(a) Unlawful procedure. It shall be unlawful for any person or owner to do any excavating, tap or make connections with any water mains, gas mains, sewer or other service pipes in any street, lane or alley within the City of Flint without first obtaining permission of the Director as herein provided.
(b) Water main connection requirements. All connections with any water main shall be made by the City of Flint.
(c) Notice of required connection for paving. Whenever the City Council shall determine to pave or gravel any street, lane or alley, it shall be the duty of the Director to serve or cause to be served a written or printed, or partly written and partly printed notice, upon the owner of any lot or parcel of land abutting the street, if found within the City, requiring the owner to make connections with all water mains, gas pipes, sewers or other service pipes within ten days from the date of service of the notice. In case the Director shall be unable to find within the City the owner of any lot or parcel of land abutting the street, then the notice may be served by posting the same in some conspicuous place upon the lot or premises. No street, lane or alley shall be paved or graveled until the Director has made a written report to the City Council to the effect that all such connections have been made in the street, lane or alley proposed to be paved or graveled.
(d) Backfill requirements. When connections are to be made with any sewer, water or gas mains or any other underground service in any street, the earth and other debris excavated for this purpose shall be removed from the street and the trench backfilled with sand or gravel in layers not to exceed eight inches in thickness. Each layer shall be thoroughly and solidly tamped in place; the backfill shall be finished to the same grade as the original surface and shall be maintained in that condition for a period of one year from the date after which they were installed. Where the existing roadway is cindered or graveled, the final eight inches of the backfill shall be made of gravel. The person charged with the duty of constructing or installing the underground work and backfilling shall be required to make frequent inspections of all trenches for which they are responsible during the one-year period and to maintain the same as herein provided, except trenches under hard surface pavement, as hereinafter provided. In case of failure to maintain trenches and backfill in such condition, the Director is authorized by this article to make the necessary repairs and charge the total cost against the person responsible for the same. For the purpose of the sand or gravel backfill as required herein, the excavated material shall not be used except after securing written permission from the Director.
(e) Time limit on open trench. The person or owner causing an excavation or trench to be made in any public street or thoroughfare in the City shall be required to backfill and replace the trench as herein provided within a period of three days, after work of excavating has been started, unless permission is granted by the Director to allow the trench to be open for a longer period of time. In case of the failure to promptly refill any trenches within a period of three days, the City shall have the right to cause the same to be refilled and the expense shall be charged against the person or owner responsible therefor.
(f) Barricade requirements. Every person digging or causing to be dug any trench in any public street or thoroughfare, for the purpose of making connections with water mains, gas mains, sewer mains or other service pipes, shall place or cause to be placed and maintained at and along the trench, proper signals, colored lights and barricades to give warning and prevent accidents, but in no case shall a trench be dug so as to entirely block any street for travel, without the consent of the Director. All barricading shall be done in accordance with the City of Flint Barricading and Channelization Manual for Temporary Traffic Control. In case of the failure to properly barricade or light the excavations or trenches, the Director is authorized to cause the same to be lighted or barricaded and the expense thereof shall be charged against the person responsible for the opening. It shall not be necessary for the Director to notify the person responsible for the trenches in public streets or thoroughfares, before undertaking any such work which is necessary for the safety and convenience of the public. The failure on the part of persons installing the trenches to promptly pay all bills incurred by the Department of Public Works doing the work shall be grounds for refusing to issue further permits for excavations in streets.
(g) Sewer requirements. All sewer connections shall be made with approved sewer pipe not less than six inches in diameter and at such locations in the public sewers where branches or slants were placed for that purpose, if any. Where there are no slants, the sewer may, for the purpose of making connections, be tapped under the direction and supervision of the Plumbing Inspector; the connection shall be made by a saddle device approved by the Director. All work for the purpose of making sewer and water connections shall be done in compliance with the rules, regulations and codes governing plumbing in the City of Flint in accordance with the laws of Michigan relative thereto. Whenever any existing sewer connections have been made with pipe smaller than six inches internal diameter, then a stub connection not less than six inches in diameter shall be constructed from the main to the curb to serve the premises. However, the owner of any lot or parcel of land having a sewer connection of less than six inches internal diameter will not be required to connect to the new stub connection until such time as existing connection is inadequate or required repairing in public property. In no case shall the Director issue a permit to repair an existing connection less than six inches in diameter under a pavement or gravel street where a six-inch stub line constructed, then the connection of less than six inches in diameter shall be replaced with six-inch tile at the time when replacements or repair become necessary.
(h) Failure to connect. In case the owner of any lot or parcel of land, when ordered by the Director in the aforesaid manner shall neglect or refuse to make connections with the water mains, gas mains, sewer or other service pipes as the case may be within ten days from the date of the service of notice provided for in this article, the City Council may cause the connections to be made and assess the cost thereof as a special assessment against the lot or parcel of land benefitted, the assessment to be made and collected in the same manner as provided in the Charter for the making and collecting of special assessments to defray the cost of the construction of pavements, and the tax shall be and remain a lien upon the lot or parcel until the same is paid, the same as other special assessments.
(i) Excavations in City streets.
