Pocahontas shuts off water for ordinance violators

POCAHONTAS, Ark. (KAIT) — The city of Pocahontas can turn off residents’ water if they do not comply with city ordinances.

Fortunately, this measure is only used as a last resort.

Mayor Keith Futrell said there is more to the ordinance than simply turning someone’s water off if they aren’t following an ordinance.

“For the city to be able to shut off their water because of it, honestly, it’s sad,” said Hailey Shoe, who works in Pocahontas.

That is what Shoe said when we told her that the city can cut off water if someone is not in compliance with an ordinance, but is the process really that simple?

Enforcement process

Futrell said the process begins when the city identifies a property that does not comply with an ordinance.

For example, if someone allows their lawn to grow higher than 12 inches, the city will place a sign in the yard, giving the property owner seven days to mow the lawn.

If they haven’t, the city will come back out and issue a warning or give a citation.

The property owner then has 30 days to mow their lawn.

If they still haven’t, the city court can rule to cut off their water until the property follows the ordinance.

Futrell said the ordinance’s purpose is to penalize those who refuse to comply with other ordinances.

“They’re trying to turn the city into an HOA, that’s just not true,” said Futrell. “We just want the city to be clean, so when somebody comes to it, they can say, ‘I had a good experience in Pocahontas,’ or ‘hey, I want to live somewhere, I might want to live in Pocahontas.’”

Ordinance exceptions

If residents are physically unable to follow an ordinance, Futrell said there are options for them as well.

“We’re not looking for little Mrs. Smith, who’s 90 years old, and if there is a Mrs. Smith that’s 90 years old and can’t mow her yard, I’ve got a list of names that will go mow her yard,” said Futrell.

This particular ordinance has been in effect since last year. Since that time, Futrell said they have only turned off people’s water two times.

“And one of the gentlemen said, ‘Well, I’ll just show you; I won’t mow my yard,’ and I said, ‘That’s fine, live without water,’” said Futrell. “After he went without water for 10 days, he came in and said, ‘If you turn my water back on, I’ll mow my yard.’ I said, ‘Mow your yard, and we’ll turn your water back on,’ and we did.”

After Shoe understood the finer details of the process, she said she was glad to hear that it takes a while to turn someone’s water off for not following ordinances.

“It makes me feel better, a whole lot better, and knowing that they are willing to come out there and help as well, this goes to show that Pocahontas has some good people,” Shoe said.

Futrell added that if anyone has questions about this ordinance or any other city questions, his door is open.

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