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A list of the users which were significantly violating applicable pretreatment requirements or national categorical pretreatment standards during the 12 previous months shall be annually published by the city in a local newspaper. The notification shall also summarize any enforcement actions taken against the user(s) during the same 12 months. For the purposes of this provision, significant violations would be those violations which remain uncorrected 45 days after notification of noncompliance; which are part of a pattern of noncompliance over a 12 month period; or which involve a failure to accurately report noncompliance.
(Ord. 297, passed 3-1-2022)
(A) Any interested party shall have the right to request in writing an interpretation or ruling on any matter covered by this subchapter and shall be entitled to a written reply from the city.
(B) Any decision of the Director in the enforcement of this subchapter may be appealed to the City Council by filing a written petition with the City Administrator within 30 days of the Director's ruling. The petition shall specify in detail the matter or matters involved and every ground or basis on which objections are made. The petition shall show the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all objectors and their attorney at law or spokesperson. The filing of a petition in accordance with the requirements herein shall stay all proceedings unless the Director shall file within 72 hours after the filing of a petition a certificate stating that a stay would cause peril to life or property or specifying other good reason.
(C) The City Council shall fix a reasonable time for hearing of the petition or appeal and give due notice of the time and place of the hearing to parties named in the petition as attorney or spokesperson. The hearing shall be open to the public. Petitioners shall be given full opportunity to present evidence in support of their petition after which the Director may present evidence in support of his decision. The City Council shall decide the appeal within a reasonable time and notify the attorney or spokesperson. The minutes of the Council shall constitute the official record of the petition, hearing and decision. Any party desiring a transcript of the proceedings shall furnish a qualified court reporter at their own expense.
(Ord. 297, passed 3-1-2022)
SANITARY SEWER SERVICE CHARGE SYSTEM
(A) The city establishes a sanitary sewer service charge system (SSCS) whereby all revenue collected from users of the wastewater treatment facilities will be used to affect all expenditures incurred for annual operation, maintenance, replacement, and debt service on capital expenditure incurred in constructing the wastewater treatment works.
(B) Sanitary sewer service rates and charges to users of the wastewater treatment facility shall be determined and fixed in a sanitary sewer service charge system developed according to the provisions of this subchapter. The sanitary sewer service charge system shall be adopted by ordinance upon enactment of this subchapter, shall be published in the local newspaper and shall be effective upon publication. Subsequent changes in sanitary sewer service rates and charges shall be adopted by Council resolution or ordinance and shall be published in the local newspaper.
(C) Revenues collected for sanitary sewer service shall be deposited in a separate fund known as "The Sanitary Sewer Fund." Income from revenues collected will be expended to offset the cost of operation, maintenance, and equipment replacement for the facility and to retire the debt for capital expenditure.
(D) Sanitary sewer service charges and the Sanitary Sewer Fund will be administrated in accordance with the provisions of § 52.128.
(E) Rates for significant industrial users (SIU) sanitary sewer services shall be calculated based upon their impact on the plant's capacity and treatment systems (TSS, BOD, phosphorous, ammonia, and the like) as outlined in their discharge permit.
(Ord. 297, passed 3-1-2022)
(A) User classes.
(1) Users of the city wastewater treatment works shall be identified as belonging to one of the following user classes:
(a) Residential/commercial/institutional; or
(b) Significant industrial user (SIU).
(2) The allocation of users to these categories for the purpose of assessing user charges and debt service charges shall be the responsibility of the Director of Finance and City Administrator. Allocation of users to user classes shall be based on the substantive intent of the definitions of these classes contained herein.
(B) Operation, maintenance, debt service, capital equipment, and replacement costs. The user shall pay operation, maintenance, and replacement costs in proportion to the user's proportionate contribution of wastewater flows and loadings to the treatment plant. The Director of Finance will recommend sanitary sewer base rates and flow rates on an annual basis to City Council giving consideration to the Sanitary Sewer Fund's operating, capital, debt service, and forecasted capital improvement plan. The Sanitary Sewer Fund is to be entirely self-supporting through the payment of base rates and flow rates. Base rates will cover all capital costs, debt service, and forecasted capital improvement plan. Flow rates will be set to recover annual operating costs for the sanitary sewer system.
