Council Makes Changes To Emergency Water Conservation Law

Fairhope, Alabama

August 14 council meeting.

TAKES EFFECT AUGUST 23

As the drought continues, during its regular meeting Monday the city council decided to leave current measures in place, but voted unanimously to make some technical changes to the law.

Beginning August 23, the seven-day water consumption monitoring requirement to move from one phase to the next was changed to seven-out-of-ten days instead.

Criteria for phase III was changed from 100 percent useage for that time period, to 95 percent; a requirement for 1.5 inches of rain during that time was added as well (to drop from phase III to phase II).

The change could not become effective sooner because of newspaper advertising required by state law, according to city clerk Hanks.

(Per the discussion, it was not made clear if a drop to phase II is possible ... before the amended ordinance takes effect on August 23.)

OTHER CHANGES COMING

Watering newly-planted lawns only will be permitted for thirty days when the new ordinance takes effect (phase III).

Topping off swimming pools will be allowed -- but not filling from empty (permit needed).

RAIN POSSIBLE TUESDAY?

An increased chance for rain is predicted for Tuesday afternoon, but then reduced chance for the next week.

Comments

Zabbie23 said…

What about the splash pad at Fairhopers Park? Enquiring moms wants to know.

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Anonymous said…

May be some rain today peeps

WiseGuy said…

Mayor just got there. Its the others responsible for the bad planning. Burel, Boon, Robinson, Conyers. Some of em have a hard time just showing up for work. Some of us wanted a city manager to help, but ya'll voted it down, so its really your own fault.

All of this entirely the fault of Council and P&Z approving way too much building over the last few years.
They knew full well infrastructure build would not keep up.
Their job was to keep Fairhope one of the great small towns in America…not create a standard overcrowded suburb lacking enough utilities.

The phases should be much more structured. The jump to cut off all water and kill plants and lawns happened too abruptly…and these changes just make it more likely to happen.

You people are pitiful. You never show up for council meetings then suddenly you are experts about everything and anything!

I don’t fault the Mayor for this mess. In most governments she would be a City Manager and I believe she is doing a good job.
Now for the Council, the only one that responds to my inquiries is Martin. If you watched the YouTube meeting a few of them looked like they were ready to fall asleep.
Let’s vote those folks out.

The requirement of 1.5 inches of rain is extremely subjective! A quarter mile away could receive substantial rainfall, yet vast areas of Fairhope will not receive precipitation. Additionally, in reality, how often does Fairhope receive 1.5" of rain within seven days? And where would the "official" rain gauge be located?

It sounds like the first fix is to construct a few more water towers to hold excess water in times of need. Digging extra wells is logical for future growth but you need additional storage capacity to hold the new water. Ive been in Fairhope 15 years and this is the first I can remember having to turn off my sprinkler. Look, the Council members all have full time jobs so this is just a side gig for them. The mayor in a lot of cities is usually a figure head and isn't paid as much and the cities tend to hire qualified city managers to oversee departments, infrastructure, expansion, etc. Fairhope's Mayor is paid $100k and assumes the role of mayor and city manager/utilities manager. Maybe Mayor Sullivan will agree to a pay decrease and use the extra money to hire a certified city manager? Just a thought...

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

The council's aversion to long term infrastructure borrowing may be responsible for the current water defecit.

I believe Mayor Sullivan is well qualified to assume City Manager duties and if she does make $100k, she’s probably underpaid. I believe the mess we are in is squarely in the hands of the City Council. Hoping some no-growth candidates come along.

If there ever is a reason to stop development in its’ tracks, it not enough water (and too much sewage in the bay).

One way to restrict growth is to reduce density. A group near Lillian has been trying to get the county to reduce density of planned projects and the county is giving them a hard time. I don't know if they have been successful. However the developers will tell anybody and everybody that it is not profitable to to due a development with reduced density. But that is BS.

Friday, August 18, 2023

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Council Makes Changes To Emergency Water Conservation Law

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