in the city, with a $15 re-inspection fee. A special workshop to discuss the ordinance is scheduled after the city Open House, at 8:05 pm, Thurs. May 13.
Other topics
By a 4-1 vote, council tabled a request from Bob Owen for a conditional use permit to locate Good Used Cars on 260th Street. Owen would have a maximum of five cars at any one time.
The planning commission struggled over its recommendation against approval. While the car lot appears to fit uses for the area, the zoning ordinance does not allow retail businesses. Council must act on the request within 60 days.
Koalska did not want to override the committee recommendation. English is in favor of the business, because the case can be made the business is not strictly retail. Phillips is in favor of granting the CUP. Haag does not believe it sets precedent.
City Attorney Tom Miller is to prepare a resolution approving the conditional use permit, supported with the findings of fact. A decision about the separate requests will be made at the next meeting.
Related to this issue, council will ask the EDA to review businesses in the industrial park to get opinions about what works in the area and get suggestions about other appropriate ones. This is to get a more defined use for the zone. With regard to the Owenís request for a CUP, planning had to make decisions with the rules and regulations on hand.
Police Chief Anthony Pangal recommended that skateboarders be permitted to use the hockey rink at Swenson Park during the summer. This would be an alternative to youth using paved surfaces near the IGA. While this must be authorized by the park board council members agreed it might be a possible solution for those seeking a place to ride. The police department will work with parks about this issue.
Meadows-on-Fairview, a 59-unit dwelling offering alternative living options for seniors, is scheduled for a June 1 opening. Mary Ann Cooper, director, made the announcement to council and invited them to contact her for a corporate tour.
This Ebenezer Senior Housing Community, just east of Fairview Lakes Medical Center, offers two levels of assisted living for seniors. Studio apartments up to two-bedroom units are available, with monthly lease rates ranging from $1950 up to $2900, depending on the unit.
Monthly lease arrangements for the assisted living units include private apartment with full kitchen, private bath, utilities (with the exception of phone), basic cable service, weekly light housekeeping and flat linen laundry service; three meals daily, emergency call pendant; weekly medication set-up; medical transportation arrangements; personal care staff on duty 24-hours daily; health status care status change observations; wellness programs and monthly blood pressure clinics. A scheduled transportation program is to be arranged.
The Memory Care apartments include the same services, plus additional services including more daily living assistance. To receive information about either option, Cooper invited calls 612-874-3494.
In response to complaints by Gene Gajeski of high water in the back of his lot, council directed Elfering is to check further on the water table in the area. Gajeski, 26321 Finley St., claims he has lost many trees due to rising water.
Eisenmenger will check city maintenance records to see if there was a culvert placed where Gajeski claims, and also to see if it has been blocked. Other business
In other business, council:
ïReceived an invitation to the DARE graduation, 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 8, Wyoming Elementary School.
ïAccepted authority over the portion of CR-84 passing through the Polaris site, contingent on the completion of the deal with Polaris, Inc.
ïLearned from Phillips the cost to pave the Sunrise Park parking lot was completed for $12,450. The estimate was $18,000.
ïReferred a setback request from KKE to planning.
ïLearned from Police Chief Pangal free gun locks are available from the police department under the program title ìProject Child Safe.î For more information, call the police department at 651-462-0577.
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