(C) User charges for normal domestic strength users. Calculating billable flows and loadings.
(1) The billable amount of flow will be calculated from the volume of metered water usage. The monthly billable flow shall be equal to monthly metered water usage rounded to the nearest 1,000 gallon mark.
(2) For users discharging NDSW but not connected to the city water system, the billable amount of flow will be calculated from the volume of their well's metered water usage or, at the discretion of the city, from the measurement of effluent flow at the user's point of discharge. Measurements shall be according to a regular program prescribed by the city. The city may require a flow meter to be installed to measure the sanitary sewer flow for accurate billing.
(D) Meters. The city may, at its discretion, require nonresidential users to install wastewater flow meters or such additional water meters as may be necessary to determine wastewater volume. The city may require residential connections to install water meters for the purpose of determining wastewater volume. When so required, such meters shall be of a type approved by the city, equipped with remote registering recorders and located at an accessible site on the owner's property.
(Ord. 297, passed 3-1-2022)
The city has established a "Sanitary Sewer Enterprise Fund" as a fund to receive all revenues generated by the sanitary sewer service charge system and all other income dedicated to the operation, maintenance, replacement, debt service, capital, and construction of the wastewater treatment works, including taxes, special charges, fees and assessments intended to retire construction debt. All Sanitary Sewer Enterprise Fund accounts shall be established in accordance Minnesota Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards as published by the Office of State Auditor.
(Ord. 297, passed 3-1-2022)
The sanitary sewer service charge system and Sanitary Sewer Service Fund shall be administrated according to the following provisions.
(A) (1) The city shall maintain a proper system of accounts suitable for determining the operation and maintenance, equipment replacement and debt retirement costs of the sanitary sewer system and shall furnish the City Council with a report of such costs annually.
(2) The City Council shall annually determine whether or not sufficient revenue is being generated for the effective operation, maintenance, replacement and management of the treatment works and whether sufficient revenue is being generated for debt retirement. The Council will also determine whether the user charges are distributed proportionately to each user.
(3) The city shall thereafter, but not later than the end of the year, reassess and as necessary revise the sanitary sewer service charge system then in use to insure the proportionality of the user charges and to insure the sufficiency of funds to maintain the capacity and performance to which the facilities were constructed and to retire the construction debt.
(B) In accordance with federal and state requirements each user will be notified annually in conjunction with a regular billing of that portion of the sanitary sewer service charge attributable to operation, maintenance, and replacement.
(C) In accordance with federal and state requirements, the city shall be responsible for maintaining all records necessary to document compliance with the sewer service charge system adopted.
(D) Water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, and street light utility charges shall be billed on one bill as applicable to each account. All charges shall be due upon receipt and considered delinquent after the 15th day of the month. All bills shall contain the title, address, and telephone number of the official in charge of billing; the title, address and phone number shall be clearly visible and easily readable. Bills shall be mailed to the customers on or before the fifth day of each month and specify the water consumed, sanitary sewer charges, storm sewer charges, and street light utility charges in accordance with the current fee schedule set by ordinance of the City Council.
(E) All accounts shall be carried in the name of the owner who personally, or by his or her authorized agent, applied for such service. The property owner shall be liable for all utility services supplied to the property by the city, whether he or she is occupying the property or not, and any unpaid charges shall be a lien upon the property.
(F) Any additional costs caused by discharges to the treatment works of toxics or other incompatible wastes, including the cost of restoring wastewater treatment services, clean up and restoration of the receiving waters and environs and sludge disposal shall be borne by the discharger(s) of the wastes at no expense to the city.
(Ord. 297, passed 3-1-2022)
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