The City has determined the necessity of establishing a policy and a procedure to be utilized to recover the cost of designing and constructing major sanitary sewer facilities in those instances in which a significant number of the properties to be benefited by such facilities are not sufficiently developed to permit the recovery of those costs through the special assessment process as provided in Chapter 384, Division IV of the Code of Iowa. The City hereby declares its intent to utilize connection fees, as herein provided, to recover the costs of designing and constructing such major sanitary sewer facilities from property owners who connect to such facilities subsequent to their construction.
It is the intent of this chapter to set forth the method of recovery of proportional cost shares from those property owners who connect their properties to major sanitary sewer facilities subsequent to their construction, so that in the event that all property, other than street and road right-of-way, which lies within the benefited district is connected to the major sanitary sewer facilities during their expected useful life, then those properties shall bear, in the aggregate, up to 100 percent of the cost of designing and constructing such facilities, including legal, administrative and interest expenses associated therewith.
1. In the event the Council determines the necessity of constructing a major sanitary sewer 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 Connection Fee District and a Connection Fee” to be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the City as hereinafter provided. In addition to indicating the date, time, and place of the public hearing, the notice shall:
A. Indicate the nature and extent of the major sanitary sewer facility or facilities constructed or under consideration for construction, as well as the estimated cost or costs for the design and construction of same;
B. Identify by general description the proposed connection fee district to be served by the major sanitary sewer facility or facilities; and
C. 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.
The notice shall state that the proposed connection fee district 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 connection fee district as shown by the records of the County Auditor.
2. At the public hearing, the owners of property within the proposed connection fee district shall be heard and may offer comments or objections as to:
A. The necessity for the project;
B. The calculation of the area benefited by the proposed major sanitary sewer facilities;
C. The estimated cost of the proposed facilities; and
D. The proposed connection fee.
3. Upon concluding the hearing, the Council shall rule upon the objections presented during the hearing and may consider the adoption of the proposed connection fee district ordinance. Upon consideration of the proposed connection fee district ordinance, the Council may:
A. Adopt the ordinance as proposed;
B. Delete elements or portions of the proposed major sanitary sewer facilities from the proposed project and the properties served thereby from the connection fee district proposed, or
C. Amend the ordinance to revise the connection fee.
4. The connection fee district ordinance may provide, at the Council’s discretion, that single-family residences within the connection fee district, in existence or under construction upon the effective date of the ordinance, and located within the corporate limits of the City, are eligible for connection to the major sanitary sewer facility. In that event, the ordinance shall include the following provisions:
A. That the owners of residences on parcels of less than one acre in size located within the City may connect such residences to the major sanitary sewer facility upon approval of their application for connection, payment of the connection fee for the parcel, and construction, at the owner’s expense, of appropriate connection structures, as determined necessary by the City, and
B. That the owners of residences on parcels in excess of one acre in size located within the City may connect such residences to the major sanitary sewer facility upon approval of their application for connection, payment of the connection fee for the parcel, and construction, at the owner's expense, of appropriate connection structures, as determined necessary by the City. Any future development of said parcel shall necessitate a revised application for connection and payment of the appropriate connection fee. 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.
The connection fee district ordinance may also provide, at the Council’s discretion, that sanitary sewer service can be provided to recreational and park facilities, and to commercial and industrial parcels and facilities, in the same manner and under the same procedures set forth in this section for single family residences within the connection fee district. All other property located within the corporate limits of the City and within a connection fee district shall be eligible for connection to the major sanitary sewer 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 necessary to serve said property have been constructed, at the owner's expense, and accepted by the City.
5. After adoption, publication and recording of a connection fee district ordinance by the City Clerk, 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 major sanitary sewer facility, shall make application to the City for such connection. The submittal of construction plans to the City for sanitary sewer improvements on property being subdivided for development shall constitute an application to the City for purposes of this chapter. The sewer connection fee shall be due and payable at the time application is made to the City for connection to the major sanitary sewer facility. No connection shall be made to a major sanitary sewer facility until such application has been approved and until the required connection fee has been paid. The sewer connection fee required by a connection fee district ordinance and this chapter shall be paid before the City will approve the final plat of property subject to the connection fee.
6. The sewer connection fee shall be in an amount equal to the maximum acre area of contiguous property, or fraction thereof, within the connection fee 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 district ordinance for that district. The connection fee district ordinance may provide for 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. The rate of interest applicable to the connection fee established in each connection fee district shall not exceed the rate of interest applicable to special assessments pursuant to Chapter 74A and Section 384.60(3) of the Code of Iowa in effect on the date that the connection fee was established for that district by enactment of a connection fee district ordinance.
7. Property outside of the connection fee district would be eligible for connection to a major sanitary sewer facility only upon the approval of an application for connection by the owner thereof, a determination by the City that sufficient capacity exists in the major sanitary sewer facility to serve such area outside of the boundaries of the connection fee district and following payment of a fee calculated on the same basis as if the property were located within the connection fee district. Without approval of the City and payment of the applicable fee, no property outside of the connection fee district may connect to the major sanitary sewer facility constructed to serve the connection fee district. The City may waive the requirement for payment of the applicable fee.
8. The sewer connection fee required by a connection fee district ordinance and this chapter shall be due and payable to the City.
9. The sewer connection fee required by a connection fee district ordinance and this chapter is in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other fees for connection required under the plumbing code or other provisions of the Code of Ordinances of the City.
10. In the event any property owner connects his or her property within a connection fee district or property outside a connection fee district to a major sanitary sewer facility for which a benefited distribution has been established, without having made application therefore or without having received approval thereof, or without having paid the required connection fee established by a connection fee district ordinance, the City shall be entitled to disconnect such private sewer connection until such time as the property owner has made and received approval of the application, and has paid the required connection fee.
11. Any person violating the provisions of this chapter by connecting to a major sanitary sewer facility without having complied with the provisions of this chapter shall be punished as provided in Chapter 3 of this Code of Ordinances of the City.
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