(A) Payment of the availability and connection costs shall be made at the following times and in the following manner:
(1) At signing of record plat or detail plan approval, or conditional use approval, the sum of two thousand one hundred dollars ($2,100) per each equivalent dwelling unit, which shall be allocated to the Interceptor Fund. Said payment shall be paid into the following accounts of the Interceptor Fund:
(a) The Interceptor Account. Two thousand one hundred dollars ($2,100) shall be paid into the Interceptor Account. This account can be used by either the Utility Director or City Engineer to pay the costs of improvements and extensions of the Interceptor Sewers of the City of Noblesville, including engineering fees, professional fees, construction costs, inspection, costs of maintenance of records and documents and such other costs as are ordinary and necessary in the construction, and expansion of the Interceptor Sewer System of the city. This account can be used to provide reimbursements to developers who oversize and/or extend sewers pursuant to the Master Plan set out in division (E) below. Contracts under this fund shall be negotiated by the City Engineer and approved by the Board of Public Works and Safety. Any developer meeting the terms of division (E) below, shall receive as a credit, up to two thousand one hundred dollars ($2,100) per EDU on land developed or owned by the developer as a credit for payment to the Interceptor Account. The balance of credits shall be paid in cash as set out in division (E). The payments under this fund shall be made only from funds available. The City Engineer shall approve all cash payments from this account.
(2) At the issuance of the building permit, the balance of three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500) per EDU shall be paid which shall be distributed into the following funds or accounts.
(a) Plant Expansion Fund. Two thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($2,250) per EDU shall be paid into the Plant Expansion Fund. This fund shall be managed by the Utility Director for the purpose of Wastewater Treatment Plant maintenance and/or capital improvements and may be used to pay the costs of the expansion of the City's Sewage Treatment Plant, including engineering costs, professional expenses, land acquisition, and construction expenses as well as any debt service or lease rental costs to finance the above expenses.
(b) Storm Water Fund. Nine hundred dollars ($900) per EDU shall be paid to the Stormwater Fund. This account shall be managed by the Utility Director and City Engineer and used to pay the costs of the design, construction, planning, and expenses necessary for the collection, distribution, purification, separation of combined sewer, diversion or storage of storm water within the city, or the area served by the utility, including, but not limited to, separation of combined sewer projects.
(c) Engineering Administrative Services Account fifty dollars ($50) per EDU shall be paid to the Engineering Administrative Services Account. This account shall be used by the City Engineer to pay for the operation and maintenance of the Department's database and acquisition of computer software and hardware, equipment and tools, as associated to the administrative and accounting services, including inspection attributed to the collection of availability and connection fees.
(d) Emergency Account. Three hundred dollars ($300) shall be paid into the Emergency Account. The Emergency Account is to be used by the city for emergency and special sewer cases as recommended by the Utility Director and as authorized by the Mayor. The amount in the Emergency Account shall continue to be collected until the account reaches one million dollars ($1,000,000) at which time any further amounts collected under this section shall be transferred and split between the Interceptor and Stormwater Accounts.
(3) All availability and connection costs shall be due and payable upon application for a building permit for any new user if the lot or land of the new user was not assessed an initial connection fee under either division (A)(1) above, or a prior ordinance of the city requiring partial payment of a connection fee at the time of plat approval.
(B) All interest from the funds shall remain in the fund and used for the purposes set out herein.
(C) The costs to be paid from the above funds and accounts shall expressly include construction costs, legal costs, engineering costs, construction inspection costs, project administrative costs and easement acquisition costs as shall be administered and defined by the Board of Public Works and Safety for the City of Noblesville.
(D) Easements, as are required by the Board of Public Works and Safety, for the extension of sewers across the land of a developer shall be prepared and dedicated without cost by the owner of the real estate. Other easements may be acquired pursuant to law.
(E) Credits and Reimbursements. Any owner of real estate, which either (1) including an extension of an interceptor sewer defined in the City Interceptor Improvement Master Plan (hereinafter referred to as "the Master Plan"); or (2) is served, or should be served, by an interceptor sewer to provide extensions of the city sewer system to other real estate; shall be required to extend the interceptors through their property, under the terms and conditions set out in this division. For purposes of this division, the following definitions apply:
"INTERCEPTOR COSTS." Sewer costs external to a development, including the costs of oversizing, or extending an interceptor through a development which costs would not be incurred if the interceptor was only being constructed or extended to serve present development.
"LOCAL SEWER COSTS." Sewer costs incurred because of the development being served. Local sewer shall be extended to the next upstream property line and have six feet (6') of cover based on the lowest ground elevation along the property line. Local sewer shall have a minimize diameter size of eight inches (8").
"OVERSIZING COSTS." Shall be the difference between the interceptor costs and the local sewer costs, including oversizing, construction of lift stations and other costs which would not be necessary, but for the developer's project, but are only costs of construction constructed in order to benefit real estate off-site of the property owned by persons other than the developer.
