Galt councilwoman fined

Galt City Councilwoman Barbara Payne sprays water on her yard Monday afternoon on Silver Spruce Court. Payne was fined $100 last week for watering the lawn of an abandoned home next door. Also pictured are Payne's neighbors, Jack Hornor, left, and Gary Masuda, who also helped to take care of the home that is located in the background.(Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Galt councilwoman fined

Barbara Payne cited for watering lawn of abandoned home; city says water connection could have led to 'cross contamination'

By Chris Nichols
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 2:53 PM PDT

Comments (36 comment(s))

Two weeks after Galt City Council members urged the public to help keep up abandoned homes, one of them has been fined $100 for doing just that.

Barbara Payne received a citation from the city's Public Works department last week for watering the lawn of an abandoned home next door — a violation of the city's code.

Memo from Galt Public Works Director Gregg Halladay.

Payne said she and a group of about five neighbors had been watering and cutting the lawn at 121 Silver Spruce Court for the past month to prevent the foreclosed home from becoming a neighborhood eyesore.

"I have to say it wasn't a good feeling," the councilwoman said of finding the citation stuck under her doormat last week. "If you're trying to do something good, why should you be fined for it?"

Galt Public Works Director Gregg Halladay said Payne's case wasn't just a matter of sprinkling a bit of water next door — which is "technically" a violation in itself, he noted.

A hose had been hooked up from the outside faucet of the Payne household to the outside faucet of the abandoned home, allowing neighbors to manually turn on an existing sprinkler system at the abandoned home.

The connection, however, created the potential for "cross contamination of the water system," the director said.

Should a drop in water pressure have occurred — say, from a fire hydrant being used — mud, insects or stagnant pool water could have been sucked up from the abandoned property and funneled into the Payne's home or into the water system itself, Halladay said.

A regular check of the water system found no such contamination, he noted.

Halladay said a public works staff member noticed the connection during a "vacancy check," made to ensure the abandoned home's water was shut off.

Council members at their May 20 meeting, including Mayor Andrew Meredith, told residents to take matters into their own hands to fight foreclosure-related blight, following public comments about abandoned properties popping up in Galt.

Meredith said Monday he stands by those words of encouragement. He just doesn't want to see residents do what Payne did.

"She made an illegal connection — she trespassed onto her neighbor's property," said Meredith, who has clashed with Payne on numerous occasions over city policy.

He noted the connection could have provided water pressure throughout the abandoned home, and potentially flooded the home.

City Manager Ted Anderson at the May 20 meeting had suggested residents contact Galt's code enforcement officers regarding blight.

The watering of an abandoned home on Silver Spruce Court in Galt led to a $100 fine for Barbara Payne, who tried using her own water to maintain the home's lawn. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

The Galt Municipal Code, Section 13.08.180, states "No person shall supply water from his own service to any other premise unless written authorization from the Director is obtained. The Director shall authorize such connection on a temporary basis only to facilitate repairs on the water system or for health and safety."

"We considered this health and safety," noted Georgeann Hornor, who along with her husband, Jack, helped keep up the abandoned home. "We didn't want people moving in there. Obviously, it's an abandoned house."

Payne said the matter is not on tonight's council agenda, but might be brought up.

The lawn at 121 Silver Spruce Court is now starting to dry out. Neighbors had hoped they could keep it from turning into a dead brown mass, full of thick weeds like other abandoned properties in the neighborhood.

"There were a lot of us trying to keep the place up," said Jack Hornor. "We're not now."

Contact reporter Chris Nichols at chrisn@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Robb wrote on Jun 7, 2008 5:53 PM:

" Bla Bla Bla, pay the fine... "

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