The Town Council addressed an ordinance Monday night that would place a mandatory restriction on the removal of water from public water bodies for commercial use.
The ordinance comes in response to the residential water ban recently put into effect and to reports of landscaping and other businesses using public water during their operations.
Rockingham County is under “extreme drought” conditions.
Violators will be subject to a warning for the first offense, a $250 fine for the second offense and a $500 fine for each subsequent offense.
Restrictions for businesses that irrigate their lawns were discussed, and it was determined that state law does not allow for the banning of lawn watering by businesses. However, the town is sending letters to businesses asking for voluntary adherence to the lawn-watering ban.
A public hearing on the ordinance is set for the Town Council meeting of Nov. 7.
In other business:
• The Council approved two Trust Fund expenditures. The first was for the expenditure from the Maintenance Trust Fund for seal coating of cracks and line striping in the Leach Library and the police station parking lots, as well as the lot in front of the Central Fire Station.
The funds will also be used for repiping of the fuel farm behind the Central Fire Station in order to get diesel fuel to the larger fire trucks safely.
The total cost of the expenditure will be $8,250.
The second approval was for the Expenditure of Reclamation Trust Funds to be used for the purchase of recycling carts. The money will specifically be used for 35-gallon drums to be used by the recycling program for automated curbside recycling collection.
The total cost is $9,955.48.