(a) Meters shall be read and the customer notified monthly of the amount of water or sewer service charges incurred by that customer for such month. Such notice may be furnished by depositing a bill for water and/or sewer service charges with the United States postal service directed to the last known address of the customer. Such water and sewer service charges shall be paid pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the city council and amended from time to time. If such water and sewer charges are not paid after notice is given pursuant to such rules and regulations, field action may be taken by dispatching a service representative to lock, plug or remove the water meter and/or disconnect the sewer line. A disconnect charge according to the city's adopted fee schedule in § 35-56(l) will be added to the customer's account for field action for delinquent nonpayment, and payment of the delinquent account while conducting such field action shall not relieve the customer of the disconnect fee. In cases where the water and/or sewer service has been terminated, such service or services shall not be restored until the total amount due, including all charges prescribed in this section, has been paid in full.
(b) When water service has been terminated by a locking device and the water service line or meter installation or lock has been removed or damaged, an additional broken lock charge as specified in § 35-56(l) shall be assessed to the customer's account.
(c) All customers requesting the activation of water and/or sewer service will be requested to place a deposit in accordance with § 35-61.
(d) For all customers requesting a transfer of service, a charge shall be assessed on the customer's account as specified in § 35-56(l).
(e) The customer shall be assessed a reactivation fee for all work performed by the city in setting a meter or activating/reactivating water and/or sewer service a fee as specified in § 35-56(l).
(f) A non-sufficient funds fee will be added to the customer's account for all checks, bank drafts, credit card or debit card charges returned or refused payment from a customer's bank. If the customer does not remit payment for the returned charge, the city may terminate service and assess a fee as specified in § 35-56(l).
(g) A straight connection is defined as any type of device installed in lieu of a water meter, connecting the city's water service pipe to a private service pipe for the purpose of obtaining unmetered water. Whenever a straight connection is found in lieu of a water meter, the straight connection shall be removed by the city and a straight connection charge as specified in § 35-56(l) will be made applied to the customer's account for the removal of such straight connection. When a straight connection is found at a location where there is no record of a request for service to the location, a special charge for the straight connection removal shall be added at the time of future activation, for subsequent activation and to all estimated water billings and fees, and it shall be paid by the party requesting the activation.
(h) Resumes. All customers requesting account information and history such as consumption and associated charges will not be charged for this service unless the historical information requested exceeds three years. If the information requested is for the time period greater than one year, a charge as specified in § 35-56(l) will be added to the customer's account.
(i) Meter testing. All customers requesting a meter test will be provided with one meter test per year, per customer account, at no charge. Any customer requesting more than one meter test per year will be assessed a charge as specified in § 35-56(l), provided that the meter test indicated that the meter is functioning properly and is usable at another location. No charge will be assessed to the customer if the meter is not functioning properly.
(j) Meter replacement. The city will only replace meters that are found not to be properly functioning after testing and validation. If a meter replacement is requested after a meter test determines the meter to be functioning properly, a meter replacement charge as specified in § 35-56(l) will be applied to the customer's account.
(k) After hours service connection charge. All customers requesting the connection of service outside of normal business hours will be assessed a charge as specified in § 35-56
(l), for field action for the after-hours service.
(l) Same day service charge. All customers requesting the same day connection of service will be assessed a charge according as specified in § 35-56
(l) for field action for the same day service which will be added to the customer's account.
(1964 Code, § 37-23) (Ord. 5715, § 1, passed - -; Ord. 6325, § 1, passed 6-29-1970; Ord. 7091, § 1, passed 11-11-1974; Ord. 8360, § 1, passed 6-16-1981; Ord. 8680, § 1, passed 11-16-1982; Ord. 8958, § 1, passed 10-25-1983; Ord. 9179, § 1, passed 8-28-1984; Ord. 9433, § 1, passed 7-23-1985; Ord. 11717, § 7, passed 11-1-1994; Ord. 18835-09-2009, § 1, passed 9-22-2009, eff. 1-1-2010; Ord. 23990-12-2019, § 1, passed 12-17-2019, eff. 4-1-2020)