Chapter XXII · Utilities

ARTICLE 1. WATERWORKS REGULATIONS

Sections 22-101 to 22-122 · 22 sections

22-101 Control.

The municipal water system shall be operated and managed in accordance with policies and directives as set forth by the City Manager; provided, that the Governing Body shall make the necessary ordinances and approve rules and regulations pertaining to the effective management and operation of the department.

(Code 1975, 22-101; Ord. 5036-21)

22-102 Rules.

The rates, rules and regulations herein established shall be considered a part of the contract with every person supplied with water by and through the waterworks system. Such person by applying for and accepting water shall be held and considered as consenting to be bound thereby. In cases of violation of any rules and regulations in force, the water shall be cut off from the premises or place of violation and not be turned on again except by order of the City Manager on a payment of the expense of turning the water off and on, and upon such other terms as the City Manager may determine after satisfactory assurance that there shall be no further cause for complaint. Any advance payment made by the offender may be retained by the City.

(Code 1975, 22-102; Ord. 5036-21)

22-103 Water service application.

An application in writing shall be presented for connection with the water system:

(a)Any person desiring a connection with the water system; provided, that the property to be served adjoins a water main or distribution line, shall apply in writing on a form to be furnished by the City for that purpose.

(b)Each single-family dwelling and each dwelling unit of a two-family dwelling or duplex and each non-dwelling premise hereafter served with water shall have a separate service connection, and each service line shall have a separate meter cut off as provided by the rules of the waterworks department; provided, that in exceptional cases where it is impossible to provide a separate connection by reason of location of any building or premises, the City Manager may grant exceptions to this rule.

(Code 1975, 22-103; Ord. 5036-25)

22-104 Installations.

All taps shall be made, street excavations made, corporation cocks inserted, pipes installed from the main to the meter, meter boxes, meter cocks, and meters installed and all connections shall be made by employees of the City or by their authorized representative.

(Code 1975, 22-104; Ord. 5036-25)

22-105 Excavations.

No excavations made by a plumber in public ground shall be kept open longer than is absolutely necessary to make the connections required. It shall be protected by suitable barriers, guards and light as provided by the ordinances of the City. Backfilling shall be completed in the manner provided in Chapter XX of this Code and shall be thoroughly compacted and left in a condition satisfactory to the City Engineer or their designee. For such backfilled excavations that are left in an unsatisfactory condition, the City Engineer or designee shall cause them to be repaired and the cost thereof shall be charged to the plumber. Subject to the authority of the City Manager, his or her license may be suspended if such sum is left unpaid after a period of 90 days.

(Code 1975, 22-105; Ord. 5036-21)

22-106 Character of pipe for service connections.

All service pipes shall be copper or other suitable materials. The minimum size of service line from main to meter shall be 3/4 inch laid to a depth of 36 inches or more from the established grade of the street.

(Code 1975, 22-106; Ord. 5036-21)

22-107 Meters.

The City shall, at its own expense, install and maintain all meters connected with the water system. If at any time the consumer desires to have the meter tested for accuracy, the same shall be done by a third party selected by the City and the fee for such testing is charged to the consumer. If the meter registers more than two percent inaccurate, it shall be replaced and repaired before installation on another service and no charge shall be made to the consumer for the test.

(Code 1975, 22-107; Ord. 5036-21)

22-108 Deposits and guarantees.

Any person making proper application and complying with the requirements herein set forth will be supplied with water by the City; provided, that his or her property joins a water main or distribution line. All applications shall be in such form as the City shall require and shall be submitted by the owner, agent or tenant of the property to be supplied, and all applications shall be accompanied by a connection fee or a transfer of service fee of $30.00. No application for water service shall be granted unless all previous water service has been paid in full.

(Code 1975, 22-108; Ord. 4767-11, Sec. 1; Ord. 5036-21)

22-109 Water taps in mains; fees.

