RALEIGH - The mayors of five Wake towns that purchase water from Raleigh told Mayor Charles Meeker on Friday that the city is long overdue in implementing tougher water restrictions.

"I think it's past time," Rolesville Mayor Frank Eagles said.

"As soon as possible," Wake Forest Mayor Vivian Jones added.

The purpose of the mayoral summit was to update the town leaders of Garner, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Zebulon, Wendell and Knightdale on Raleigh's efforts to extend its remaining water supply, which was at 109 days prior to Friday's near-inch of rain.

Water customers in those six towns are under the same restrictions as Raleigh customers. All the mayors were in attendance except Knightdale Mayor Russell Killen.

The mayors told Meeker that Raleigh should move to Stage 2 water restrictions by Feb. 15, or about two weeks earlier than several Raleigh City Council members recently proposed.

Stage 2 would ban pressure- washing and all remaining irrigation and prohibit builders from testing new city water connections -- tests that must occur before homes and businesses can legally be occupied.

The mayors said Stage 2 should include an exemption for developers who recapture the water used to test city water connections. The City Council is expected to set a date for adopting Stage 2 at its meeting Tuesday.

All the mayors agreed to sign a letter to water customers asking them to install low-flow devices and use rain barrels.

Much of Friday's meeting was spent going over the various initiatives Raleigh is undertaking to preserve or augment its water supply.

The mayors were particularly interested in Stage 3 restrictions, which don't currently exist but are being drawn up by city staff.

"How quickly do you expect to have specifics for Stage 3?" Zebulon Mayor Bob Matheny asked.

Dale Crisp, Raleigh's utilities director, assured the mayors that a draft of the proposed ordinance would be delivered to them as soon as it is ready.

Several mayors complained about what they perceived to be a lack of communication between the six towns and Raleigh during the drought.

J. Harold Broadwell, Wendell's mayor, said a water main recently broke in his town. After Raleigh's public utilities department was alerted, Broadwell said, it took 26 hours for a worker to come out and fix the problem.

"We need better communication between the towns and the public utilities," Broadwell said.

Meeker told the mayors that they may get some resistance from their residents when the tougher restrictions are put in place.

"Tough times require tough decisions," Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams said.

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