Irmo Town Council recently discussed adjusting residential ordinances and adding equipment.

At the body’s Feb. 7 workshop session, Council Member Erik Sickinger brought up adding a water ordinance, removing a leaf ordinance and changing truck ordinances. 

The potential water ordinance that Sickinger brought to the table regards residents who leave water running on their property, running from their land onto neighboring property. The continual flow could lead to erosion and other forms of damage to property, the council member said.

According to Sickinger, enacting a provision to tamp down on such instances would fill a hole in the town’s ordinances. He added that he would need to be carefully written to ensure it’s not a petty ordinance.

“One thing we need to balance as a council is the freedom for someone to do whatever they want on their own property without being an HOA,” Sickinger said. “We have to balance someone’s individual freedoms and rights with the potential that someone practicing that full freedom may negatively impact someone else.”

He added that the code should be investigated and enforced if necessary in response to neighbor complaints.

“The town's goal when it comes to code enforcement is to ensure that residents can live in peace amongst each other and not have one resident damage another resident's peaceful enjoyment of their own property through their actions,” Sickinger said.

When it comes to the current leaf ordinance, which has not been revised in over a decade, Sickinger proposed removing it along with allowing two-axle vehicles to be parked in someone’s driveway.

The council member told the Chronicle that residents of Irmo are not being damaged because someone didn’t rake their lawn or because their work truck is parked in their driveway.

Leaf collection is currently provided to town residents, but only if they bag their leaves. Leaves that are raked to the street without being bagged are not collected.

Though some area municipalities have vacuum trucks to pick up loose leaves, Sickinger said that’s an option that council hasn’t looked into.

He said the current leaf collection system “strikes a good balance between still offering residents a way to get leaves taken care of without having an undue burden in terms of cost”.

Irmo’s public works director, Whit Cline, is pushing for new equipment within the town. At the workshop, he recommended using American Rescue Plan funds to replace the town's work trucks, which have been in operation for almost two decades. The director is also requesting lawnmowers and a bucket truck since he and his staff currently use ladders to complete certain tasks.

According to Town Administrator Courtney Dennis, some of the vehicles still have usefulness and are not in dire need of replacement. 

Sickinger said that for the past decade, the town has operated such that money was often withheld from prospective capital improvement and investments.

“[Some things] come with a high price tag, but at some point, you need to spend the money either way,” he said, “because it’s going to be more expensive to maintain an old system or car or truck or you're going to experience pain from having a staffer get hurt.”

“It’s really weighing the cost and benefit,” he added.