(a) Sanitary Sewer Line Extensions in the Village.
(1) Assessed projects. Property owners desiring the laying of new sanitary sewer lines or extensions in the Village of North Baltimore as an assessment project as provided for in Ohio R.C. Chapters 727 and 729 may present a petition requesting such lines or extensions to the Village Administrator or his authorized representative. If the project is authorized by Village Council the cost of such lines shall be borne by the property owners so petitioning, at the rate per lineal foot as legally prescribed by the Village. The size and kind of line to install shall be decided by, and the work of installing shall be done under the supervision of the Sewer Superintendent. When a sanitary sewer line has been installed along a street in the manner hereinabove set forth, any property owner or occupant on said street who desires to secure sanitary sewer service from the line, or who is required by law to connect to said line, shall pay to the Village the rate based upon the front footage of his or her property along said line as assessed other property owners served by said line if the project is constructed by or at the direction of the Village as an assessment project.
(2) Projects built by developers. In cases where a developer or property owner wishes to bring sanitary sewer to a previously undeveloped area, a request in writing must be submitted to the Village Administrator or his authorized representative outlining the proposed new development. The cost of extending sanitary sewer service mains to the new development will be borne by the property owner/developer. Lines must be installed pursuant to specifications approved by the Village Sewer Superintendent, and/or the Village Engineer. Once the line is inspected, tested and approved and the connections to the Village sanitary sewer system are made, the line shall become part of the Village sanitary sewer system and shall be under the complete ownership and control of the Village.
(b) Sanitary Sewer Line Rotary Fee Policy. The Village will enter into a contract with a property owner, or developer who files a written request with the Village Administrator to install sanitary sewer service mains to serve an undeveloped area of the Village. The agreement will authorize the collection of a fee in addition to the normal tap fee, said fee to be known as a "Rotary Fee", with the agreement to be known as a "Rotary Fee Contract". The Contract will conform to the following:
(1) Only owners and developers who privately construct extensions of Village sanitary sewer service lines will be eligible to enter into a Rotary Fee Contract. To qualify, the original developer or owner must design, locate, size and construct new line(s) conforming to specifications approved by the Village Sewer Superintendent, in consultation with the Village Administrator and/or the Village Engineer. Only new line(s) designed, sized and constructed with sufficient extra capacity to service property in addition to the property the original developer or builder plans to serve at the time the new line(s) are constructed will be eligible for Rotary Fee Contracts. The Village shall determine whether the proposed new sanitary sewer line project qualifies for a Rotary Fee contract. If the cost of the project is supplemented by the Village or Northwest Regional Water and Sewer District, and/or any other entity serving the public interest, the developer or individual will be reimbursed only their proportionate share.
Before the line(s) are accepted by the Village and/or rotary fees are collected, the new line(s) must pass Village inspection and testing. The new line(s) will become the property of the Village's sanitary sewer system and fall under the Village's exclusive control as of the date said line(s) are placed in service.
(2) Rotary fees will be assessed and collected for an initial maximum period of ten years from the date the line(s) are placed in service. Village Council reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to extend the period of time that rotary fees will be assessed and collected pursuant to a rotary fee agreement with a developer for a period of up to an additional ten years from the date the assessment and collection period in the original agreement expires. The Village Administrator together with Village legal counsel shall have the authority to specify in the original rotary fee agreement with the developer, the requirements for submitting a request for an extension of the collection period.
(3) Developers and owners who wish to enter into a rotary fee contract must request that the Village consider entering into such a contract with said developer up to twelve months before the subject project is to begin, but no later than ninety days after the date the new line(s) constructed by the developer are placed in service. Requests must be in writing and filed in the Village Clerk's office. The developer or owner who extended the sanitary sewer line must file with the Village Administrator a notarized statement documenting the actual footage, the estimated cost of the sanitary sewer line extension if prior to commencement of construction, and the final cost of the sanitary sewer line extension within the ninety day period after the line(s) are placed in service. Actual final cost of a sanitary sewer line extension shall include all items of material, labor and other directly associated costs including associated designated engineering, and including costs for the opening of existing pavement, and street resurfacing necessary to complete the installation. Excluded shall be general office expense pertaining to the purchase, storage, delivery and installation of all materials necessary for the extensions. Those costs are considered to be the responsibility of the developer in conducting normal business. Costs will be reviewed by the Sewer Superintendent and/or Village Engineer for reasonableness and a confirmation letter approving costs will be sent to the developer by the Village Administrator's office.