(F) The developer may recover his oversizing costs pursuant to the terms of an agreement for off-site extensions of sewer mains and related facilities in a form approved by the Board of Public Works and Safety. The reimbursement agreement shall be negotiated by the City Engineer and approved by the Board of Public Works and Safety prior to secondary plat approval of the developer. The amount of oversizing costs due the developer shall be paid through credits and reimbursements as set out herein. The developer, or his designee, shall receive credits for his or her liability to the Interceptor Account as set out above. To the extent that the credits would not be sufficient to reimburse the developer for his or her oversizing costs, the developer shall be entitled to reimbursement of costs without interest, which may include up to ten percent (10%) of the design cost of the oversized sewer. Those funds shall be paid solely from the Interceptor Account set out herein and shall be paid to the developer from the funds in that account based on availability and prioritized based upon the dates which the developer's Reimbursement Agreement is approved by the Board of Public Works and Safety.
(G) Extension of interceptor sewers shall be, in accordance with the latest Master Plan, developed and approved by the City of Noblesville, and interceptor sewers designed by registered professional and state licensed engineers retained or approved by the City of Noblesville. Plans and specifications for specific interceptor sewers shall be submitted and receive approval from the City of Noblesville and all applicable regulatory agencies prior to the start of construction (a copy of all such approvals shall be filed with the City of Noblesville within ten days after receipt of approval). In no event will any of the city sewer revenues be used, committed or encumbered to repay any such funds advanced or contributed, nor will the City's General Fund be used, committed or encumbered to repay any such funds advanced or contributed other than expressly agreed pursuant to division (E) above. Such repayment, if any, will be made under the provisions of division (E) and will be repaid only from funds deposited in the Interceptor Account. No provision of this section shall be construed as a guarantee by the City of Noblesville that the owners of real estate advancing funds will be fully reimbursed therefor. The amount of credits and reimbursements will be based on construction costs for labor and materials only and will be based on city standard costs as updated annually from receipt of no less than two (2) bid quotations. Design fees, easement expenses, legal expenses, interest, or any costs other than the labor and materials for the oversizing costs shall not exceed ten percent (10%) of the design costs of the oversized sewer unless expressly agreed by the Board of Public Works and Safety in writing.
(H) The connection fees paid at the time of plat approval shall be strictly nonrefundable.
(I) All plans for interceptor sewers and appurtenances thereto, to be installed outside the area being developed by the applicant (i.e. off-site sewers) shall be designed and constructed in accordance with Indiana law. All easements shall be granted to the City of Noblesville, and shall be obtained by and, if necessary, paid for by the owners of real estate. The easement(s) shall be obtained prior to engineering design of the project. Easements shall be in a form approved by the city.
(J) All extensions to the City of Noblesville sewerage systems shall be dedicated to and must be accepted by the city before connection, and once connected, shall become and remain thereafter the sole property of the City of Noblesville without further dedication thereof. The owners of real estate making such dedication shall post at the time of dedication, three (3) years maintenance bond equal to fifteen percent (15%) of the project cost in a form acceptable to the city. Other bonds may be required by Noblesville's Unified Development Ordinance. Owners of real estate shall agree and furnish an affidavit that they have paid in full contractor or contractors, material, men and laborers in cash the full cost of said extension or extensions.
(K) In accordance with this section and the City's Unified Development Ordinance, the owners of real estate obtaining a permit of sewerage extensions shall submit plans for on-site sewers, including trunk sewers to be constructed within the development, to the City of Noblesville for review and approval prior to start of construction. During construction of said on-site sewers, the owners of real estate shall pay the expense of an inspector to assure that the construction of the facilities are in compliance with current standards and specifications established by the City of Noblesville. Upon completion of construction, the owners of real estate shall provide certified record construction drawings to the city within thirty (30) days. If certified record construction drawings are not provided as required, the city may prepare these at the expense of said owners of real estate. No potential reimbursable expenses of oversizing and/or off-site interceptor construction will be allowed until record drawings are provided and approved. The city will provide the inspector or may approve, in writing, an inspector designated by the owners of real estate. The owners of real estate will pay the inspection costs, costs for televising required prior to the approval of the secondary plat and costs for televising required six (6) months prior to the expiration of the maintenance bond to the City of Noblesville to be deposited into the Engineering Inspection Services Account The inspection costs are set by the City's Unified Development Ordinance.
(L) Individual Connections in Developed Areas. If individual applicants for sewage service in already developed acreage and/or platted subdivisions wish to be served requiring construction of a new trunk sewer or local sewers, they shall obtain a permit. If a connection is made to any trunk or local sewer without obtaining a permit and paying the required availability, connection and local sewer costs, such act shall constitute a violation of this section, and the individual or owners of real estate making such connection will be subject to a fine of one hundred dollars ($100) per day for each day the connection was unlawfully installed, and will be required to remove the connection until the requirements of the ordinance are complied with. Each day such unlawful connection exists may be considered a separate offense.
(M) This section and the costs and charges set out herein may be amended from time to time by the Common Council of the City of Noblesville when conditions exist that indicate to the Common Council that charges herein are not equitable for the customers of the municipal sewage system or for the subdividers, developers, or owners of property connection to such sewage system.
(Ord. 1-7-88, passed - -88; Am. Ord. 59-7-89, passed 7-25-89; Am. Ord. 2-1-94, passed 1-24-94; Am. Ord. 60-12-95, passed 12-11-95; Am. Ord. 72-12-00, passed 12-26-00; Am. Ord. 21-6-02, passed 8-13-02; Am. Ord. 20-5-04, passed 6-15-04; Am. Ord. 17-07-20, passed 7-28-20; Am. Ord. 01-01-21, passed 1-26-21)