Council to revisit outside-city water connections; staff asked for technical analysis

The council agreed to place a pending ordinance on a future agenda to decide whether and how Mount Pleasant will allow water service outside city limits. An unidentified council speaker noted the current permission is expiring and said the council needs time to “really get all the details” before voting, proposing the item return to a future meeting for fuller discussion.

Council members discussed policy options and engineering constraints. One speaker said outside connections could be allowed only if lines are looped and meet Utah drinking water code regulations and if properties connect to sewer; another council participant raised the prospect that some lots north of town might not be able to reach the existing sewer line and would instead require transfer pumps that the city would have to maintain.

A recommendation emerged to first prepare technical, data-driven comparisons: quantify remaining lots inside the city limits, compare them against available ERCs (equivalent residential connections) and water supply under a 2% growth projection (a speaker cited roughly 20 years of water under that growth rate), and then apply those results to any ordinance language. One councilmember suggested using Google Earth for a quick lot inventory before committing staff time to ordinance drafting.

Council members did not adopt ordinance language or take a final vote during the meeting. Instead, they directed that the pending ordinance be returned to a future council agenda with requested technical analyses and that staff prepare options for loop, sewer and billing-back requirements so the council can weigh costs and operational responsibilities.