(A) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to provide for the operation of the municipally- owned water utility by a Board of Trustees.
(B) Appointment of Board trustees. The Mayor shall appoint, subject to the approval of the Council, three persons to serve as trustees. The appointment shall provide for six-year terms for the Board of Trustees. The current Board shall serve until their terms, as originally established, shall expire. No public officer or salaried city employee may serve on the Utility Board.
(C) Vacancies. An appointment to fill a vacancy on the Water Works Board of Trustees shall be made in the same manner as an original appointment except that the appointment shall be for the balance of the unexpired term.
(D) Compensation. The Council shall by resolution set the compensation of the Board members. The current compensation shall be $300 per year payable quarterly.
(E) Powers and duties. The Water Works Board of Trustees may exercise all powers of the city, city utility or combined utility system it administers, with the following exceptions:
(1) Taxes. The Board may not certify taxes to be levied, pass ordinances or amendments, or issue general obligation or special assessment bonds.
(2) Property. Title to all property must be in the name of the city but the Board has full control of the property subject to the limitations imposed by law.
(3) Reports to Council. The Board shall make an annual report to the Council including a complete financial statement.
(4) Proceeding published. Immediately following a regular or special meeting, the Board shall prepare and cause to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city a condensed statement of proceedings including a list of all claims.
(F) Control of revenues. The Board shall control moneys derived from operations of the utility.
(G) Accounting. Utility moneys must be held in a separate utility fund, with moneys to be paid out of the utility account only at the direction of the Board.
(H) Discrimination in rates. A city utility may not provide use or service at a discriminatory rate, except to the city or its agencies, as provided in I.C.A. § 384.91.
(I) Discontinuance. A proposal, on motion of the Council or upon receipt of a petition, to discontinue a utility board is subject to the approval of the voters of the city, except that a board may be discontinued by resolution of the Council when a city utility, city utilities or combined utility system it administers is disposed of or leased for a period of over five years.
(J) Right of entry. The General Manager of the Water Works Board of Trustees and other duly authorized employees of the water utility bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to enter all properties for the purposes of inspection, observation, meter reading and testing between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. of each workday and have authority to inquire into the use, placement, operation, readings and connections of meters, pipes or other fixtures to the water system as well as the consumption of water.
(2013 Code, § 2-169) (Ord. 17, passed 8-14-1950; Ord. 15028, passed 11-8-2021)