For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply, words used in the singular shall include the plural, and the plural, the singular; words used in the present tense shall include the future tense. The word “shall” is mandatory and not discretionary. The word “may” is permissive. Words not defined herein shall be construed to have the meaning given by common and ordinary use as defined in the latest edition of Webster’s Dictionary.
(a) Abatement: Any action taken to remedy, correct, or eliminate a condition within, associated with, or impacting the stormwater system.
(b) Administrator: The Village Administrator, or designee, of the Village.
(c) Approved Plans: Plans approved according to a permits and plan review which will govern all improvements made within the Village that require stormwater facilities or changes or alterations to existing stormwater facilities.
(d) Billing Period: The period identified from the first day of the month to the last day of the month. All bills rendered during a month are for the period beginning on the first day of the same month and are valid for that entire month unless otherwise identified. When Village water service is discontinued during a month, the drainage fee due for that account shall be the pro rata portion of the month for which water services were active. When a developed property that does not receive Village water service changes ownership during a billing period, the account existing on the first day of the billing period shall be liable for the prorated portion of the drainage fee for that billing period from the first day of the billing period until the day the property transaction is recorded with the Pickway County Recorder.
(e) Bonds: Revenue bonds, notes, loans or any other debt obligations issued or incurred to finance the costs of construction.
(f) Calendar year: Twelve month period commencing on the first day of January of any year.
(g) Costs of construction: Costs reasonably incurred in connection with providing capital improvements to the system, or any portion thereof, including, but not limited to, the costs of:
(1) Acquisition of all property, real or personal, and all interests in connection therewith including all rights-of-way and easements therefor;
(2) Physical construction, installation and testing, including the costs of labor, services, materials, supplies and construction services used in connection therewith;
(3) Architectural, engineering, legal and other professional services;
(4) Insurance premiums taken out and maintained during construction, to the extent not paid for by a contractor for construction and installation;
(5) Any taxes or other charges which become due during construction;
(6) Expenses incurred by the Village or on its behalf with its approval in seeking to enforce any remedy against contractor or sub-contractor in respect of any default under a contract relating to construction;
(7) Principal of interest of any bonds; and
(8) Miscellaneous expenses incidental thereto.
(h) Credit: An on-going (as long as the various circumstances which produced the credit have not changed) reduction in a Utility service charge given for certain qualifying activities which reduce either the impact of increased stormwater runoff or reduce the Village’s costs of providing stormwater facilities.
(i) Debt Service: With respect to any particular calendar year and any particular series of bonds, and amount equal to the sum of:
(1) All interest payable on such bonds during such calendar year, plus
(2) Any principal installments of such bonds during such calendar year.
(j) Detention facility: A facility which, by means of a single control point, provides temporary storage of stormwater runoff in ponds, parking lots, depressed areas, rooftops, buried underground vaults or tanks, etc., for future release, and is used to delay and attenuate flow.
(k) Developed property: That which has been altered from its natural state by the removal of vegetation and/or topsoil or by the addition of any improvements such as a building, structure, impervious surface, change of grade, or landscaping. For new construction, a property shall be considered developed pursuant to this chapter.
(1) Upon issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy, or upon completion of construction of final inspection if no such certificate is issued; or
(2) Where construction is at least fifty percent (50%) complete and construction is halted for a period of three months.
(3) Where vegetation and/or topsoil has been removed leaving exposed soil surfaces for a period of three months.
(l) Dwelling unit: Any residential space for habitation as classified by the Village Building Code.
(m) Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU): The statistical average horizontal impervious area of “residential units” (single family, mobile homes, multifamily, condominiums, etc.) within the Village of Ashville. The horizontal impervious area includes, but is not limited to, all areas covered by structures, roof extensions, patios, porches, driveways, and sidewalks.
(n) ERU rate: A drainage fee charged on each ERU as established by Village Council.
(o) Exempt property: Public rights of way, public streets, public alleys and public sidewalks.
(p) Extension and replacement: Costs of extensions, additions, and capital improvements to, or the renewal and replacement of capital assets of, or purchasing and installing new equipment for, the system, or land acquisitions for the system and any related costs thereto, or paying extraordinary maintenance and report, including the costs of construction, or any other expenses which are not costs of operation and maintenance or debt service.