The fees to be charged for the tapping of the water main shall be established by· the City Manager and approved by the City Commission. The party desiring such connection shall make application therefor to the City and shall pay to the City the established fees.

(Code 1975, 22-109; Ord. 5036-21)

22-110 Tampering with cutoff valve; taking water without authority.

It shall be unlawful for any person, except a duly authorized employee of the City, to turn any curb cock or meter valve on or off or to take any water from the municipal water system without a connected City water meter or take water from any premises not owned by him, her or them without permission of the owner thereof.

(Code 1975, 22-110; Ord. 5036-21)

22-111 Check valves required.

Check valves shall be and are hereby required on all connections to steam boilers or on any connection deemed by the City Engineer or designee to require one. Safety and release valves shall be placed on all boilers and other steam apparatus connected with the municipal water system where the steam pressure may be raised in excess of 40 pounds per square inch.

(Code 1977, 22-111; Ord. 5036-21)

22-112 City reserves the right to discontinue service

The City hereby reserves the right to discontinue to any and/or all customers of the municipal water system without notice when the same becomes necessary for the repair of the system or any part thereof or for the nonpayment of water bills as required by this article or where substances from the customer’s premises are being discharged into the sanitary sewer in violation of Chapter XIX of this Code. A disconnect fee of $60 will be charged for non-payment.

(Ord. 3586; Ord. 5036-21)

22-113 Fire hydrants.

No person or persons except members of the fire department, waterworks division employees or street division employees, shall have the right to open or interfere with fire hydrants. Building material or other obstructions shall not be deposited at or near fire hydrants to hinder their use.

(Code 1977, Sec. 22-114; Ord. 5036-21)

22-114 Finances.

All revenue derived from water sales and from operation and management of the waterworks system shall be kept in a separate fund and all warrants for expense of operating, improving, extending or maintaining its system shall be drawn upon such fund.

(Code 1977, Sec. 22-115; Ord. 5036-21)

22-115 Collection.

(a)All bills for water service furnished by the City shall be due and payable at such time and at such place or places as the Governing Body may from time to time specify.

(b)Any bill not paid within 20 days of the date the bill is rendered shall be considered delinquent and shall be subject to a late fee in the amount of five percent (5%) of the total amount of such bill. Notification of such delinquency shall be given by mail, and shall notify the customer that if such bill is not paid within 10 days thereafter then the water service shall be subject to disconnection and shall not be reconnected until an charges against such service have been paid in full, including a disconnection/reconnection fee in the amount of $60.

(c)The water service account customer shall also be responsible for the cost of all necessary repairs or replacement of the water meter and related appurtenances occurring through tampering, vandalism or other casualty. All such repairs or replacement shall be performed by or at the direction of the City, and the City shall give the customer written notification by mail of the cost thereof, which amount must be paid within 20 days of the date the bill is rendered. The late fee, delinquency and disconnection/reconnection provisions of subsection (b) above shall also apply to the amounts owed under this subsection.

(d)All outstanding amounts owed for or in relation to water service shall constitute an encumbrance against the property so served, and the City may deny the provision of any new water service to any property as long as delinquent charges remain outstanding, irrespective of any intervening change in the ownership or tenancy of the property.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4767-11; Ord. 5036-21)

22-116 Temporary disconnection.

When property is temporarily vacant or service is to be disconnected at the request of the customer, notice thereof shall be given to the City’s Utility Billing Office who, upon receipt of a disconnection fee of $30, shall have the water supply shut off and shall abate the water service charges for such time as the water service is off. Water service may be reconnected upon request and upon the payment of a reconnection fee of $30. Only waterworks employees will be permitted to disconnect or reconnect water service.

(Ord. 4767-11; Ord. 5036-21)

22-117 Unlawful acts.

No person shall injure, molest, attach a private flow device, turn on water or to break the seal on any stop cock where the City has caused such water to be turned off or in any way interfere with any water meter, meter box or cover, or anything appertaining thereto belonging to the City.

