Loading...
Whenever any premises are connected to the water system, there shall be maintained a complete physical separation between the water supply system and the private water supply system so that it is impossible to intentionally or unintentionally allow any water produced by a private system to be introduced in the supply line from the city system.
(Prior Code, § 7-2-19)
(A) Shut off for nonpayment. The city shall endeavor to collect delinquent accounts promptly. In any case where satisfactory arrangements for payment have not been made, the Public Works Department may, after the procedural requirements of division (B) below have been complied with, discontinue service to the delinquent customer by shutting off the water at the stop box. When water service to any premises has been discontinued, service shall not be restored except upon the payment of all delinquent amounts due plus a fee for disconnection and reconnection based on a fee schedule adopted by the City Council.
(B) Procedure. Water shall not be shut off under division (A) above until notice and an opportunity for a hearing have first been given the occupant of the premises involved. The notice shall be sent by certified mail and shall state that if payment is not made before a date stated in the notice but not less than 30 days after the date on which the notice is given, the water supply to the premises will be shut off. The notice shall not be sent until an account is 30 days past due. The notice shall contain amount due and shut off date if payment is not made.
(C) Shut off for abandonment or vacancy.
(1) The Chief Building Official or the Public Works Director, to protect the public health and safety and in order to protect the public water supply and/or private property, may order the city water service immediately disconnected to any property without prior notice to the owner upon determining that any of the following conditions exist:
(a) The property is vacant or abandoned;
(b) The property is unsecured;
(c) The property is determined to be uninhabitable or unsuitable for occupancy;
(d) Other utilities have been shut off or the city has been provided notice of disconnection of gas or electric service; or
(e) Running water to the property creates an unsanitary or unsafe condition.
(2) (a) Water service shall not be re-connected to the property until it has passed an inspection by the city and the owner pays any re-connection fee as noted in the fee schedule ordinance.
(b) Upon disconnection, the city will post or leave notice at the property indicating the date of disconnection and directions regarding how the service may be reconnected.
(Prior Code, § 7-2-20) (Ord. 107, passed 11-23-1981; Ord. 458, passed 10-23-2006)
All property owners and customers of the municipal water service shall comply with the following cross connection control requirements:
(A) Any private water line, system, apparatus or equipment that is connected to or has a cross-connection with the city's municipal water system shall have a backflow prevention device installed, tested, and properly maintained in accordance with the Minnesota State Plumbing Code.
(B) Prior to the installation of or the repair to any private water line, system, apparatus or equipment that is connected to or has a cross-connection with the city's municipal water system, the property owner, or the customer if different than the owner, shall notify and obtain approval for the installation or repair and the backflow prevention devices proposed to be installed.
(C) The backflow prevention device is to be owned, tested, and maintained in working condition by the customer/owner of the premises being served and shall be done so in accordance with the Minnesota State Plumbing Code.
(D) The backflow prevention device shall be tested at the intervals set forth by the Minnesota State Building Code for the type of device installed. The required test shall be performed by an ASSE/state certified backflow tester. All internal maintenance to the device shall be performed by an ASSE/state certified backflow prevention re builder. The owner/customer shall provide a certified report of the test results to the city. An ASSE certified Cross-Connection Control Surveyor is considered qualified by the City of Monticello to investigate all potable water outlets for actual or potential connections between a potable water supply and sources of contamination or pollution.
(E) (1) All properties connected to the municipal water utility system shall be subject to annual inspections by a city-designated inspector for the purpose of determining whether cross connection(s) exist and if so, whether the proper device is present on the property. The property owner or occupant shall permit the city-designated inspector on the property and within any structure thereon to complete the inspection. The compliance inspection shall occur within 30 days of written notice from the city that a compliance inspection is required on the property. The compliance inspection shall occur at a time and in the manner as reasonably determined by the city inspector.
(2) In lieu of a compliance inspection by the city-designated inspector, the property owner or occupant may have the property inspected, at the sole expense of the owner or occupant, by an ASSE certified Cross-Connection Control Surveyor who shall inspect the property and file a certificate of compliance, on a form provided by the city, within 30 days of the city's notice of the required inspection. The private ASSE certified Cross-Connection Control Surveyor who conducts the compliance inspection shall certify on the certificate of compliance whether all backflow prevention devices required on the property are installed and in proper working condition in in compliance with the provisions of this section and the Minnesota State Plumbing Code.
(3) If the property owner or occupant fails to permit or have completed a compliance inspection, the city may apply to the district court for an appropriate administrative search warrant authorizing the city to enter the property to conduct the inspection.
(4) In the event that backflow prevention device(s) is required on the property and said device(s) are not present or are not in compliance with this section, the installation or repair of the proper backflow prevention device( s) shall be completed and a second compliance inspection shall be completed within 60 days of the notice of noncompliance to determine if the necessary corrections have been made and compliance with this section has been met. The second compliance inspection shall be subject to the requirements set forth above. Thereafter, the property shall be subject to re-inspections on an annual basis to confirm continued compliance. Properties that are in compliance shall also be subject to re-inspections to confirm continued compliance.
(F) Surcharges.
(1) A surcharge in an amount duly adopted by City Council resolution and set forth in the city's fee schedule shall be assessed against the property on which backflow prevention devices (or lack thereof) in violation of this section. The surcharge will be charged on the property's municipal utility billing statement. A surcharge will be assessed and charged as follows:
(a) An inspection as required herein has not been allowed by the property owner or occupant or a certificate of compliance has not been filed with the city within 30 days after the city's notice of inspection;
(b) The necessary corrections have not been made within the time specified; and
(c) The property owner or occupant has failed to install, replace or repair any and all backflow prevention device(s) at the city's or a court's direction.
