(a) Purpose. To prevent contamination of groundwater and to protect public health, safety and welfare by assuring that unused, unsafe or non-complying wells which may serve as conduits for contamination or wells which may be illegally cross-connected to the City’s water system are properly abandoned.
(b) Applicability. This section applies to all wells located on premises in the City. For purposes of this section, a “well” is defined as an excavation or opening into the ground made by digging, boring, drilling, driving, or other methods for the purpose of obtaining groundwater for consumption or other use. The requirements of this section are in addition to those set forth in Chapters 1040
and 1042
and must be performed in accordance with the provisions and specifications of those Chapters.
(c) Mandatory Connection to the City Water System.
(1) Any new structure, not to include remodeling or additions, for which a building permit is obtained after the effective date of this section shall obtain its entire water supply for human consumption from the public water system by a physical connection to such system or by the use of bottled water delivered or purchased in containers under conditions approved by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) or other appropriate agency. For the purposes of this division (c), the term “human consumption” means use in food or drink intended for human ingestion, use in food preparation or food service, use in the interior of a dwelling or dwelling unit for household purposes, and use in any building for personal washing or ingestion by irrigation.
(2) Existing structures that are served by a private well that experience well failure shall be prohibited from drilling a new well. Such structures shall be required to connect to the City’s water system. Private wells must be physically disconnected and properly abandoned prior to the activation of the City’s water system to the structure.
(3) For the purposes of this section, all connections to the City’s water system shall be physically connected to the interior plumbing system of the structure within 30 days of the extension of the service line into the building, and, if applicable, the disconnection of a private well to the interior plumbing system. This requirement may be waived only at the discretion of the City Manager.
(4) Any cost of extending the City’s water system to comply with the connection requirements shall be the responsibility of the property owner unless otherwise determined and agreed to by the City Council.
(d) Abandonment Procedures.
(1) All wells abandoned under the jurisdiction of this section or rule shall be abandoned according to the procedures and methods provided by the Michigan Water Well Construction and Pump Installation Code (Part 12, Act 368, PA 1978 and Administrative Rules), as amended. All debris, pump, piping, unsealed liners and any other obstructions which may interfere with sealing operations shall be removed prior to abandonment.
(2) The owner of the well, or the owner’s agent, shall notify the City Manager at least 48 hours prior to commencement of any well abandonment activities. The abandonment of the well may be observed by an agent of the City.
(3) An abandonment report form, supplied by the DNR shall be submitted by the well owner to the City or its designee, the DNR and any other appropriate governmental agency within ten days of the well abandonment.
(e) Penalties. If any person fails to comply with this section for more than ten days after receiving notice of the violation, the City or its designee may impose the civil infraction penalty provided in Section 202.99
and cause the well abandonment to be performed and the expense to be assessed as a special tax against the property, in addition to any other available remedies under the law.
(Ord. 2010-11. Passed 8-9-10; Ord. 2018-09. Passed 8-13-18.)