HomeMy WebLinkAboutITEM DISTRIBUTED AFTER AGENDA DISTRIBUTION - ITEM 7 Item #7
May 20, 2015 CITY OF TUSTIN
Mr. Mayor, Council Members and City Staff, 20I5 la Y 0 P 12 08
I am sorry I cannot be here tonight, but the change in meeting date conflict with my HOA's
Board of Directors Meeting. I did have some feedback and comments regarding ordinance
1457, the revised Water Management Plan.
I would first like to acknowledge the great job Mr. Stack and his staff put into this
document. No one wanted to do this but circumstances require we do so. Overall it makes
sense. I do like the definition of measureable rain fall at 1/4 of an inch it seems very
reasonable. In regards to the "measurable rain fall" where is this measurement taken? I
ask, because as we all know Mother Nature does not follow our laws and may discriminate
when rainfall may come down. It could be raining cats and dogs over the new Legacy area,
but up by Citrus Grove or Cedar Park it may be totally dry. If 1/4 inch fell in the Legacy, does
the whole City have to follow the 48 hour rule? Or will the City have more than one rain
gauge for official measurements? Further, if we hit that magic number of 3/4 of an inch,
how will that information be communicate to all water user so we know we don't water on
our next watering day?
I am trying to think like an everyday homeowner who wants to comply, but needs to know
how.
Under section 4953 - It states the City will publish in a general newspaper for 3 weeks the
emergency stage declared. Well, not everyone gets or read a newspaper. I think the City
needs to go the extra mile and do more than just depend on a newspaper notice of this
type of an emergency. My suggestions would be to include, but not be limited to the
following:
1. Special mailing to all residence and business (especially landscaping) declaring the
stage declared which would include a summary of what we all need to do.
2. Local mini-meetings/workshop hosted by members of the council/staff throughout the
City. For example, perhaps on Mitchell Avenue we get the 4-5 of our associations to have a
joint meeting at one of our clubhouses where City and Residences meet to discuss the
issue.
3. Send notices to our schools to be take home by the students to give to their parents (if
school is in session).
4. Have the Chamber of Commerce and or the Tustin Foundation help spread the word to
businesses.
I think it behooves us to go the extra mile to communicate these emergency conditions.
Not only is it the right thing to do, but it will give us a clean conscience.
Under section 4954- my concern is not so much on the amount of the fine but on when it
starts and the follow-up to the violator. On the day the Ordinance is enacted, does the
fining start then? Or is there a grace period to get the word out? If there is a grace period,
would warning notices be sent out so business and homeowners know in advance to what
needs to be corrected? Also how long would this grace period be?
Let say, using my association as an example, the City discovers a violation of the
ordinance. How long will it take before we get written notice of it? How long do we have to
make the correction? Let's say after the first discovery, they come back during the next
legal day to water, and the violation is spotted again. Is that now the second violation and
fine? My point is, any homeowner or business may not have sufficient time to know of an
issue and correct it and yet it could be noted multiple times before a notice is given. So
what would be the reasonable solution in a situation like this?
Speaking of violations, since watering is prohibited between 6 am-6 pm and since most
watering is done late at night will the City be doing night patrols to check on the ordinance
being followed? Or is it based on citizen reporting violations (as if we have nothing else to
do late at night), or???
My point is to for the Council to look at this from the eyes of the average citizen and
business owner and see if we have covered all the basis to insure everyone is following this
ordinance.
As a side note, yesterday I spent almost three hours with our landscape company walking
every station and determining where we can turn off sprinkler heads to reduce over-
watering. Between turning off sprinkler heads, watering twice a week per the ordinance,
and just watering each station 2 minutes twice a night (one minute less that maximum),
we believe we could cut our water usage by around 25%. And our Board of Directors will
be monitoring this closely.
One last point, at the water workshop, it was suggest that the City might add an additional
one dollar ($1)to the current $2 rebate for turf removal. I did not see this in this proposal,
nor did I see his in this agenda. I strongly suggest the City offer this extra incentive. Not
only will it help during this drought, but it will have long term benefits for many years to
come.
Mr. Mayor, Council Members and City Staff, thank you for time reading my notes and
comments.
May th- Force be wit' u .!
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17r dKatzman