(2) A surcharge will be assessed for every billing period during which the property is not in compliance, whether the non-compliance has existed for the entire billing period or a portion thereof.
(G) The city may impose a fee for administering a backflow preventer testing program which shall be as established by City Council resolution.
(H) Failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall be cause to disconnect municipal water service to the property in accordance with this chapter.
(Ord. 743, passed 7-27-2020)
USER CHARGES
For the purpose of providing monies necessary for the maintenance and operation of the disposal system of the city, including payment of principal and interest due or accruing on bonds and other obligations issued or incurred to finance the maintenance and operation, there is hereby charged a “user charge” to be collected by the city with respect to each lot, parcel of land, building, or premises, having any connection direct or indirect with the disposal system of the city or otherwise discharging sewage, industrial waste, water, or other waste directly into the city disposal system. The user charge is to be paid periodically commencing with connection and continuing (unless for good cause waived or excused) for as long as the premises remain connected.
(Prior Code, § 7-3-1)
(A) Accounts. All accounts shall be carried in the name of the owner who personally, or by his or her authorized agent, applied for such service. The owner shall be liable for water and sewer services supplied to the property, whether he or she is occupying the property or not, and any unpaid charges shall be a lien upon the property.
(B) Charges due. The Chief Financial Officer shall compute the amount due the city for service charges and render a statement thereof monthly to the owner of any premises served or to both. All amounts due hereunder shall be payable to the office of the Finance Department.
(C) Payment required. Payment of user charges must be made when a connection is established, temporary or permanent, vacancy notwithstanding
(D) Enforcement of charges. Each charge levied by and pursuant to this section is hereby made a lien upon the corresponding lot, land, or premises served by a connection to the sewer system of the city. All the charges which are more than 60 days past due, and having been properly billed to the occupant of the premises served, shall be certified by the City Clerk to the County Auditor by November 30 of each year. The City Clerk shall specify the amount thereof, the description of the premises served, the name of the owner thereof which shall be certified by the Auditor on the tax rolls against the premises in the same manner as other taxes.
(E) Right of action. Any charges levied by and pursuant to § 50.36, and which have not been properly billed to the owner of any premises served, and not paid, may be recovered in a civil action by the city in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(F) Application of funds. The funds received from the collection of charges authorized by this section shall be deposited as collected in a fund known as the Water Fund and Sewer Fund and shall be disbursed:
(1) To meet the costs of operation and maintaining the water and sewage disposal pumping stations, treatment plant, and collection system; and
(2) To meet the costs of repair and replacement of the water and sewage disposal facilities.
(Prior Code, § 7-3-3) (Ord. 214, passed 10-28-1991; Ord. 785, passed 9-26-2022)
(A) Industrial waste measurement and sampling. Any person discharging industrial waste into the disposal system shall provide and maintain a suitable point or points of access together with the necessary meters and other appurtenances at an appropriate location prior to discharge of the waste into the disposal system to permit observation, measurement, and sampling of the waste by the city. Plans for the sampling points and measuring equipment shall be submitted to and approved by the city prior to construction and installation of same. Sampling and measuring facilities shall be such as to provide safe access for making inspection and verification of their proper operating condition. The metered water supply to a source of industrial waste may be used in lieu of a measured industrial waste volume where it can be established that the metered water supply and waste quantities are approximately the same or where a measurable adjustment to the metered supply can be made to determine the waste volume.
(B) Industrial waste analyses. Determination of the character and concentration of an industrial waste discharged into the disposal system shall be made by the person discharging it or his or her designated agent. Reports showing quantities and pertinent analytical data of the industrial waste discharges shall be filed with the city.
(C) Measurement and test procedures. All measurements, tests, and analyses of the characteristics of waste to which reference is made in these rules and regulations shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published jointly by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association, and the Water Pollution Control Federation. Sampling shall be carried out by methods acceptable to and approved by the city. Alternate methods for certain analyses may be used subject to prior written approval by the city.
(D) Confidentiality of critical information.
(1) Any records or other information obtained by the city or furnished by an industrial waste discharger which are certified by the discharger to relate to:
(a) Production or sales figures;
(b) Processes or production unique to the discharge; or
(c) Information which would tend to affect adversely the competitive position of the discharger shall be only for the confidential use of the city in discharging its statutory obligations unless otherwise authorized by the discharger.
(2) However, all the information may be used by the city in compiling or publishing analyses or summaries relating to the general condition of the public waters so long as the analyses or summaries do not identify any discharger who has so not certified.
(Prior Code, § 7-3-4)
(A) Any person violating any provision of this chapter for which no specific penalty is prescribed shall be subject to § 10.99 of this code of ordinances.
(Prior Code, § 7-2-21)
(C) Violators of § 50.17 will be warned the first time and a water use surcharge as listed in the fee schedule ordinance will be billed for a second offense; the surcharge for third and subsequent violations within a 12-month period is listed in the fee schedule ordinance. The Public Works Department may shut the water off for repeat offenses. The standard turn-off and turn-on rates shall apply in addition to the surcharges.
(Prior Code, § 7-2-17)
(Ord. 362, passed 7-23-2001)