No person, firm or corporation shall make any type of connection, repair, enlargement or alteration to the City Facilities system except upon making an application therefore on a form provided by the City and receiving a permit issued by the City for such purposes. The application shall include the legal description of the property to be served, the uses for which the connection is requested, and a sketch of the service showing approximate location and the size of the service line to be used. At the time of taking such application, there shall be paid to the City the following fees for the following purposes:
A. ASSESSMENTS PAID. No connection shall be made with respect to any Sanitary Sewer or water main serving the property or any person or occupants of the land, parcel or premises affected unless all assessments for such sewer or water, or such installments thereof as are due and payable have been paid or provided for the payment of the full and proportionate share of the utility, which share shall be payable as described under Section 14-304.
B. PAYMENTS FOR INSTALLING SERVICE LINE. For service to the property for which a Sewer Service or water service line has not been previously installed from the main line to the property line, the owner, occupant or user shall contract with a licensed utility installer or plumber for the installation of said line and all payments required shall be assumed by the owner, occupant, or user. Only a utility installer or plumber licensed to operate in the City shall be allowed to install service lines within public right-of-ways.
C. SERVICE TO PROPERTY OUTSIDE OF THE CITY. For Facilities service to property outside of the City, the owner, occupant or user shall pay to the City at the time of application for permit an amount not less than the payments made by or charges placed against comparable properties for like service within the City in an amount as may be established by the City Board.
D. CITY’S AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE CHARGES FOR SEWER AND WATER CONNECTION. Under Minnesota Statutes § 444.075, subdivision 3, as amended, in order to pay for the construction, reconstruction, repair, enlargement, improvement, or other obtainment, the maintenance, operation and use of the Facilities, and of obtaining and complying with permits required by law, the City Council may impose just and equitable charges for the use and for the availability of the Facilities and for connections with them and make contracts for the charges.
[Section 14-304 D. amended by Ord. No. 09-02, effective March 5, 2009.]
E. SEWER CONNECTION CHARGES. Every lot, parcel of land or building will be charged a specific sum of money, in order to connect to City’s Facilities. Such a charge is made for the privilege of making such a connection, either directly or indirectly, to the disposal system through which connection the Facilities of the City are made available for disposal of sewage, industrial waste, water or other liquid from such premises. This charge hereinafter is referred to as the City’s Service Availability Charge (the “SAC”). The City’s SAC fee is $300.00 per SAC unit and is subject to amendment by ordinance. The City’s SAC fee is in addition to the SAC unit charge made by the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (“MCES”). The total SAC charge for each building or structure shall be equal to its number of SAC units multiplied by the current year SAC rate mandated by the MCES plus the number of SAC units multiplied by the City’s current SAC rate.
The owner of any property desiring to connect such property to an existing Sanitary Sewer main where such property has not previously been connected to said main may do so on the approval of the City and upon paying a City and MCES SAC.
F. WATER CONNECTION CHARGES. Every lot, parcel of land or building will be charged a specific sum of money, in order to connect to City’s Facilities. Such a charge is made for the privilege of making such a connection, either directly or indirectly, to the Waterworks system through which connection the Facilities of the City are made available for the supply of water for domestic, commercial, and industrial use, lawn irrigation and other outdoor use and fire suppression. This charge hereinafter is referred to as the City’s Water Availability Charge (the “WAC”). The City’s WAC fee is $1,100.00 per Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) and is subject to amendment by ordinance. The total WAC charge for each property shall be equal to its maximum number of ERUs multiplied by the City’s current WAC rate.
The owner of any property desiring to connect such property to City’s Facilities where such property has not previously been connected may do so on the approval of the City and upon paying a City WAC.
G. PAYMENT OF CONNECTION CHARGES. Connection charges are payable at the time of building permit issuance. The Building Official shall not issue a building permit until such connection charge is paid.
H. APPLICATION AND PERMIT. No connection from any premises to City’s Facilities is authorized without there being first obtained for such connection a permit issued by the City. No permit may be obtained from the City, and no representative of the City is authorized to issue a permit for connection unless and until an authorized representative of the City receives an application for such connection, determines and establishes the type of connection to be made and receives the connection charge required or unless by approval of the City Council such payment is deferred or is to be made in installments. The City shall prepare and provide for and furnish any form and instrument found necessary to the connection applications and permits of the City and perform all acts reasonably required with respect thereto. Applications and permits shall be uniform, in accordance with this Ordinance.
