By Chris Paul
Because of the severe drought in the state, the Londonderry Town Council decided to elevate lawn watering restrictions to the next level during their Monday night, Aug. 15, meeting.
Members of the Town Council voted 5-0 to raise restrictions in town to Level II of the lawn watering ordinance that was adopted back in 2020 during another severe drought.
At the end of Monday night’s meeting, Town Manager, Mike Malaguti, informed the Town Council that Londonderry is currently in a severe drought and asked whether members wanted to move forward on raising watering restrictions.
“There are two different options the town can undertake,” Malaguti said. One would be to do nothing, and the other would be to move to Level II or Level III if the council is concerned enough.
Level II Restrictions are as follows:
• Lawn watering by odd numbered addresses is allowed on Mondays and Thursdays
• Lawn watering by even numbered addresses is allowed on Tuesdays and Fridays.
• Lawn Watering Shall not occur between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.
If restrictions move to Level III, lawn watering is prohibited throughout town.
Council Chair, John Farrell, mentioned he had seen Windham had moved to a Level II recently and asked fellow members what they wanted to do.
He also noted even though many residents are on private wells, lawn watering still draws water from a shared water supply.
Councilor, Deb Paul, suggested moving to Level II, with Chad Franz immediately agreeing.
Member, Joe Green, inquired about enforcement of the policy, saying he has noticed blatant disregard to the current level.
Malaguti responded that under the ordinance, the police department is responsible for enforcement.
According to the ordinance, there will be a warning issued for the first violation, a $200 fine for the second violation and a $1,000 fine for additional violations.
In the end, the consensus was to move to Level II, to which, Malaguti told the council he would notify the community and it would take effect immediately following that.
Malauguti said after the meeting, “We can begin enforcing the new restrictions three days after notice runs in the newspaper.”
The Public Notice appears on page 2 of this newspaper.