(4) The developer must additionally pay an administrative fee equal to five percent (5%) of the actual final cost limited to a maximum fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000). The administrative fee is to cover the Village's cost of maintaining records on new connections, receiving and remitting connection charges, etc. The full administrative fee is to be paid at the time the first Rotary Fee is collected and paid to the developer.
(5) Failure to file the notarized statement of actual final cost within ninety days of the date the line is placed in service will result in the developer or individual being ineligible for reimbursement.
(6) The Rotary Fee to be collected from a party requesting a permit to tap a line subject to a Rotary Fee contract shall be determined based on one of the following methods:
A. Front Foot Method. If a line is to be tapped to serve a single family residence, or a single commercial or industrial project, the rotary fee to be collected will normally be based on the frontage of the parcel being served by the proposed tap that is adjacent to the line being tapped, and shall be calculated by multiplying the served parcel's front footage by fifty percent (50%) of the developer's per foot cost for said line to be tapped, unless it is determined that paragraph (6)B. should apply.
Example: Actual per lineal foot cost rounded to the nearest whole dollar value, multiplied by 50% = "the per foot fee" subject to collection by the Village as a Rotary Fee. Amount collected from each end user is based on the front footage of the lot being serviced multiplied by "the per foot fee".
Actual cost of a Main extension = $16.00 per lineal foot.
$16.00 X 50% = $8.00.
$8.00 X 220 (Front footage of property tapping the Main) =
$1,760.00
$1,760.00 (Amount to be reimbursed to the developer)
B. Benefit Conferred Method. Alternate methods of determining the rotary fees to be assessed are necessary to accommodate large mains that have a high cost per foot, where the tap is intended to serve a small project that will utilize a very small part of the main's capacity, and which might make the new project economically unfeasible if the party tapping is required to pay a fee based on the method specified in (6)A., above. If the calculated rotary fee for a requested tap intended to serve a single family residence or a single commercial or industrial project exceeds eight thousand dollars ($8,000), and the party requesting the tap requests that the rotary fee be determined based on the benefit conferred method, a decision to apply method (6)A., or (6)B. shall be determined by the Village Sewer Superintendent, together with the Mayor and the Village Administrator, who shall make their decision by majority vote. If they determine to charge a rotary fee based on method (6)B., they shall determine by majority vote, the amount of the rotary fee to be charged in each case, which shall not be less than twenty percent (20%) of, or exceed the amount that would apply if the method specified in (6)A. was applied.
C. Appeal. If the party seeking permission to tap a line, or the developer who constructed the line objects to the determination made by the Mayor, Superintendent and the Administrator, that party shall have ten days from the date written notice of the decision is served on them to file written objections with the Village Clerk. If an objection is filed, the Clerk shall convene three adult residents of the Village who shall meet as binding arbitrators to resolve the objection to the decision of the Mayor, Administrator and Sewer Superintendent. The arbitrators shall review and make a binding determination of the method to be used to calculate the rotary fee and, if the method selected is based on "benefit conferred", shall determine the amount of the rotary fee. Persons serving as arbitrators shall not be employed by the Village, or hold elected office in the Village, or serve in any paid capacity in Village government, nor shall any of said persons be employed by or related to the developer, or the party seeking to tap a line. The arbitrators shall meet within fourteen days to decide the issue. The Village Clerk shall notify all interested parties of the date of the meeting. The original developer or his heirs or assigns as well as the party required to pay the rotary fee when finally determined, may appear in person or by agent or attorney and present their position on the issue; or they may elect to present their position to the arbitrators in writing. In order not to delay projects any person required to pay a rotary fee to secure permission to tap a Village sanitary sewer line may deposit the highest possible rotary fee that may be assessed with the Village Finance Officer or Clerk to be held without interest, until the decision on the amount of the rotary fee to be assessed is final. Any excess deposit will be refunded.