I. ADMINISTRATION. The Building Official shall prepare or revise a building permit or sewage and water connection permit application form to provide information necessary for the computation of the number of City SAC and WAC units assignable to the building or property in question, and shall collect the applicable charge before issuance of a permit. The Building Official shall make such information available to the City Council upon request. If upon filing a report covering such permit with the MCES, the Council determines that a greater number of units is assignable to the building or structure in question, any additional amount of cost allocated to the City as a result shall be paid by the person or company to whom the permit was granted.
J. INCREASED CONNECTION CHARGES BASED ON MEASUREMENTS. The Determination and establishment in the first instance of the City SAC represented by the connection, especially when made by estimate based upon representation of the owner or occupancy of the premises, is at all times subject to further review and Determination after the connection has been made and used by an actual measurement by the City or MCES of the sewage or water discharge from such connection entering into the system of the City. The receipt and acceptance by the City of any money paid and received by the City, as previously imposed, does not bar the City’s right to payment of the correct amount of money due therefore, and may be determined and established by actual measurement; and the City’s right to recover therefore is not impaired. After a connection has been made and the connection charge established, imposed and paid, no diminution in discharge from the premises shall entitle the owner (or occupant) to a reduction, reimbursement or refund with respect to the connection charge imposed and paid.
K. CALCULATION OF SEWER CONNECTION CHARGES.
1. There shall be a charge for each City SAC unit, as established from time to time by ordinance of the City Board.
2. The following are hereby established as connection units:
(a) All Residential Properties shall be assigned one SAC unit per dwelling unit.
(b) Commercial, institutional, industrial and other building types shall be assigned a minimum of one unit. In accordance with MCES policy and procedures, commercial City SAC units are determined by the approximate maximum wastewater flow potential and industrial City SAC units are determined based on maximum normal daily wastewater flow volume separately for process areas and maximum potential daily wastewater flow volume for commercial areas. The City will use the criteria in Appendix A to this ordinance for determining the SAC units identified for commercial facilities. The City SAC unit estimate for properties either not described in Appendix A, or industrial properties will be determined by the City Council in conjunction with the MCES. The City Council may review actual sewage flow one year after the initial discharge, and the City may impose such additional connection charges in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance.
The City shall provide information necessary for the computation of the number of units assignable to the building or structure in question on the building permit and sewer connection application forms and shall collect the applicable charge before issuance of the permit.
(c) In accordance with MCES policy and procedures, the City Council may consider credit for a SAC unit previously paid on any property when a new use is established on a site. A new use is redevelopment of a property for a different use.
(d) Any charges levied by and pursuant to Section 14-304,and which have been properly billed to the occupancy of any premises served, and not paid, may be covered in a civil action by the City in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(e) The funds received from the collection of charges authorized by this Ordinance shall be deposited, as collected, in a fund known as the Water and Sewer Fund, and shall be disbursed:
1) To meet costs of operation;
2) To the debt redemption to provide funds for the payment of principal and interest on bonds issued to finance the costs of constructing improvements to the City Facilities as prescribed by resolutions or covenants authorizing or securing such bonds; and
3) To provide funds for the reasonable requirements of extending, improving and replacing City Facilities.
L. CALCULATION OF WATER CONNECTION CHARGES.
1. There shall be a charge for each City WAC unit, as established from time to time by ordinance of the City Council.
2. The following are hereby established as connection units:
(a) Each property proposed to be connected to the City’s Waterworks system shall have a determination made as to the number of ERUs of water demand the property can place on the Waterworks system. This determination shall be made by the City Engineer. The determination shall include the number of buildable acres contained within the subject property. Each buildable acre is determined to place a minimum of five (5) ERUs of water demand on the system.
(b) The water connection charge shall be the number of ERUs assigned to the property multiplied by the current WAC rate.
M. MULTIPLE CONNECTIONS. Multiple connections of more than one building to a single Building Sewer or Sewer Service line or single water service line shall be permitted only by special application to the City. The applicant shall submit a detailed sketch showing location, grades and special structures to the City Engineer for review prior to applying for a permit. All costs involved for the engineering review shall be paid by the applicant along with the other required fees at the time of issuance of the permit. The charge for the cost of the trunk lines, lift station, force mains and disposal facilities shall be levied against each property sought to be connected either through single services or multiple connections.
[Chapter 14, Article III § 14-304, added by Ord. No. 06-01, effective March 2, 2006, amended by Ord. No. 09-02, effective March 2, 2009, amended by Ord. No. 09-04, effective March 19, 2009.]