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Fairfield council debates key changes to draft water ordinance, flags state constraints and transfer rules
Summary
Council members and staff reviewed a draft water ordinance covering developer responsibilities, per‑lot acre‑feet requirements, capping private wells on transfer, and a 300‑foot rule for private well culinary use; planning commission has not finished its review and legal review is recommended before the Sept. 29 deadline.
The Fairfield Town Council spent an extended portion of its Aug. 20 meeting reviewing a draft water ordinance prepared by Bowen & Collins and discussed multiple substantive edits before formal action.
Council members and staff debated the formula for how much water a residential lot must bring to connect to the town system: the draft used 1.8 acre‑feet per lot plus additional acre‑feet per additional acre, which several members said would produce unworkable totals for larger lots. One councilmember suggested keeping the town’s existing practice and a minimum per‑lot standard (for example, 0.9–1.25 acre‑feet), with the town engineer able to require higher amounts when justified by proposed use. Several members warned requiring excessive shares could make development financially infeasible.
The draft also proposes that when a property owner transfers the water right associated with an on‑site well to the town culinary system the well must be permanently capped. Council members asked for clarity on exceptions and how private wells could be used with purchased irrigation or agricultural shares; staff said state rules prevent simply converting surface irrigation rights to well/culinary rights and that owners may need to pursue state change‑of‑use or point‑of‑diversion applications. Council members noted the town cannot demand more water than state law allows and recommended legal review of the ordinance language.
Other key issues raised included: - Whether small utility buildings (example: a 20×20 Comcast facility) should be required to bring an acre share when they are not expected to use culinary water; council discussed variances or specific carve‑outs for utility stations. - A draft provision barring private wells for culinary use unless a lot is more than 300 feet from the municipal system; members asked for the technical basis for the 300‑foot threshold and requested cost estimates for connecting mains, with Wayne and Todd identified as follow‑up contacts. - The need to record road and public utility easements across town before running gas or fiber lines; some easements were recorded, others were not, complicating infrastructure plans.
Council agreed the planning commission must finish its review and that the ordinance should be reviewed by counsel to ensure compliance with state law and existing contracts (including grandfathered share arrangements). Staff noted a passage date goal of Sept. 29 but agreed more meetings and edits will be needed to finalize the draft.
Next steps: the council asked staff to circulate a marked draft, seek engineering/cost estimates for mainline connections, obtain legal review, and have the planning commission hold a public hearing prior to returning the ordinance for council action.
