Council hereby establishes the following regulations and access charges for new connections to the City's water system.
(a) No person, corporation, public agency, partnership or association whatsoever shall connect, or cause to be connected, any building or other structure or additional use, either directly or indirectly, to the water system without first paying the applicable water access charge established in this section and any applicable additional charges determined in accordance with the provisions of this section or otherwise. These access charges shall apply to all water service connections whether directly or indirectly connected to the City of Norton water system. Indirectly connected shall constitute any service laterals receiving water from water lines or portions thereof not owned by the City but ultimately receiving water from City water transmission lines and/or treatment facilities.
(b) Where a connection is to be made to the City's water system, either directly or indirectly, the potential user thereof shall pay, prior to making such connection, a one-time, up-front City access charge based on the water use capacity needed to serve the use(s) at the property, as noted below. For purposes hereof a single benefit shall be the capacity made available to a single, residential water user supplied by the City of Barberton through the use of a 5/8" water meter.
(c) The number of benefits to be used to calculate the City access charge hereunder shall be in accordance with the Conversion Table that follows this paragraph. The values shown on the chart are equivalent to or less than a multiple of the capacity associated with a single benefit based on the equivalent water service ratio in the AVVWA Manual M1 (Fifth Edition), Principles of Water Rates, Fees, and Charges. If the AINVVA Manual M1 in the sole judgment of the City's Engineer does not cover the particular situation, then the City's Engineer shall calculate a proportionate number of benefits based on customary engineering principles and practices with respect to estimated water or sewage flows from particular uses, with the estimated flow for a single family residential use as the single benefit benchmark. For general purposes, the calculation of the number of benefits will be based on the size of the water meter required for the use to be served as assigned in the following table which has been established by the City at equivalent benefit values below the ratios established in the AVVINA Manual in order to make the benefit costs more affordable:
CONVERSION TABLE
Meter Size (Inches) | 5/8" | 3/4" | 1" | 1.5" | 2" | 3" | 4" | 6" |
Assigned Benefits | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 12.0 |
The City of Norton will charge access fees at the per benefit rates shown on the following chart:
Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Access Charge (Per Benefit) | $1,200 | $1,250 | $1,300 | $1,350 | $1,400 |
(d) The following situations shall be exempted from payment of the access charges:
(1) Alteration or expansion of an existing building where no additional or larger water meter connections are requested.
(2) The replacement of a building or structure with a new building or structure of the same size and use where no additional or larger water connections are requested. Replacement must be by the original owner, and for the property owner to retain this exemption from the access charged, the building permit for the replacement structure must be obtained within one year of the date of water service termination.
(3) A change in water meter size shall not be exempted from payment of the access charge; however, a credit shall be given any access charge previously imposed on the old connection size.
(4) No access fee shall be required, nor credited for a change in water meter size that results in a decrease in meter size.
(e) At least every five years thereafter, and at any other time that Council finds appropriate, the access charges shall be recalculated based on the then current number of benefit users and asset values of the water system at that time.
(f) All monies collected by the City as access charges shall be deposited into the Water Utility Fund for the City and shall be accounted for separately from other funds. Access charges and interest earned thereon may be expended only for capital project costs, including interest expenses.
(g) The imposition of access charges provided for in this section shall not preclude the levy of special assessments and/or charges against benefited properties, now in place or imposed in the future, to provide funds and/or reimburse the City for its cost to construct, replace, rehabilitate or otherwise improve water lines required to provide water service to such properties, and the charges provided for in this section are in addition to any other permits and charges required by law.
(h) In the event that any lot or land or building or other structure thereon is connected directly or indirectly to the water system in violation of any of the provisions of this section, and the owner, agent, lessee, tenant or occupant of such lot or land fails or refuses to disconnect the same upon being directed to do so by the City, the Director of Public Service is hereby authorized to cause such lot or land to be disconnected from the water system, and the violator shall be liable to the City for the cost of making such disconnection.
(Ord. 65-2003. Passed 7-14-03; Ord. 56-2004. Passed 4-26-04; Ord. 1-2005. Passed 3-14-05; Ord. 45-2006. Passed 5-22-06; Ord. 103-2006. Passed 12-11-06; Ord. 4-2008. Passed 1-14-08; Ord. 007-2020. Passed 2-10-20.)