The Avalon City Council unanimously decided against acting on an urgency water-use regulating ordinance at the Tuesday, June 17 meeting.
Mayor Anni Marshall and Council Member Joe Sampson had asked staff to draw up the proposed ordinance.
The ordinance, among other things, would have prohibited the use of fresh water in construction and did not include an end date for water restrictions.
The Avalon City Council unanimously decided against acting on an urgency water-use regulating ordinance at the Tuesday, June 17 meeting.
Mayor Anni Marshall and Council Member Joe Sampson had asked staff to draw up the proposed ordinance.
The ordinance, among other things, would have prohibited the use of fresh water in construction and did not include an end date for water restrictions.
According to the staff report prepared by the city manager and city attorney, the ordinance would adopt all California Public Utility water rules (called “tariffs”) into the city code so that Avalon could enforce the rules.
The urgency ordinance would have gone into effect immediately and required four votes to pass.
As it turned out, there was no support for the ordinance from the public, council comments indicated no support on the council and the Santa Catalina Island Company had threatened to sue the city if the ordinance was passed. Mayor Marshall said Southern California Edison had asked her to pull the ordinance from the agenda.
Edison owns the water utility on the Island. No Edison representatives were present at Tuesday’s meeting.
Among the objections residents raised were that the ordinance did not define potable water, that it shifted too much of the burden of water conservation onto the construction industry and that the city itself was exempt from the rules.
Although his name was on the proposal, following public testimony against the ordinance, Sampson thanked the public for educating him and admitted it was a mistake.
Marshall said the ordinance might have been a bad move, but she would not apologize.
She said that three of the council members ran on the water issue. “We just want to show you that we’re serious,” she said.
She said she was disillusioned with Southern California Edison, which has not levied fines for violations of Stage One water rationing.
She said water allocations won’t matter when there is no watter coming out of the faucet.
She said she wants the community to know that the council members care.
She also said it was a shame that Edison was not there every two weeks to provide the council with updates. “That is sinful,” she said.
Oley Olsen said he was not sure why the city wanted to be the water police. He said it was a fine thing to have a discussion.
He said the city should look into creating a municipal water district.
Sampson said he had been allocated 7 gallons of water a day for his son and himself.
“I don’t want to do this,” he said. He also said the council was looking at the big picture.
Sampson said it was hard to have people stop brushing their teeth while water is used for construction.
“We will have a sit down with Edison,” Sampson said.
Council Member Cinde MacGugan-Cassidy said she had an issue with putting the responsibility for water conservation on construction.
She said Avalon was a resort that needs upgrade and the council was not thinking in terms of solutions.
She also said the city needs to set the first example.
Wayne Griffin, president and CEO of the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce, said there was no time frame for the water restrictions imposed by the urgency ordinance. But his biggest objection was that the City of Avalon was exempt.
“If it’s too expensive to you, why do you think it’s not for us?” Griffin asked.
Bob Kennedy, the former mayor, commended the council for taking on the water issue. “I think that you’ve recognized that this utility has been mismanaged,” he said.
He said it was daunting and embarrassing that Edison was even there. He urged the council to form a water committee and to lobby regulators for relief from rules that interfere with getting new water wells.
The council voted unanimously to “table” the ordinance, meaning they would take no action at that time.
