(A) Application. Upon application for water service for a property not already connected to the city's potable water system, the record owner of the property must sign a water service agreement in a form as provided by the city. In addition, the beneficial owners, if any, must also sign the water service agreement, and if the property is a rental property, the property owner must advise the city of the name of the tenant or occupier of the property. Regardless of the provisions contained within any lease or rental agreement, the property owner shall ultimately be responsible for the payment of all fees and charges incurred pursuant to this chapter or any other ordinance of the city governing the city's water system. If for any reason whatsoever, any record owner(s) or beneficial owner(s) fail(s) to sign a water service agreement as required by this section, then the installation of a water service line upon the record owner's property or the provision of water service to and the use of water by the property owner or property owner's tenants, shall constitute an implied execution of a water service agreement acknowledging that the property owner accepts and agrees to the provisions of this section and any subsequent ordinance applicable to the city's water system, including but not limited to any changes in water rates or connection fees.
(B) Connection and expansion tee charges. The owner of each lot or premises being connected to the municipal water system shall pay any connection charge to the city required by divisions (1) and (2) below:
(1) Water connection tap-on fee. The water connection tap-on fee is intended to reimburse the city for a portion of the construction, maintenance, and operational costs of the existing water system into which the property owner seeks to connect. After the property owner makes application to the city and signs a water service agreement, and either pays the applicable fee, or, for single-family residential only, executes an installment payment agreement, the schedule of tap-on fees shall be as follows:
(a) Single-family residential charge (within or outside the city limits): $5,000.
(b) Multi-family residential or commercial tap-on fee charge:
Size of Tap | Charge |
One and one-half to two inches | $5,000 |
Greater than two inches | As determined by the Office of the City Engineer and City Administrator |
(2) Water expansion/extension fee. The water expansion/extension fee is intended to reimburse this municipality for the costs of extending water lines to serve new and additional users and/or increasing the system's capacity to delivery water. This fee shall be based upon the water user's pro rata share of all the costs of the extension and/or expansion including, but not limited to, engineering, supervision, and legal fees, and land acquisition and construction costs.
(a) Whenever the city provides an estimate of the water expansion/extension fee, it shall be prepared by the offices of the City Engineer and City Administrator, and the estimate shall be binding on this municipality for 120 days.
(b) An applicant who disputes the estimate of the water expansion and extension fee may appeal to the City Council.
(c) The city may accept a donation of construction, expansion, or extension of its systems in lieu of all or part of the connection charges established by this section and will execute an agreement with the donor to enable the donor to recapture some or all of the costs of the donated construction, expansion or extension of the city's systems.
(C) Disconnections and reconnections to the city's potable water system due to demolition of structures. When a residential or commercial structure that is connected to the city's potable water system is to be completely demolished, and all utilities, including but not limited to water, electric, gas and sanitary, must be physically exposed by way of excavation, the potable water connection to be installed for the new structure will be considered a new connection and a water connection tap-on fee will be applied due to the increase in the water connection size made necessary by the city's fire suppression requirements as provided in § 150.15(A) through (T) of this code. The water connection tap-on fee amount will be assessed according to the provisions of § 52.08(B). This requirement for a water connection tap-on fee shall not include a residential structure which is to be rebuilt after having been destroyed by fire, wind or some other "Act of God". If the record owner of the property where a demolition will occur is different than the record of owner who signed the initial water service agreement pursuant to § 52.08(A), the new record owner of the property shall complete a water service agreement in a form provided by the city.
(D) Other voluntary disconnections and reconnections. A water connection tap-on fee shall not be applied to a residential or commercial lot for reasons other than demolition of a structure, such as, service line size upgrades to increase capacity for a residential fire sprinkler system, or any other property reconfiguration that would require the disconnection or relocation of the water service, such as accommodating a driveway relocation.
(E) Disconnection from other municipal system. Whenever any property owner applies for connection to the city's water system and, at the time of such application has an existing water service connection to another municipal water system, then the tap-on fee required by this section may be waived by the City Council if the property owner disconnects from the other municipal water system, prior to or at the time of connection to the city's water system. All other applicable fees, charges, or expenses otherwise contained in the code shall be paid, and the property owner shall comply with all the applicable ordinances.
(F) Compliance with local ordinances. It shall be an implied condition of each water service agreement and each connection to the city's water system that the water service customer and the owner of the property being serviced shall comply with all ordinances, rules or regulations governing the city's water system as may be now or any time hereafter in effect.
(Ord. 98-09, passed 6-9-98; Am. Ord. 98-16, passed 8-25-98; Am. Ord. 98-28, passed 10-27-98; Am. Ord. 99-44, passed 1-11-00; Am. Ord. 00-20, passed 8-16-00; Am. Ord. 01-56, passed 3-26-02; Am. Ord. 02-74, passed 3-25-03; Am. Ord. 07-04, passed 6-26-07; Am. Ord. 08-2, passed 5-13-08; Am. Ord. 08-22, passed 9-9-08; Am. Ord. 13-54, passed 11-12-13)