(Code 1977, Sec. 22-118; Ord. 5036-21)

22-118 Water rationing; use restricted or stopped.

The City reserves the right to restrict or prohibit the use of water and to specify the purpose for which it may be used whenever the Governing Body determines the public exigency so requires.

(Code 1977, Sec. 22-120; Ord. 5036-21)

22-119 Water rationing; imposing restrictions.

Whenever the Governing Body determines that water use must be restricted or prohibited, they shall forthwith issue a proclamation of emergency through the news media and use other appropriate methods of making public the proclamation.

(Code 1977, 11-121; Ord. 5036-21)

22-120 Water rationing; water restrictions.

In the event a proclamation of emergency is issued, water usage will be restricted or prohibited first for uses in the following priority:

(a)Watering lawns, gardens, trees, shrubs, plants and watering outside dwellings for such purposes as car, boat or trailer washing or washing exterior of dwellings;

(b)Industrial uses of water, including but not limited to, car wash operations and packing plant operations;

(c)Business uses other than industrial;

(d)Home uses other than those set forth in subsection (a).

(Code 1977, 22-122; Ord. 5036-21)

22-121 Extension of or connection to water distribution system.

Except as the Governing Body of the City may otherwise specifically authorize and direct, no extension of or connection to the water distribution system of the City shall be authorized except within the corporate limits and under the following circumstances:

(a)An extension of the system to serve property which is platted or within a platted area may be approved by the Governing Body upon the filing and acceptance of a sufficient petition for the extension of the system, and upon the establishment of a water benefit district to pay all or such portion of the cost of such extension as the Governing Body shall approve; or

(b)A connection to an existing water main line is authorized upon the submission to the public works department of a sufficient application for the connection of a property which is platted or within a platted area, upon a determination by the director of public works that the property can be directly served by connection to such existing water main line and that the system can handle the additional demand, and upon the payment of an out-of-district water fee in an amount determined as follows:

(1)Subject to the provisions of subsection (3) below, if the connection is to a water main line the construction of which was part of a project for which a water district was formed for the purpose of the assessment of such project costs, the out-of-district water fee shall be an amount equal to what the parcel’s assessment would have been if the parcel had been a part of the original water district, including interest on such assessment over the term of the bonds financing the project. The proceeds of the out-of-district water fee shall be applied as follows:

(A)If any bonds were issued for the financing of such water district costs and are still within their original term, the fee proceeds shall be deposited to the bond and interest fund for such bond issue and used to reduce pro rata the amount of the remaining assessments against properties included in the original water district, including any applicable City at-large share.

(B)If bonds were issued for the financing of such water district costs but such bonds have been retired or redeemed, the fee proceeds shall be applied to the City’s general bond and interest fund.

(C)In all other situations under this subsection (1), the fee proceeds shall be deposited into the water utility operating fund.

(2)Subject to the provisions of subsection (3) below, if the connection is to a water main line the construction of which was not part of a project for which a water district was formed for the purpose of the assessment of such project costs, the Governing Body shall determine the amount of the out-of-district water fee which shall be paid, and the fee proceeds shall be deposited into the water utility operating fund.

(3)As an exception to subsections (1) and (2) above, no out-of-district fee shall be required if the water main line to which connection is to be made was constructed more than 15 years prior to the time connection is requested by the applicant.

(4)Out-of-district fees may be paid, with interest at an annual percentage rate equal to one and one-half times the rate on the most recent general obligation bonds issued by the City, over a term of up to three years, with the applicant’s execution of a payment agreement which provides adequate security for that payment obligation.

(c)In addition to the foregoing, those making connections to the water system will also be responsible for the payment of such other tap or connection fees as shall also be applicable.

(Ord. 3584; Ord. 4836-13; Ord. 5036-21)

22-122 Penalty.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not exceeding $500, or be imprisoned not to exceed 30 days, or be both fined and imprisoned.

(Code 1977, 22-123; Ord. 5036-21)