(A) Any person who violates a provision of this chapter, or any written order of the Department shall be responsible for a municipal civil infraction, with penalties as specified in § 10.97(E).
(B) The City Engineer/Utilities Director and the Public Works Director are authorized to issue municipal civil infraction citations for violations of this chapter, and for violations of any written order of the Department.
(C) The City is authorized to (a) shut off water service, (b) recover costs, or charge the expense of shutting off and restoring service to the premises, and (c) impose added charges for water usage at the highest one month usage rate at the premises in the preceding one year of service for water usage on which there is no meter reading.
(D) After notice in writing of a violation of any provision of this chapter, or a written order of the Department, and a reasonable time to comply, the Department can shut off service, for reasons including, but not limited to, the following circumstances: (a) the shut off is missing, (b) the shut off is broken, (c) the shut off is inaccessible, (d) the customer refuses access to the premises to repair or replace a meter, (e) the customer refuses to repair the building, which allows the meter to freeze, or (f) the customer does not make repairs to leaking water lines within the time specified in a written Department directive. All costs to replace a meter shall be charged to the owner.
(E) The owner is responsible for all repairs to their service line, from the water main to the structure. All repairs of the service line from the water main to the curb box shall be made under the direction of the Department. When the repair occurs on private property, the owner is responsible for the repair. If, however, the repair is within the public right-of-way, the City will schedule the work and bill the owner, as provided in the Utility Schedule of Fees approved by the City Commission. If the service line freezes, the method of thawing the service line must be approved by the Department. The entire cost of thawing the service line shall be the sole responsibility of the owner. In the event of an administrative shut off because of one or more violations of the ordinance, an additional fee covering the additional staff time shall be assessed in accordance with the Utility Schedule of Fees approved by the City Commission.
(F) The City Commission shall establish a Utility Schedule of Fees that includes charges it deems appropriate to recover the cost incurred by the Water Department, Treasurer's Office, or other City Staff, for repair or replacement of water meters, water shut-off and turn-ons, collection of delinquent bills, issuance of Utility Invoices and/or such other staff efforts as are required to implement this chapter, and operate and maintain the water system.
(G) The City reserves the right to discontinue temporarily the water supply to any of the water mains or pipelines in the City, Big Rapids Township, or Green Township due to acts of God or whenever it is necessary for the purposes of testing, repairing or replacing water mains, meters or any other of its facilities serving the water system. No claim for damages for such discontinuance shall be made against the City, its employees, agents or assigns.
(Ord. 476-02-01, passed 2-5-01; Am. Ord. 572-10-0610-2-06)