St. John passes water ordinance

The Town of St. John recently passed an emergency water ordinance for the purpose of completing its water system plan for the Department of Ecology.

The town was required to pass the ordinance for the plan and needed to outline penalties for violation of water use restrictions. The ordinance stipulates that the town council can declare a water emergency in the event of severe drought, extended pipeline or equipment malfunction or in any other condition that significantly reduces the town’s ability to supply water.

The purposes of declaring a water emergency would be to protect public health, safety or welfare or to preserve the town’s water supply.

A water emergency would constitute water restrictions, and residents would be asked to comply with those restrictions. The ordinance passed Aug. 14 states that individuals not complying with the restrictions would first receive a written warning. If they do not comply within 48 hours of that warning, they would then be fined $50, and if non-compliance continues, they would be fined $100 for each 48-hour period of non-compliance.

“The council will be the enforcer,” said Linda Hayes, town clerk/treasurer. “If we get a report that somebody is not doing it, we’ll look into it and write a letter.”

There is no emergency water situation in St. John right now. The ordinance just needed to be passed for the town’s water system plan.

“It was required by the Department of Ecology,” said Hayes. “DOE has a lot of regulations.”

The town actually submitted an ordinance earlier this year for the water system plan, but it was rejected by the DOE because it did not include a process for penalties when water use restriction violations occurred.

The ordinance was passed by the town council on Aug. 14 and signed by Mayor Pro-tem Michael G. Webb. Current mayor, K.B. Trunkey, was not feeling well the day of the meeting and stayed home. He is currently undergoing cancer treatments.

Hayes reported that he is doing as well as he can.

“He was sick that evening, and he’s struggling, but he’s still doing as much as he can,” she said. “He’s not giving up.”