(1) Permit required. Whenever a person desires to do any excavating in any of the streets, lanes or alleys of the City of Flint, a permit for such excavation shall be obtained from the Director. The application for the permit shall indicate whether the excavation work is for a water main, gas main, sewer or other service pipes. An administrative charge shall be charged for the permit. The permit shall be nontransferable and the fee nonrefundable. When the work involves the connection with a sewer, the person employed to make the connection shall hold a plumbing license or a sewer installer license in accordance with the Code of the City of Flint. The qualifications of the persons employed to do the work shall be verified at the time of application. A person who is authorized to excavate by the permit shall furnish a bond to the City in a form acceptable to the Chief Legal Officer in the sum of $2,000.00 conditioned for the faithful performance of the requirements of all the City ordinances relative thereto. A bond shall not be required when advanced pay is made in accordance with this section. An excavation permit shall not be deemed to authorize the person to backfill or repave in a paved street, lane or alley. All backfilling and repaving in a paved street, lane or alley shall be done by employees of the City. All expenses for the work by the employees of the City shall be borne by the person to whom the excavation permit is issued. Application for excavations in paved streets shall state the maximum size of the opening to be made in the pavement and the length of time desired to do the work. A certified check in an amount at least 25% in excess of the Director’s estimate of the cost thereof, made payable to the City Treasurer, shall be furnished prior to the issuance of the permit in lieu of the bond. The excess of the estimated over the actual cost, if any, shall be returned to the applicant upon completion of the work.
(2) Method of computing units for calculating costs. A person granted an excavation permit for the purpose of connecting with intercepting sewer shall pay the connection charge per unit for the first unit and an additional charge for each additional unit or fraction thereof based on the unit factor. The charges shall be established from time to time by resolution of the City Council, kept on file by the City Clerk, and contained in Appendix A of the City Code.
(3) Connections. Every connection shall be charged on the basis of at least one unit. The connection charges shall be paid at the time of the application for the excavation permit. The connection charges shall be exclusive of and in addition to any fee or payment made or required for engineering or inspection charges. The construction and installation of any such connection shall be subject to the same rules and regulations that are provided in this article.
(j) Permit information. The Director shall keep a record of all permits granted under authority of this article, which will include the name of the applicant and the contractor, the location of the work and the place in the street where the excavation is to be made, as well as the purpose for which the same is issued.
(k) Outside City applicants. When application is made for permission to connect a building situated on property outside the City limits to the sanitary sewer system, the City Council may authorize the Director to grant a permit for the connection upon the following terms and conditions. Notwithstanding any charges established by this article, the City Council may authorize, by contract, other charges for the right to connect to the sanitary sewer system. The owner of the property shall submit written permission from the governmental unit in which the property is located to make connection to the sanitary sewer system and water supply system of the City of Flint. The owner or owners thereof shall pay such rates for sewer services as established by any ordinance of the City of Flint for furnishing such services to consumers outside the City. Each applicant whose premises are hereafter connected directly to a City sanitary sewer shall pay to the City a connection charge. The connection charge shall be per unit for the first two units per connection, and an additional charge for each additional unit or fraction thereof based on the unit factors for connection charges within the City of Flint listed in subsection (i) hereof. The charges shall be established from time to time by resolution of the City Council, kept on file by the City Clerk, and continued in Appendix A of the City Code.
(l) Separate sewers. A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building; except where one building stands at the rear of another on an interior lot and no private sewer is available or can be constructed to the rear building through an adjoining alley, courtyard, easement or driveway, the building sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole shall be considered as one building sewer.
(m) Work on private property. Excavation and backfill for building sewers on private property may be made by the owner. Connections and installation of the building sewer on private property shall be made by a licensed plumbing contractor or licensed sewer contractor. All excavation, backfilling, connections and installations shall be made in accordance with the provisions of this Code in force at the time of installation.
(n) New use of existing sewers. Existing building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by the Director, to meet all requirements of this article.
(o) Elevation of connection. Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be brought to the building at an elevation below the basement floor. In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by the building drain shall be lifted in accordance with the provisions of this Code by means approved by the Director and discharged to the building sewer.
(p) Prohibited surface runoff connections. Unless specifically authorized and controlled by the Director of the Department of Public Works and Utilities, pursuant to written departmental guidelines promulgated by the Department, no person or owner shall make connection of root downspouts, areaway drains, or other sources of surface runoff, to a building sewer or building drain which in turn is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer. Such disposal shall be properly metered and treated or otherwise controlled, such that it shall have no adverse impact on sewage collection and treatment or cause any harm to private or public property, human health or the environment pursuant to the departmental guidelines referenced above.
(q) Prohibited groundwater connections. Unless specifically allowed and controlled by the Director, exterior foundation drains or other sources of groundwater shall not be connected to a building sewer or building drain which in turn is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer. One- and two-family dwellings shall be exempt from this requirement unless a storm sewer is available within the adjacent street.
(r) Maintenance. The person whose building drain or storm sewer is connected to a public sewer is responsible for the maintenance of the sewer line from the connection with the public sewer in the public right-of-way to the most remote fixture or structure on his or her property.
(Ord. 3630, passed 12-13-2004)