(q) Impervious area: A horizontal surface that has been compacted or covered with a layer of material so that it is highly resistant to infiltration by water. It includes, but is not limited to, semi-pervious surfaces such as compacted clay or gravel, unvegetated and under vegetated solid surfaces, as well as streets, roofs, sidewalks, patios, porches, parking lots, athletic courts and other similar surfaces. An area that is also covered with buildings and materials which include, but are not limited to, concrete, asphalt, rooftop, blacktop, gravel and other materials or artificially composted so as to produce in the judgement of the Administrator a non-pervious surface.
(r) Mayor: The Mayor of the Village. The Mayor is the principal executive officer of the Village and shall serve as the executive officer of the storm water management utility for the purposes of fulfilling the requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency’s NPDES Phase II stormwater program.
(s) Nonresidential developed property: Any lot or parcel not exclusively residential as defined herein, including transient rentals such as hotels and motels.
(t) Operating budget: The annual operating budget adopted by the Village for the succeeding calendar year.
(u) Operations and maintenance: The current expenses, paid or accrued, of operation, maintenance and current repair of the system, as calculated in accordance with sound accounting practice, and includes, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, insurance premiums, administrative expenses, labor, executive compensation, and cost of materials and supplies used for current operations, and charges for the accumulation of appropriate reserves for current expenses not annually incurred, but which are such as may reasonably be expected to be incurred in accordance with sound accounting practice.
(v) Public Stormwater open channel: All open channels which convey, in part or in whole, stormwater and are owned, operated or maintained by the Village; or a stormwater open channel which has a permanent drainage/stormwater easement owned by the Village and drains an area which includes Village owned property or right-of-way. A public stormwater open channel does not include roadside ditches which convey only immediate right-of-way drainage.
(w) Residential property: Any lot or parcel developed exclusively for residential purposes including, but not limited to, single family homes, duplexes, manufactured homes, multifamily, apartment buildings, and condominiums. Such properties may incorporate a home-business or day-care service consistent with all other Village ordinances and regulations and other applicable laws.
(x) Retention facility: A facility which provides storage of stormwater runoff and is designed to eliminate subsequent surface discharges.
(y) Revenues: All rates, fees, assessments, rental or other charges or other income received by the Stormwater Fund, in connection with the management and operation of the system, including amounts received from the investment or deposit of moneys in any fund or account and any amounts contributed by the Village, all as calculated in accordance with sound accounting practice.
(z) Square footage of impervious area: For the purpose of assigning an appropriate number of ERUs to a parcel of real property, the square footage of all of the impervious area using the outside boundary dimensions of the impervious area to include the total enclosed square footage, without regard to topographic features of the enclosed area.
(aa) Storm sewer: A sewer which carries stormwater, surface runoff, street wash waters, and drainage, but which excludes sanitary sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water.
(bb) Stormwater: Stormwater drainage, snow melt runoff, surface runoff and drainage.
(cc) Stormwater Drainage Fund: The enterprise fund created by Village Council to operate, maintain and improve the system and for such other purposes as stated in this chapter.
(dd) Stormwater facilities: Various stormwater and drainage works that may include inlets, pipes, pumping stations, conduits, manholes, energy dissipation structures, channels, outlets, retention/detention basins and other structural components.
(ee) Stormwater fee: A fee authorized by ordinance(s) established to pay operations and maintenance, extension and replacement and debt service.
(ff) Stormwater system: All manmade facilities, structures, and natural watercourses owned by the Village, or over which the Village has jurisdiction by law to operate or maintain, used for collection and conducting stormwater to, through and from drainage areas to the points of final outlet including, but not limited to, any and all of the following: conduits and appurtenant features, canals, creeks, catch basins, ditches, streams, gulches, gullies, flumes, culverts, siphons, streets, curbs, gutters, dams, floodwalls, levees, retention or detention facilities, rivers, public stormwater open channels and pumping stations.
(gg) Undisturbed property: Real property which has not been altered from its natural state by dredging, filling, removal of trees and vegetation or other activities which have disturbed or altered the topography or soils on the property.
(hh) User Fee District: The area or property within the corporate limits of the Village.
(ii) Vacant Improved Property: Vacant property which is, or could reasonably be, served by any subdivision improvements that allow egress.
(jj) Village: Village of Ashville.
(Ord. 2006-14. Passed 11-20-06.)