TITLE 8
PUBLIC UTILITIES
PUBLIC UTILITIES
SECTION:
8-1-1: Public Works Department
8-1-2: Director Of Public Works (Rep. by Ord. 52-08-22; 8-2-2022)
8-1-3: Water Use Regulations
8-1-4: Fire Hydrant And Hose Standard
8-1-5: Unlawful Tampering And Damage
8-1-6: Trespassing On Waterworks Property
8-1-7: Right Of Entry
8-1-8: Late Payment Penalty
8-1-9: Violation And Penalties
A. Water Connection Procedures:
1. Deposit Required: A deposit shall be required as provided in Section 8-5-1 of this Title.
2. Separate Connections: Except for one (1) single-dwelling residential home existing on two (2) lots, no two (2) or more lots may use the same water connection. If there are more than two (2) houses or buildings situated on any one lot zoned R-2 that are occupied by different families, each house/building must have a separate water meter connection.
3. Vacancy: In the event a user shall leave the City, notice shall be given to the Utility Billing Department Supervisor who shall order a disconnect. In the event a consumer does not notify the Utility Billing Department Supervisor, it shall be logically determined that the consumer desires continued water service, and a user charge shall be made accordingly.
4. Mandatory Use: All future subdivisions within the City of Alamo’s water CCN shall be connected to City water facilities. All existing structures on unsubdivided property which use water and are within Alamo’s water CCN shall be connected to City-owned water facilities. No free service, nor free use, of the City’s water facility will be permitted.
5. Services In Flood Plain Prohibited: The City is prohibited from providing water services to any structure which did not exist in a designated flood plain area on the date of public environmental notification of said designated flood plain.
B. Meter Change: In the event a consumer desires a meter changed from one use, structure, building or lot to another, he/she shall make a request, preferably in writing, to the Water Billing Department and, after full payment of all the associated costs of such change is made, inclusive of paying for the increased number of water meters, saddles, projected boring cost, paving cost to repair an open cut, and including other service related matters, then the Water Billing Department shall notify the Public Works Department of the work order generated. The Public Works Department will then schedule the work order to be complied with. No work order shall be performed on any property or under any circumstances without first having the associated costs fully paid for first. It is further declared that should any water line or similar utility infrastructure be damaged by a lot owner, a contractor/subcontractor, or any other representative from the property owner, such repair shall be performed immediately by the private party; however, should the City’s Public Works Department need to repair or fix the damaged utility based on a semi-emergency nature of the disrepair, e.g., plugging a leaking water line, then the lot owner, contractor/subcontractor or other representative, shall be responsible to reimburse the City of Alamo for the work performed, inclusive of the city using its equipment and associated products, plus any needful use of overtime wages. Should the demand for reimbursement not be paid within 30-calendar days, this provision authorizes the Public Works Department, the Building Official, and/or the Code Enforcement Officer to impose reasonable measures to induce payment including, but not limited to, issuing a ‘Stop Work’ order, or withholding the structure’s ‘Final Approval’ or its ‘Final Occupancy’; the city may also induce the procedural protocol in activating the Municipal Court process, as well.
C. Disputes: In the event that there should arise any disputes with water consumers in connection with service, connections, disconnections, circumstances relating to (alleged) leaks, related policy fees and their procedural application, etc., which cannot be settled by the Director of Public Works and/or the Utility Billing Department Supervisor, such shall be submitted to the City Manger’s Office to fully assess the circumstances of the matter, and resolve as justly as possible on a solution which shall be deemed ‘Final’, i.e., there shall be no appeal.
D. Change In Ownership Of Property:Notice To City: In the event that any person shall sell, rent, lease or otherwise dispose of his/her property, such person must, within three (3) days after such disposition of his/her property, so notify the Utility Billing Department Supervisor. After the payment of all bills which may be due by such person, he/her may be entitled to a return of his/her deposit minus a nominal twenty-five dollar ($25.00) ‘City of Alamo’ administrative refund processing fee. Should such person fail to do so, he/her shall be considered as responsible for the water bill as it may continue accruing thereafter. Note: Should the deposit not have sufficient funds to pay the twenty-five dollar ($25.00) administrative refund processing fee, then it is more cost-effective for the City of Alamo to absorb said fee.
E. Right Of Entry: The employees of the city shall have the right to enter upon any premises for the purpose of inspecting, repairing, installing any fixtures, pipe, etc., that may be required, to read meters and to do any other matters that may be necessary to operate an efficient, economical water department.
F. Utility Billing Procedures/Late Payment Penalty: Bills are sent out biweekly, consisting of two (2) billing cycles, with payment due fifteen (15) calendar days after the reading date.
All services including water, sewer, refuse and brush will be billed together under a customer account and be paid in a timely manner as established by these regulations to be current.
As per ordinance requirements, all services will be billed if a livable house exists and the water service is being provided and in the case of a vacant house or lot, sewer, water and brush will be billed with no exceptions being made as long as the water service is being provided.
Brush service will be provided only if a utility account is established and location is within the corporate city limits.
A vacated premises rate is available that will remove only the garbage service charge during a period of time in which the customer has vacated their premises for a period greater than thirty (30) days and has notified customer billing in advance requesting such fee waiver.
The customer must also provide a return date upon which garbage service fees will automatically be reassessed. The date of reassessment shall be subject to audit with a prorated fee adjustment charged if audit determines that customer returned prior to the date provided.
