(a) The department of utilities shall be organized and administered under the direction of a director of utilities who shall be accountable to the city manager. The duties of the department of utilities shall be as follows:
(1) To plan, direct and coordinate the operations of the city's utilities department;
(2) To coordinate the forecasting of the city's long-range utility needs and develop financial plans to ensure that the city's utilities rate, reserve and revenue levels will be able to meet customer service, operating and financial requirements;
(3) To provide administrative support to the utilities advisory commission on matters relating to the department;
(4) To generate appropriate reports as may be required by county, state and federal agencies or by law;
(5) To operate a responsive customer service center, to manage customer service utilities billing, inquiries and complaints and to provide a fast and courteous response to each customer's request for utility service;
(6) To establish rates to offset operating costs of all city utility operations designated as utilities enterprise funds and to provide a fair and reasonable rate of return on the city's capital improvement investment in those utilities designated as utilities enterprise funds;
(7) To provide technical or other efficiency services to enable residential, commercial and industrial utilities customers to reduce their operating costs, improve the quality of the environment and maintain a high level of customer satisfaction;
(8) To forecast and plan the acquisition and disposition of sufficient least-cost resource supplies to meet existing and future supply requirements in an environmentally acceptable manner;
(9) To negotiate for the purchase and sale of water, gas and electricity and contract with water, gas and electric power producers, suppliers and marketers for resource supply at the best available price or cost;
(10) To recommend capital construction and improvements of all utility systems, and to administer such programs when approved;
(11) To inspect all construction work done by or for the utilities and require compliance with all contracts made in connection therewith;
(12) To prepare or cause to be prepared all utility maps of the utilities, and to keep and to maintain such records as are necessary for the fulfillment of this function;
(13) To provide operations, maintenance, and construction necessary to ensure the safe, efficient and reliable delivery of electric, water, gas and wastewater collection services to all customers;
(14) To provide operations, maintenance, and construction necessary to ensure the proper operation of the city's traffic signal, street lighting and communication systems;
(15) To perform or cause to be performed all duties required by this code or other law of the director of utilities and the department of utilities; and
(16) To perform such other duties as may be required.
(b) For organizational purposes, the department of utilities shall consist of the following divisions: administration; customer support services; resource management; engineering; and operations.
(Ord. 5494 § 2 (part), 2020: Ord. 4906 § 1, 2006: Ord. 4813 § 1, 2004: Ord. 4624 § 1, 2000: Ord. 4274 § 1 (part), 1995)