(7) If a sanitary sewer main extension is further extended by another developer, no rotary fee will be collected and no reimbursement is applicable. The Village requires Municipal ownership of all approved distribution and collection mains and does not impose costs for extensions of mains. To be exempt from payment of a rotary fee, "extensions" of a sewer main requested by another developer shall mean only those connections made to a sewer main covered by a rotary fee agreement, that are sized and constructed as required by the Village, with the intention of serving additional undeveloped territory not under the control of the developer or property owner requesting the right to extend. The requested "extension" sewer main must be eligible for its own rotary fee agreement. All other connections shall be considered "taps" as that term is used in Section 915.11(b)(6) and will be required to pay the applicable rotary fee.
(8) In no case will the developer or owner responsible for the sanitary sewer main extension subject to a rotary fee contract be eligible to recover more than fifty percent (50%) of the actual final cost of the extension.
(9) No Rotary Fee is applicable for "Surface/Storm Water" collection systems. As no tap fee is currently assessed for surface water connections, any storm water drainage collection system installed by a developer is understood to become Village property immediately upon acceptance by the Village Administrator's office.
(10) Collection of rotary fees, unless the collection period is extended at Village Council's discretion as provided in subsection (b)(2) hereof, shall terminate ten years from the date the original line subject to a rotary fee contract is placed in service, or when the original developer has received reimbursement of fifty percent (50%) of his costs from prior rotary fees collected, whichever occurs first. The date a party first requests permission to tap a line subject to a rotary fee contract shall be documented in writing on a request form submitted to the Village Administrator or the Sewer Superintendent. The request form shall be required before discussions concerning tapping any Village line are undertaken. Even if the exact course or point of tapping or connection is not determined until a later time, and/or the actual tap or connection is not made until a later time, the date used to determine whether a rotary fee is to be assessed as falling within the ten year limitation shall be the date the request form is submitted.
(11) The original developer or his/her/its heirs or assigns shall be paid one-hundred percent (100%) of each rotary fee collected by the Village under authority of subsection (b)(6) hereof, during the effective period of that developer's rotary fee contract. Payment shall be made to original developer within thirty days of the date the actual tap is made.
(12) Rotary fees will not apply to property owned by, or under the control of the developer or any entity owned or controlled by developer that the line or main was originally intended to serve. The Village shall not be required to collect or pay rotary fees for taps to a line that serves a public use or public facility, or for taps made by the Village to replace a sanitary sewer line serving a customer who was receiving service from the Village prior to the date of this agreement. The Village shall have the authority to authorize taps to a line subject to a Rotary Fee Agreement which replaces a line serving an existing customers without requiring payment of a rotary fee, provided the replacement tap is no larger then the service tap being replaced.
(13) Other associated fees as may be applicable, including "Impact Fees", if any, will be in addition to rotary fees, and no developer may waive the imposition or collection of those fees. A developer may elect to waive the collection of rotary fees to which they are entitled upon written notification to the Village Clerk's office. Each property to which a fee is to be waived will require separate notification for file purposes.
(14) Rotary fee agreements shall include a provision requiring the developer to warrant the lines constructed by that developer against defects in materials and errors in construction. Said warranty shall continue for a period of one year from the date the lines are accepted by the Village and placed in service. The developer shall make all repairs and corrections to said lines at developer's cost during the warranty period. The Village reserves the right to require the developer maintain a surety bond to guarantee that said repairs or corrections will be satisfactorily completed.
(Ord. 11-06. Passed 5-3-11.)