Borough of Coopersburg, PA Article II Drought Emergencies

[Adopted 1-10-1989 by Ord. No. 431 (Ch. 26, Part 3 of the 1996 Code)]

§ 220-6 Purpose.

A. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania developed a three-stage approach to drought preparedness and response which consists of:

(1) A drought watch which is to alert the public and elected officials;

(2) A drought warning which is to prepare and coordinate community response; and

(3) A drought emergency which is a declaration by the Governor pursuant to the Emergency Management Services Code.

B. The Borough of Coopersburg is, by statute and regulation, required to be responsive to the need to conserve water at any of the foregoing stages of preparedness and even prior thereto in the event local conditions are deemed to require more immediate action.

§ 220-7 Procedure.

A. The Council for the Borough of Coopersburg does hereby empower the Mayor to invoke the power of this article to impose prohibitions upon certain uses of water within the Borough of Coopersburg whenever in his or her judgment any of the three stages of drought preparedness are declared to be in existence in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and in the Borough of Coopersburg.

B. The Mayor, in the exercise of the action empowered by this article, shall consider the following activities, in the sequence of listing below, as a series of prohibitions to be imposed either sequentially or at random, individually or as a group:

	P1	Washing of streets, roads, sidewalks, driveways, or any other outdoor paved surface, except when necessary for repaving.
	P2	Filling and topping off swimming pools.
	P3	Car washing, except in car wash facilities that recycle water.
	P4	Watering lawns and gardens except with the use of a hand held hose or container. (This prohibition is not applicable to commercial nurseries.)
	P5	Operation of outdoor fountains and circulating pools.
	P6	Serving water in restaurants, except at the request of customers.

§ 220-8 Violations and penalties.

[Amended 4-23-1996 by Ord. No. 509]

Failure of any person or persons to act in response to a prohibition imposed by the Mayor under the terms of this article shall subject the responsible individual or individuals to the issuance of a citation by the Borough Police Department and subsequent penalties to be imposed as follows:

A. Initial citation shall subject the party cited to a warning only.

B. A subsequent citation shall be punishable by a fine of $25 and costs of prosecution in the form of a summary proceeding.

C. Any citation issued to a person or persons in excess of two previous citations shall, upon conviction therefor, subject the party to a fine not exceeding $1,000 and costs and, in default of payment thereof, shall subject the person or persons to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days. Each day that a violation of this article continues shall constitute a separate offense.