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Council fast-tracks, adopts emergency backflow protection ordinance after technical briefing
Summary
Mount Vernon council suspended the reading rule and adopted Ordinance 2026-17 on backflow protection as an emergency measure; city staff explained backflow devices prevent contaminants (including herbicides and cooling fluids) from entering the municipal water system.
The Mount Vernon City Council voted to suspend the rules and adopt Ordinance 2026-17, updating the city’s codified ordinance on backflow protection and declaring an emergency to expedite the measure.
Sponsor remarks cited concerns about noncompliance risk relative to Environmental Protection Agency expectations as the reason to take the ordinance to a final reading and vote without delay. After the motion to suspend the rules was seconded and discussed, the council recorded affirmative roll-call votes and the chair announced the ordinance was adopted.
During discussion, Mr. Zimmerman provided a technical explanation of backflow devices and contamination risks: "A backflow device ... keeps if there would be a loss of pressure, instead of it siphoning like a straw back into the entire water system ... it would stop right there and then we wouldn't have any contamination. It's a safety aspect of it." He cited examples such as herbicide/pesticide mix-ups and coolant contamination in industrial settings as scenarios a device would prevent.
The ordinance was presented as coming from the utility commission and described by council members as having been discussed at length in committee. The meeting record did not include a construction or compliance timeline beyond the emergency designation.
