Council continues irrigation ordinance hearing after debate on exemptions, enforcement and farmer notice

Public Works staff and Veolia representatives presented a draft irrigation ordinance on March 23 that would restrict automatic lawn and landscape irrigation to two days per week for customers in the Veolia and South Shore/Middlebridge water districts and would exempt hand-watering of gardens. The proposal includes a staged education plan, notice on violations and civil penalties for continued noncompliance (notice then fines up to $500/day), and an administrative mechanism for the director to impose more stringent restrictions during drought.

Veolia said it will work to duplicate conservation programs used in its larger markets (customer rebates and meter-based feedback) and can provide data to identify high-use accounts. Several councilors pressed to limit the ordinance's annual window to Memorial Day'Labor Day and to add explicit exemptions for agriculture (and a notification requirement to farms if they would be covered). A consultant and a resident water-industry expert urged the council to consider a willful-waste enforcement option instead of a purely sprinkler-focused rule.

After extensive discussion, the council voted to continue the public hearing to the second meeting in April and directed staff and legal counsel to: (1) add an applicability window (Memorial Day'Labor Day), (2) draft an agricultural exemption consistent with state notification requirements, and (3) prepare clarified enforcement and education language. The council said staff should return with revised language and outreach plans before final adoption.