G. Termination Notices/Disconnects: Termination notices for accounts with a total outstanding balance of sixty dollars ($60.00) or more are sent out fifteen (15) days after the original bill notifying the customer of disconnect on the determined final disconnect date. Customers will be provided a period of no less than ten (10) calendar days before disconnection of services.
H. Payment Extension: Payment extensions beyond the final due date will be allowed for a period of no more than five (5) total additional days starting from the day after the final due date. A five dollar ($5.00) extension arrangements fee shall be paid to enable such extensions.
In cases where the customer’s bill is three (3) times greater than normal due to a leak on the customer’s side, customer oversight or other reasons that are not the responsibility or fault of the city, the customer may request installment payment arrangements of generally up to three (3) months for the portion of the bill above the prior three (3) month average. An installment arrangements fee of five dollars ($5.00) shall be paid to enable the installment arrangements.
I. Disconnect Processing Fee: Accounts that are not paid by the final due date or final extension date must pay a disconnect processing fee of thirty dollars ($30.00), and must pay the entire delinquent balance in order to have water services restored/reconnected if they have already been disconnected or to avoid disconnection. Regarding the disconnect processing fee, the City of Alamo desires to have a measure of sensitivity to its account holders; thus, it shall hereafter be the city’s policy that the disconnect processing fee shall be ‘waived’ once per each calendar (Jan thru Dec) year. It is further ordained that a subsequent waiver for the next calendar year shall not occur if within six (6) months from the previous waiver awarded.
J. Transfer Fees: Customers transferring to another address can transfer their current deposit, but will have to pay a forty dollars ($40.00) reconnect charge for the new location. Any past due balance on the old account must be paid in full prior to the transfer. The old location can be left open for a period of no longer than seven (7) calendar days from the date of request. This is allowed in cases where customers move out from one location and need water services for cleaning purposes. No customer can have two (2) accounts open without the proper connect fee and deposit for more than seven (7) calendar days.
K. Return Checks: Any utility payment that has been returned unpaid by the financial institution will be reversed on the customer’s account and a thirty five dollar ($35.00) returned check fee will be applied to the balance. All checks will be processed through the financial institution only once. Any customer with a total of three (3) returned checks at any time during the course of their account with the city, will be required to pay in cash or money order for future services and no further checks will be accepted. In addition, checks will not be accepted for returned checks, only cash, cashier checks, and/or money orders.
L. After Hour Reconnect: Weekend, holiday and/or after regular business hour reconnection services will be provided at a forty dollars ($40.00) reconnection fee. The employee to conduct reconnection must get direct verbal authorization from the Utility Billing Department Supervisor, Director of Public Works, or the City Manager, or authorized staff as may be assigned by said personnel. The employee must turn in written documentation of the reconnection to the utility billing office by eight thirty o’clock (8:30) A.M. on the next regular business day. If payment from the reconnected customer is not received by five o’clock (5:00) P.M. on the next regular business day from the reconnection date, water services will be disconnected and an additional forty dollars ($40.00) reconnection staff service charge will apply with no further reconnection of water services made until full and complete payment is received.
M. Straight (Bypass) Connections: Whenever the situation involves straight or bypass connections, the matter will be immediately reported and turned over to the Alamo police department for investigation and to prepare a thorough report that will be used in the city’s prosecution efforts. In addition hereto, the city of Alamo will resort to every available legal recourse to obtain a conviction for theft of city services and any applicable fines will be assessed through the Municipal Court process.
N. Tampering With Meter: Water meters disconnected for nonpayment will be secured with a locking device or will be plugged at the water line. Any tampering with locking devices and/or the water meter will result in a one hundred dollars ($100.00) tampering fee. Additionally, the city of Alamo does maintain its right to file a complaint with the municipal court for violations of an established city ordinance and assess applicable fines, if deemed appropriate, and pursue every legal remedy available.
O. Adjustment To Account: If a meter is found to be registering beyond three percent (3%) fast the account will be granted an adjustment. This adjustment will be determined by calculating the last six (6) months’ usage and arriving at an average. This type of adjustment will be calculated by the utility billing supervisor, reviewed by the finance director and approved by the city manager.
In the event of a bill error due to a misread, the utility billing supervisor will process an adjustment using the bill reversal option in the utility billing software which will calculate a new and correct bill for the customer and create an audit trail in the billing history. This adjustment will be reviewed by the finance director and approved by the city manager.
Any adjustment may not be granted solely upon request but until all avenues to determine cause and responsibility have been exhausted such as rereads, meter tests and detection of water leaks. All adjustments will be calculated by the utility billing supervisor, reviewed by the finance director and approved or disapproved by the city manager.
P. Water Meter Connections: On the effective passage date hereof, utility accounts may be established under renters as attested/permitted in Section 8-5-1(A) for properties zoned and/or used for apartments only. In all other zoning districts, it shall be the property owner that will have the right to establish a utility account on their property; in this regard, the City of Alamo’s utility billing department will only accept utility deposits from the property owner of the location needing the utility service. Property owners must submit ownership documents that match property tax records in order to open water service. (Ord. 199, 9-9-1957; amd. 1994 Code; Ord. 1-6-98, 1-6-1998; Ord. 17-09-14, 9-2-2014; Ord. 40-08-21, 8-3-2021; Ord. 67-11-23; 11-6-2023; Ord. 157-01-25, 1-7-2025)
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