No Changes for Watering Violation Misdemeanors

By: Stephanie Morrissey - Email

Updated: Tue 4:29 AM, Sep 25, 2012

It you got a ticket for violating water restrictions this summer, it looks like the penalty will remain a misdemeanor.

Councilman Adam Hornung proposed a plan that would turn those misdemeanors into infractions. At Monday's city council meeting, he withdrew that proposal.

"The problem is, there's a lot of people who have already been convicted or consented to being guilty. You've got a batch of people already convicted. Any action now wouldn't affect them and would treat them different than others. It didn't seem like a good solution at this point in time," Hornung said.

Problems like this pushed Hornung to withdraw his infraction plan. The mayor's office agreed saying it just wasn't fair to let one group off the hook while others paid a fine.

"I think the best approach is to move forward with the pardon system. Then with those more egregious cases, we'll hopefully deal with those in a more sensible manner and find a way to get the tickets to the right people," Hornung said.

It's the bizarre cases that Hornung is asking the mayor's office to fix soon.

"There was one situation in one part of town where a secretary responded to the call. She got the ticket and she wasn't even an officer of the company. All of a sudden she has a ticket personally. She was trying to figure out the ticket and it went on her record. It's just not appropriate," Hornung said.

The mayor's office is working on a comprehensive plan for next spring. It will clear up penalties and also make enforcement more efficient. Hornung says the best thing to do is focus on the future.

"People have been waiting for best solution. There's been lots filing continuances. They've waited out the process on what will eventually happen. The best thing to do now is move forward," Hornung said.