(A) Upon a customer’s request, the Water Department shall disconnect upon at least three working days notice in advance of when service is requested to be disconnected. For purposes of disconnection, working days shall be Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Customer shall remain responsible for service used and the billings therefor until service is disconnected pursuant to that notice. Upon request by a customer to disconnect the service within three working days of the request of disconnection date, the customer shall not be liable for any service rendered to such address or location after the expiration of those three working days.
(B) The Water Department may disconnect service without request by the customer and without prior notice only: if a condition dangerous or hazardous to life, physical safety or property exists; or upon order by any court, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission or other duly authorized public authority; or a fraudulent or unauthorized use of water is detected and the Water Department has reasonable ground to believe the affected customer is responsible for such use; or if the Water Department’s regulating or measuring equipment has been tampered with and that it has reasonable grounds to believe the affected customer is responsible for such tampering. In all other instances the Water Department may not disconnect service involuntarily without notice except as is provided herein below.
(C) Except as provided herein in division (B) above, service to any residential customer shall not be disconnected for a violation of any of these rules or for the non-payment of a bill, except after written notice to customer mailed not less than ten days prior to the date of disconnection. If disconnection is made due to non-payment of a regular monthly bill, the disconnection notice will be sent at the same time as the monthly statements (approximately the first of the month). Notice shall be made by either mailing the notice to the customer’s address shown on the records of the Water Department or personal delivery of the notice to the customer at the address shown on the records of the utility. The notice must be in language that is clear, concise and easily understandable to a lay person and shall state the date of the proposed disconnection; the specific basis and reason for the proposed disconnection; the amount which must be paid to avoid disconnection; and the telephone number of the Water Department which the customer may call during regular business hours in order to question the proposed disconnection. At the time a representative of the Water Department arrives at the location to disconnect the service, he shall have in his possession information sufficient to enable him to inform the customer of the reason for the disconnection, including the amount of the delinquent bill if the customer shall so request. The employee of the Water Department shall not be allowed to accept payment from the customer in order to prevent the service from being disconnected, such payment must be made at the Department office. When the Department employee has disconnected the service, he shall give to the customer, or leave at a conspicuous place on the premises, notice stating the service has been disconnected and stating the address and phone number of the utility where the customer may arrange to have service reconnected.
(D) The Water Department shall disconnect service only on Monday through Thursday of every regular business week between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. local time. The Water Department shall not disconnect service for non-payment on any day in which the Water Department is closed to the public or after 3:00 p.m. immediately preceding the day on which the Water Department shall not be open to the public.
(E) The Water Department shall charge a $20 reconnection charge. If the Water Department disconnects service in violation of these rules, the service shall immediately be restored at no charge to the customer. The Water Department shall reconnect the service to the customer as soon as reasonably possible but at least within one working day after it is requested to do so provided that payment of all delinquent charges and all current bills owed the Department by the customer and any deposit which may be authorized has been made.
(Ord. 93-17, passed 9-13-93)