Craig City Council members left a short executive session Tuesday ready to approve an ordinance as long as changes discussed were made.

What those changes entailed wasn’t clear to those who didn’t attend the executive session.

As presented, the ordinance makes Craig property owners responsible for their own water quality, risking disconnection if it falls below federal standards.

“All property owners … shall be responsible for maintaining adequate chlorine levels within the house and/or business at … the current state and federal level,” the ordinance reads. “If inadequate residual chlorine levels are detected by the city, the city may require the owner … to install and maintain at their expense a chlorination injector system. The city has the right to periodically test water in any house or business for residual chlorine levels.”

The ordinance passed 5-1, with Councilor Don Jones voting in the minority

He said he didn’t oppose the ordinance, but would wait to vote in favor of it until the proposed wording changes were made.

The ordinance also repeals any limitations in service line length. Wording changes will require that the city engineer evaluate each application for water service on a case-by-case basis.

There have been several out-of-city water agreement requests where the length of a service line was a bone of contention. The city’s previous ordinance limited the length of a service line to 200 feet, the length at which city engineer Bill Earley said he was most comfortable with and could guarantee adequately chlorinated water reached the customer. Line length restrictions vary from city to city and Earley has said there’s no sound science that suggests a certain length.

The ordinance made it possible for residents Ray and Beth Dubois to get city water to their property northwest of the Ridgeview Subdivision. The couple has attended several city council meetings in their attempt to get water to their property.