(a) Whenever any public utility company has relocated its overhead utility lines and related facilities underground in compliance with § 14-7.1 or as part of any general improvement district project, the city may, in lieu of the procedures prescribed above, include the installation of the underground lateral connections within private properties, as part of a general improvement district project so as to assure the timely removal of utility poles as may remain as hazards to traffic movement and flow in the roadway constructed; provided that in the case of a general improvement district project, the city shall include the installation of the lateral connection within private property if so requested by the property owner.
(b) When the city undertakes the installation of the lateral connection as part of an improvement district project, the cost thereof may be added to the property owner’s share of the cost of assessments and shall be payable in the same manner and at the same rate of interest, in the event where the owner elects to pay in installments, as prescribed for the payment of improvement district assessments; provided that in the case of connections to be made on properties owned by government, and eleemosynary institution or an entity exempted by law from the payment of assessments, the costs thereof shall be assumed and paid by the affected government agency, eleemosynary institution, or other entity, subject to the method and rate of payment to be established and determined by the director of budget and fiscal services and as may be modified by the council after the public hearing on the project.
(c) Whenever overhead public utilities are to be undergrounded as a part of a city or State street improvement project, the city shall notify each owner abutting the street to be improved that the city shall, upon the request of the owner, install the owner’s lateral connection to the utilities to be undergrounded and charge the owner for its cost. The notice shall be by certified mail and shall inform each owner:
(1) That the owner has 30 days from the mailing of the notice to inform the city whether the owner wishes the city to install the lateral connection;
(2) That the owner may pay the city in a lump sum or in up to 10 annual installments plus interest; and
(3) That if the owner does not request the city to install the lateral connection, nothing shall prevent the owner from doing so at the owner’s expense before the completion of the undergrounding by the public utilities.
(d) If the owner timely requests the city to install the lateral connection:
(1) The city shall make every effort to install the connections before the street improvements are completed, so as to avoid the cost of tearing up or removing those improvements when installing the lateral connections; and
(2) The city shall charge the owners for their respective share of the costs of the installation; provided that nothing herein shall prevent the city or the State from providing financial assistance to fund all or a portion of the cost of the lateral connections.
(e) If the owner has not requested the city to install the lateral connection, and the owner has not installed the connection as provided for in subsection (c)(3), the city shall install the lateral connection in accordance with § 14-7.2(e).
(f) The director of budget and fiscal services shall notify each owner of the respective amount that the owner shall pay the city for the cost of the lateral connection. The notice shall be sent by certified mail, with a request for a return receipt, addressed to each owner at the address of the owner’s property that abuts the street improvement guide.
(g) The owner shall pay the amount charged against the owner within 30 days after the notice is sent; provided that at the election of the owner, the amount may be paid in up to 10 annual installments plus interest. Failure to pay the whole of any cost charged to the owner within the 30-day period above shall be conclusively considered and held an election on the part of the owner to pay in installments.
(h) If an owner has not paid for an installment or interest, or both, after due notice, the owner shall be penalized as provided in § 14-7.2(f). The chief engineer or the director of community services in the case of urban renewal and rehabilitation projects, shall provide the director of budget and fiscal services with the same information described in § 14-7.2(f), and the latter shall be responsible for collecting the charges due the city under this section.
(i) The installation of any lateral connection by the city on behalf of an owner shall be done pursuant to a quasi-contract or constructive contract between the city and the owner. Based on this contractual relationship, the city shall have all of the remedies set forth in § 14-7.2(g) if the owner fails to pay the amount duly noted on the statement filed by the director of budget and fiscal services.
(j) The chief engineer, or the director of community services, in the case of urban renewal or rehabilitation projects, may pay for the installation of the lateral connection out of city funds or may finance the work through the issuance of bonds.
(k) The chief engineer, or the director of community services, in the case of urban renewal or rehabilitation projects, shall keep a permanent record of that information listed in § 14-7.2(d).
(l) For the purpose of subsections (c) through (k), “owner” means any person who, as an owner or lessee, resides on property that abuts a street improvement or improvement district project; provided that the fee owner of the property shall approve the lessee’s request to the city that it install the lateral connection over the fee owner’s property.
(Sec. 20-6.4, R.O. 1978 (1983 Ed.)) (1990 Code, Ch. 14, Art. 22, § 14-22.4) (Am. Ord. 89-60)