(A) Authority. The city owns and operates the water utility. I.C. 36-9-2-14 permits a municipality to regulate the furnishing of water to the public. I.C. 36-9-2-18 permits a municipality to exercise powers granted by I.C. 36-9-2-14 in areas within four miles outside its corporate boundaries. I.C. 8-1.5-6 et seq. permits the city to adopt a regulatory ordinance which is then submitted to the State Utility Regulatory Commission for its review and approval. The regulatory ordinance allows the municipality to regulate the furnishing of water utility service in areas within four miles outside the city’s corporate boundaries.
(B) Agreement.
(1) Pursuant to an agreement between Hancock County Rural Telephone Corporation d/b/a NineStar Connect and the city, the parties agreed to an exclusive water service area for the city within four miles of the city’s corporate limits.
(2) The county’s regional water and sewer district adopted a consent to transfer certified territorial authority, a copy of which is attached to Ordinance 2016-4 as Exhibit A, in which it approved and ratified the agreement.
(3) The agreement, a copy of which is attached to Ordinance 2016-4 as Exhibit B, is hereby approved. In approving the agreement, the city understands and affirms that the agreement and Ordinance 2016-4 shall not, in any way, prevent the city from:
(a) Later seeking and obtaining from the county’s regional water and sewer district the right to serve any area within the district’s jurisdiction;
(b) Retaining any and all rights to acquire any or all of NineStar’s assets used in providing water services in the additional service area; or
(c) Exercising any power it has under I.C. 8-1.5-1-1 et seq. or 36-9-23-1 et seq.
(C) Water service area.
(1) Pursuant to Ordinance 2016-4 and its approval by the State Utility Regulatory Commission, the city holds an exclusive license to furnish potable water service within the water service area, and the water utility shall be the exclusive provider of potable water to the public within the water service area.
(2) Pursuant to Ordinance 2016-4 and its approval by the State Utility Regulatory Commission, no other utilities are permitted to provide potable water service within the city, or within the water service area. This subchapter does not mandate the city to extend service to areas where technically or financially not feasible. Rather, it expressly prohibits other utilities from furnishing water service to customers within the city or within the water service area.
(3) No customer shall permit a connection to potable water service within the water service area by any other water service provider.
(4) The city’s existing rules and regulations for water service, as amended from time to time, shall apply to and within the water service area.
(D) Penalty. Any person, firm, partnership, sole proprietor, or corporation who violates this subchapter shall be subject to a civil penalty of $2,000 per violation. Each day of violation shall be deemed a separate violation.
(Ord. 2019-25, passed on 5-13-2020)