(a) Extension restrictions.
(1) The provisions of this section, unless specifically indicated otherwise herein, apply to the extension of sewer services both inside and outside the city. No extension of sewer services outside the city limits can be made without the approval of Council by ordinance.
(2) All lines constructed for the extension of sewer service shall be extended the entire distance across the property to be served.
(b) Plans. After receiving the required approval of Council, extension to the sewer system shall be in accordance with one of the following plans:
(1) Plan 1. Payment of entire cost in advance. Any one or more property owners may request the City Manager to determine the feasibility and the estimated cost of the construction of a sewer line extension to serve their premises. If Council approves the proposed extension and the City Manager’s estimated construction cost, the property owners may deposit with the city a sum equal to the estimated cost plus expansion charges defined in § 942.03. The City Manager shall thereupon proceed with the construction. Any surplus in the deposit amount over and above the actual construction cost shall be refunded to the owner or owners or their agent. Should the actual construction cost exceed the deposit amount, the owner or owners shall pay this excess amount and no tap-in permit shall be issued, no connection made or maintained to the extension, nor any sewer service provided until the cost is paid in full. No extension of service will be approved for less than the entire frontage of the property of the applicant and the necessary length from an existing sewer line to that frontage. If in any case, by reason of inadvertence or oversight, construction shall have been made without compliance with advance payment requirements, the inadvertence or oversight shall not relieve the benefitted property owner from the obligation to pay the amount due. In those cases, no water connection shall be made or sewer service provided unless and until the required payments or deposits are made.
(2) Plan 2. Construction by owners. Council may permit the owner or owners of property to be served to arrange for the laying of sewer line extension by private contract. Before the permit can be granted, the plans for the extension must be approved by Council. Prior to starting a project, the contractor shall furnish a bond as guarantee for each project or section thereof. The entire sewer lines are to be deeded to the city. Before the properties to be serviced can tap into the extension, they must secure a tap-in permit, pay expansion charges as specified in § 942.03, and any installation charges specified in § 942.04.
(3) Plan 3. Construction without petition. Whenever Council shall determine that it is in the best interests of the city to extend the sewer lines, Council, by ordinance passed with a three-quarter affirmative vote, may assess upon abutting, adjacent and contiguous, or other benefitted properties within the municipality, and an extension line charge shall be imposed in accordance with division (d) hereof upon properties outside the municipality which are abutting, adjacent and contiguous or other property to be benefitted by the extension. The sum due in the form of assessments or extension line charges are in addition to all other charges imposed by this chapter.
(4) Plan 4. Construction with petition. The owners of property outside the municipality to be serviced by a proposed sewer extension may petition Council for the construction of the extension. Before the property owners may be issued a tap-in permit to make or maintain a connection to the extension of sewer services to be provided to the property, the property owners shall pay the extension line charge as set forth in division (d) hereof and the expansion fee as defined in § 942.03.
(c) Procedural defect. If an extension line charge is made under any plan in this section and the city has been unable to collect the extension line charge due to defects in procedure or any other reason, no tap-in permit shall be issued, no connection to the extension made or maintained, or sewer service continue to be provided to the property unless the property owner shall first pay a sum to the city equal to the amount formerly charged in the form of an extension line charge. The sum may be paid by installments due in amounts and at times as if the extension line charge were valid and collectible. The City Manager shall bill the installment amounts as they fall due and in the event of nonpayment, utility service shall be discontinued by the City Manager.
(d) Extension line charge.
(1) Council shall impose extension line charges by ordinance under the following two-step procedure. The first ordinance shall provide the notice of intention to proceed with the extension line charge and shall:
A. Describe the property upon which extension line charges shall be imposed;
B. Specify the amount of the extension line charge imposed upon each property described;
C. Specify the yearly rate, if any, that interest will accrue on the extension charge until a tap-in permit is issued; and
D. State that the property owner has 14 days from the date of receipt of the ordinance to file a written objection with the Clerk of Council requesting a hearing on the extension line charge and that failure to file an objection within the time shall constitute a waiver of any right to a hearing.
(2) A. After the ordinance giving notice of intention to proceed has been passed, the Clerk of Council shall send a copy of the ordinance, and a certified copy of Chapters 941 and 942, by certified mail with return receipt to the owner of each property listed in the ordinance at the address appearing on the records of the County Auditor. The notice shall state that a property owner shall file a written objection within 14 days of receipt of the notice to preserve the owner’s right to a hearing on the amount of the extension line charge to be imposed. The hearing date shall be set no sooner than ten days after the date of filing the objection. Within 15 days of passing the ordinance giving notice of intention to proceed, the Clerk of Council shall file with the Auditor of each county in which any property is to be subject to an extension line charge a copy of the ordinance.
B. At the next Council meeting following the hearing, or at the next Council meeting following the 14-day notice period if there are no objections filed by affected property owners, Council shall impose extension line charges by an ordinance levying the extension line charges which includes the elements set out in divisions (d)(1)A., B. and C. hereof. If no objections have been filed within the allotted time frame, the ordinance levying the extension line charges shall adopt the charges set out in the original ordinance giving notice of intention to proceed. If objections are filed and following a hearing, the ordinance levying extension line charges shall establish the charges as Council determines. Within 20 days of passing the ordinance levying extension line charges, the Clerk of Council shall file with the Auditor of each county in which any property is subject to an extension line charge a copy of the ordinance. The Clerk of Council shall send a copy of the ordinance levying extension line charges by certified mail with return receipt to the owner of each property listed in the ordinance at the address appearing on the records of the County Auditor.
