1. In the event the Council determines the necessity of constructing a major sanitary sewer facility or major water main facility, and determines that the utilization of a connection fee is the most equitable manner in which to recover the City’s costs associated therewith, the Council shall cause a “Notice of Public Hearing on the Proposed Adoption of an Ordinance to Establish a Benefited District and a Connection Fee” to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the City as hereinafter provided. In addition to indicating the date, time and place of the public hearing, the notice shall:
A. Identify by general description the proposed benefited district to be served by the major sanitary sewer facility or facilities, or major water main facility or facilities; and
B. Set forth the proposed schedule of connection fees to be paid by property owners within the benefited district who connect to said facilities, expressed in dollars per acre of land area served or such other method as the City shall determine to be equitable for the benefited district.
2. The notice shall also state that the proposed connection fee ordinance is on file, along with a plat of the area to be served, and both are available for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk. The notice shall be published not more than 45 days and not less than 20 days prior to the scheduled date of the public hearing, and shall be mailed to each property owner within the benefited district as shown by the records of the County Assessor.
3. At the public hearing, the owners of property within the proposed benefited district shall be heard and may offer comments or objections as to:
A. The calculation of the area benefited by the proposed major sanitary sewer facilities or major water main facilities; and
B. The proposed connection fee.
4. Upon concluding the hearing, the City Council shall rule upon the objections presented during the hearing and may consider the adoption of the proposed connection fee ordinance. Upon consideration of the proposed connection fee ordinance, the Council may:
A. Adopt the ordinance as proposed;
B. Delete elements or portions of the proposed major sanitary sewer facilities and major water main facilities and the properties served thereby from the benefited district proposed; or
C. Amend the ordinance to revise the connection fee.
1. The owners of parcels of less than one acre in size located within the benefited district may connect such parcels to the sanitary sewer facility or water main facility upon approval of their application for connection, payment of the minimum connection fee, or the fee for one acre if the connection fee is a per-acre fee for the parcel, and construction, at the owner’s expense, of appropriate connection structures, as determined necessary by the City.
2. The owners of residences on parcels in excess of one acre in size located within the benefited district may connect such residences to the major sanitary sewer facility or major water main facility upon approval of their application for connection and division of said parcel into a residence parcel and a remainder parcel, payment of the connection fee for the residence parcel and construction, at the owner’s expense, of appropriate connection structures, as determined necessary by the City. The connection fee for the remainder parcel shall be payable at such time as the remainder parcel shall be connected to the major sanitary sewer facility or major water main facility. For purposes of this section, a parcel may be divided once. For purposes of this section, division of the property into a residence parcel and a remainder parcel may be accomplished by submitting a drawing showing a graphical depiction of the two parcels including dimensions accurate to within a distance of one foot, a legal description of the entire parcel and a legal description of the residence parcel with such accuracy as to allow the City to determine a reasonable description of the remainder parcel. For purposes of this section, the division of property does not require a subdivision of the property or a plat of survey.
3. No connection shall be made for the purpose of providing water or sewer service to any property except direct connections to serve property included within the benefited district.
4. Sanitary sewer service or water service can be provided to parcels and facilities owned by a political subdivision of the State of Iowa, in the same manner and under the same procedures set forth in this section for parcels less than one acre in size, described in subsection 1, above.
5. All other property located within the benefited district shall be eligible for connection to the sanitary sewer facility or water main facility upon approval of an application for connection by the owner thereof, as hereafter provided, and payment of the connection fee for such property, provided such property has been appropriately subdivided for development, and, where applicable, all sanitary sewer improvements and/or water main improvements necessary to serve said property have been constructed, at the owner’s expense, and accepted by the City.
6. The owner of any parcel making a connection to water main or sanitary sewer facilities, as authorized and permitted herein, shall be solely responsible for the cost of making such connection. Such connection shall be designed and installed in complete accordance with all applicable City ordinances, rules, and regulations.
1. All owners of those properties within the benefited district whose properties are eligible for connection and who propose to connect such properties directly or indirectly to the sanitary sewer facility or water main facility shall make application to the City for such connection. No connection shall be made to a major sanitary sewer facility or major water main facility until such application has been approved and until the required connection fee has been paid.
2. The submittal of construction plans to the City for sanitary sewer improvements and/or water main improvements on property being subdivided for development shall constitute an application to the City for purposes of this section.
3. In addition to the application for connection and the required connection fee, the owner of the parcel to be serviced by the connection that is not within the corporate limits at that time shall file with the City an Application for Annexation, said application to be in a form as provided by the City and subsequently acted upon by the City Council.
4. In the event any property owner connects his or her property within a benefited district to a major sanitary sewer facility or major water main facility without having made application therefor or without having received approval thereof, or without having paid the required connection fee established by a connection fee ordinance, the City shall be entitled to disconnect such private sewer connection or private water connection until such time as the property owner has made and received approval of the application, and/or has paid the required connection fee.
1. The sewer connection fee or water connection fee shall be due and payable at the time application is made to the City for connection to the major sanitary sewer facility or major water main facility. The sewer connection fee and/or water connection fee required by this section shall be paid before the City will approve the final plan of property subject to the connection fee.
2. The sewer connection fee or water connection fee shall be in an amount equal to the maximum acre area of contiguous property, or fraction thereof, within the benefited district under common ownership which can be lawfully served through such proposed connection, multiplied by the per acre connection fee or such other fee basis as determined for the benefited district established in the connection fee ordinance for that benefited district. The connection fee may be a graduated connection fee, with annual interest adjustments, such that property owners who connect in later years pay interest on the connection fee for their property.
3. The sewer connection fees or water connection fees required by this chapter shall be due and payable to the City.
4. The sewer connection fees and/or water connection fees required by this chapter are in addition to, and not in lieu of, fees required in Sections 90.06 and 96.02 of this Code of Ordinances.
5. Any person violating the provisions of this chapter by connecting to a major sanitary sewer facility or major water main facility without having complied with the provisions of this chapter shall be punished as provided in Section 1.14.
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