(A) Shut-off. The town will provide a utility customer with one free shut-off and on of the water meter during a 24-hour period. Customers are advised to have shut-off valves installed in their system to allow them to do normal repairs without having to have the water meter shut-off for these repairs. All water meters are the property of the utility and any customer who damages a meter will be responsible for all costs of repairs.
(B) Deferred payment plan.
(1) A water and sewage utility customer in good standing, having been a customer of the utility for six continuous months, may in a time of financial distress request and receive a partial deferment of a utility bill. Prior to the disconnection date of a utility the customer must pay at least 25% of their total utility bill, including any and all penalties. On or before the disconnection date of the next three monthly billing periods, the utility customer must pay his or her current monthly bill and penalties and at least 25% of the original total of his or her deferred delinquent utility bill and penalties. If a utility customer cannot meet the deferred payment schedule, then his or her water service will be immediately disconnected, and all outstanding payments and penalties must be paid in full before the customer will be allowed to reconnect.
(2) If the utility customer that requests a deferment of payment of a utility bill that includes charges for sewer service, and if said customer does not own the real property for which the delinquent sewer bill is to be deferred, then the owner of the real property must agree to the deferment of the sewer charges before it will be allowed.
(3) A second deferment will not be allowed while the utility customer is in the process of paying a previous deferment.
(C) Adjustments to utility bill.
(1) If a utility customer has a water leak in which said leak does not cause water to drain into the sanitary sewer system, then the utility customer can request an adjustment to the charges on his or her sanitary sewer bill that reflect the amount of the metered water that did not flow into the sanitary sewer. The amount of the adjustment will be estimated by comparing the amount of water used during the billing period in which there was a leak, to the average amount of water used during a billing period.
(2) Before an adjustment will be allowed, the leak or repair of the leak must be inspected by an employee of the utilities, to determine if the water from the leak did not enter into the sanitary sewer system. Adjustments to the sanitary sewer bill will not be allowed for normal use of water from an outside hydrant.
(3) This adjustment must be approved by the Town Council at a regular meeting of the Council.
(E) Sump pumps. Sump pumps that pump rain and/or ground seepage water into the sanitary sewer system, and guttering or other drains that allow rain and/or surface water to flow into the sanitary sewer system are strictly forbidden. Fines and other penalties for this illegal action are detailed in Chapter 51, §§ 51.01 through 51.18 of this code of ordinances.
(Ord. 98-1, passed 1-3-1998; Ord. 2019-02, passed 3-11-2019) Penalty, see § 10.99