(Ord. 93-80, passed 7-26-1993)
(3) Unless otherwise directed by Council, the City Manager shall not issue a tap-in permit or building permit which will allow sewer service to property upon which an extension line charge has been imposed until at least 10% of the extension line charge and accrued interest is paid. The remaining 90% shall be paid as provided in division (d)(7) hereof.
(4) In the event property is subsequently subdivided, the City Manager, unless otherwise directed by Council, shall not issue a tap-in permit or building permit which will allow sewer service to any subdivided parcel or lot until at least 10% of the subdivided parcel’s or lot’s proportionate share, as determined under division (d)(5) hereof, of the total extension line charge and accrued interest is paid. The remaining 90% shall be paid as provided in division (d)(7) hereof.
(5) The proportionate share shall be the dollar amount of the original extension line charge per acre multiplied by the subdivided parcel’s or lot’s acreage. If the subdivided parcel or lot fronts on the road where the extension line was originally laid, the proportionate share shall also include the dollar amount of original extension line charge per lineal foot of frontage multiplied by the subdivided parcel’s or lot’s lineal feet of frontage on the road where the extension line was originally laid.
(6) If a subdivided parcel or lot, adjacent to or abutting any subdivided parcel or lot against which an extension line charge has become due, is acquired by the person responsible for payment of the charge, or by any entity in which the person has a legal or equitable interest, or by a member of the person’s immediate family, it shall be rebuttably presumed that a single use will be made of the newly acquired and previously owned property. The proportionate share as determined under division (d)(5) hereof, for the newly acquired parcel or lot shall become due and payable as provided in division (d)(7) hereof whether a new tap-in permit or building permit is requested or not.
(7) Excepting the 10% payments required to obtain permits, payments required under divisions (d)(3), (4) and (6) hereof, shall be made by no more than 99 monthly installments of equal amounts and one final installment in an amount not to exceed any one monthly installment. A finance charge on the unpaid balance shall be added to each installment at the rate of 1% per month on the outstanding balance after crediting the installment last paid. The City Manager shall bill the amounts due for interest, installment payments and finance charge along with the monthly billing for sewer and/or water services. Installment payments shall be due upon the due date listed on the bill. In the event of nonpayment of an installment or finance charge when due, the City Manager shall discontinue water and sewer services to the property and premises served until the overdue installments and finance charge have been paid.
(8) All payments under this division (d) are to be deposited to the account from which the extension was paid or financed.
(Ord. 90-61, passed 5-14-1990; Ord. 93-80, passed 7-26-1993)
(e) Record keeping.
(1) The City Manager shall maintain a record of the properties which have been assigned an extension line charge. These records must identify the ordinance that establishes these charges and the amount due. The records shall be suitably indexed as to book, page and parcel number as indicated in the County Auditor’s records and cross indexed as to streets and parts of streets, and shall at all times be available for public inspection. As charges are paid or partially paid, or as new charges are imposed, the necessary notations shall be made in the record by way of amendment or supplement. The notations by way of amendment or supplement shall be filed with the appropriate County Auditor at appropriate intervals, but not less than yearly. The records shall at all times be accompanied by a statement from the City Manager indicating the date to which the record has been carried and that an interested party may obtain upon request a statement of current charges paid or imposed.
(2) With the consent of the Warren County Auditor, or any other county in which the sewer lines lie, a notation shall be made on the tax records for the property abutting the sewer line that the property is subject to an extension line charge under this section for obtaining or expanding sewer services to the property.
(3) The City Manager shall request removal of the notations when the charges have been paid in full.
(Ord. 93-80, passed 7-26-1993)
(f) Size of water mains. The size of water mains used in the construction of extensions, as provided in Plans One through Four inclusive, shall be 12 inches for extensions to service residential developments and 12 inches to service commercial and industrial developments or the larger size as may be shown on the City Water Distribution Plan adopted by Council or the latest revision thereof by the City Engineer. Variations from that latest revision shall be required if the City Engineer determines that a different size is required due to circumstances or conditions which have arisen since the date of the Plan or his or her latest revision or due to unique circumstances of the development being served. In addition to the variations, smaller mains may be permitted in:
(1) Cul-de-sacs having no more than 40 domestic branches and no longer than 800 feet;
(2) Cul-de-sacs or dead-end mains not more than 1,000 feet in length or serving not more than 60 multi-family units;
(3) Cul-de-sacs serving commercial users where the demand does not exceed the demand in division (f)(1) hereof;
(4) Where the extensions are installed connecting dead-ends or existing mains of less than 12 inches in size and where a 12-inch main would serve no useful purpose; or
(5) Where Council has determined based on a recommendation by the City Engineer that due to special circumstances a 12-inch main is not required for a residential development.
(Ord. 91-22, passed 2-25-1991; Ord. 93-80, passed 7-26-1993)