Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Cleveland council approves leasing school water shares, defers most flower planting amid drought concerns
Loading...
Summary
Facing drought and secondary-water limits, council approved leasing water shares from Emery School, discussed reducing or cancelling a 112-basket floral order, and directed staff to coordinate with the vendor and prepare conservation messaging for residents.
Council moved to secure water resources and scale back ornamental plantings at its Feb. 12 meeting as town leaders weighed drought conditions against an already-placed floral order.
On a motion that Speaker 2 described as "Motion by Whitney," the council approved leasing water shares from Emery School (the draft said 150 shares at $3.52 each; the draft record lists a total that is inconsistent in the transcript). The motion carried on a roll-call vote. Council members said the town uses culinary water for pots (drawn from the fire-station spigot), and some members urged restraint since the secondary-water system and irrigation supplies are under pressure.
The council reviewed a bid from Gordon's Floral for 112 baskets. In the meeting record the bid was quoted at $141 per basket with a printed total of $3,472; members discussed reducing the number of planted baskets to a smaller set of priority locations (post office, park, four-way stop, Oldville), using fake flowers, or negotiating with the vendor to cancel or scale back the order if required by a water policy change. "If we are committed to our order or not, it's...we need to basically...put it off till next month," one councilmember said, and members agreed staff should contact Gordon's Floral and report back.
Council directed staff to prepare water-conservation outreach (mail to PO boxes, signs for pots noting "We're conserving water") and suggested operational responses such as voluntary watering schedules (e.g., early morning or evening) and public messaging to reduce secondary/culinary use. Members also discussed whether certain pots could be planted with drought-tolerant alternatives or use fake flowers if watering limits become strict.
Votes at a glance: - Lease water shares from Emery School: motion approved (mover referenced as Whitney; second noted in transcript). - Donation request for Elmo horse-and-buggy days: council voted to pass on the request (motion approved).
Provenance: water shares discussed beginning SEG 983 and voted by SEG 1015; flower-basket bid discussion ran SEG 729–SEG 1693.