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The sewer service charge system and Sewer Service Fund shall be administrated according to the following provisions.
(A) (1) The City Clerk shall maintain a proper system of accounts suitable for determining the operation and maintenance, equipment replacement and debt retirement costs of the treatment works and shall furnish the City Council with a report of the costs annually.
(2) The City Council shall annually determine whether or not sufficient revenue is being generated for the effective operation, maintenance, replacement and management of the treatment works, and whether sufficient revenue is being generated for debt retirement. The Council will also determine whether the user charges are distributed proportionately to each user in accordance with § 122(B) and § 204(b)(2)(A) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended.
(3) The city shall thereafter, but not later than the end of the year, reassess, and as necessary, revise the sewer service charge system then in use to ensure the proportionality of the user charges and to ensure the sufficiency of funds to maintain the capacity and performance to which the facilities were constructed, and to retire the construction debt.
(B) In accordance with federal and state requirements, each user will be notified annually in conjunction with a regular billing of that portion of the sewer service charge attributable to operation, maintenance and replacement.
(C) In accordance with federal and state requirements, the City Clerk shall be responsible for maintaining all records necessary to document compliance with the sewer service charge system adopted.
(D) Bills for sewer service charges shall be rendered on a monthly basis succeeding the period for which the service was rendered and shall be due 18 days from the date of rendering. Any bill not paid in full before the due date will be assessed a 5% late penalty on the original bill. If bills are not paid within 30 days from the date of rendering, the owner(s) shall be contacted in writing that sewer services (water service) will be disconnected if the bill is not paid within seven days after notice.
(E) The owner of the premises shall be liable to pay for the service to the premises and the service is furnished to the premises by the city only upon the condition that the owner of the premises is liable therefore to the city.
(F) Any additional costs caused by discharges to the treatment works of toxics or other incompatible wastes, including the cost of restoring wastewater treatment services, clean up and restoration of the receiving waters and environs, and sludge disposal, shall be borne by the discharger(s) of the wastes, at no expense to the city.
(Ord. 407, passed 12-26-1989)
INSPECTORS
(A) The Wastewater Superintendent or other duly authorized employees of the city, bearing proper credentials and identification, shall be permitted to enter all properties for the purpose of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing pertinent to the discharges to the city’s sewer system in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(B) The Wastewater Superintendent or other duly authorized employees are authorized to obtain information concerning industrial processes which have a direct bearing on the type and source of discharge to the wastewater collection system. An industry may withhold information considered confidential however, the industry must establish that revelation to the public of the information in question, might result in an advantage to competitors.
(C) While performing necessary work on private properties, the Superintendent or duly authorized employees of the city shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the company, and the company shall be held harmless for injury or death to the city employees and the city shall indemnify the company against loss or damage to its property by city employees and against liability claims and demands for personal injury or property damage asserted against the company and growing out of the gauging and sampling operation, except as may be caused by negligence or failure of the company to maintain safe conditions as required in § 53.087.
(D) The Wastewater Superintendent or other duly authorized employees of the city bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to enter all private properties through which the city holds a duly negotiated easement for the purposes of, but not limited to, inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, repair and maintenance of any portion of the wastewater facilities lying within the easement. All entry and subsequent work, if any, on the easement, shall be done in full accordance with the terms of the duly negotiated easement pertaining to the private property involved.
(Ord. 408, passed 12-26-1989)
(A) (1) (a) Any person found to be violating any provision of §§ 53.001, 53.002, 53.015 through 53.019, 53.030 through 53.036, 53.050 through 53.068, 53.080 through 53.094, 53.105, 53.120 and 53.155 shall be served by the city with written notice stating the nature of the violation and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory correction thereof. The offender shall, within the period of time stated in the notice, permanently cease all violations.
(b) It shall also be deemed a misdemeanor for any person who is found in violation of any provision of Chapter 55, and each day in which any violation occurs shall be deemed as a separate offense.
(Ord. 408, passed 12-26-1989)
(B) (1) Each and every sewer service charge levied by and pursuant to §§ 53.121, 53.122 and 53.135 through 53.144 is hereby made a lien upon the lot or premises serviced and all charges which are on December of each year past due and delinquent, shall be certified to the County Auditor as taxes or assessments on the real estate. Nothing in §§ 53.121, 53.122 and 53.135 through 53.144 shall be held or construed as in any way stopping or interfering with the right of the city to levy as taxes or assessments against any premises affected any delinquent or past due sewer service charges.
(2) As an alternative to levying a lien, the city may, at its discretion, file suit in a civil action to collect those amounts as are delinquent and due against the occupant, owner or user of the real estate, and shall collect as well all attorney’s fees incurred by the city in filing the civil action. The attorney’s fees shall be fixed by order of the court.
(3) In addition to all penalties and costs attributable and chargeable to recording notices of the lien or filing a civil action, the owner or user of the real estate being serviced by the treatment works shall be liable for interest upon all unpaid balances at the rate permitted by state law.
(Ord. 407, passed 12-26-1989)