A. Department Created: There is hereby created and established a water department to be supervised by the director of public works or his designee, consisting of such full and part time employees as may be deemed necessary utilizing funds appropriated for employees of the department in the city's annual budget and city council salary resolution.
B. Responsibility: The water department shall be responsible for the maintenance of the city's water system, and for that purpose, may use any and all equipment that the city council procures or authorizes in the annual budget of the city.
C. Prohibition Against Connection To System: The water system shall be utilized to service only those facilities as directed by the director of public works or his designee. Except for other city departments and emergency service departments such as fire districts, no person shall take water from, or otherwise utilize any fireplug, hydrant, valve, faucet or pipe or any other apparatus or opening connected to the water system except pursuant to the express written permission of the Director of Public Works or his designee.
D. Installation And Maintenance Of Customer Service Lines And Valves: All customer service lines and valves connecting a City water main to facilities shall be installed only after plans for such installation are reviewed and approved by the Director of Public Works or his designee. The cost of such installation shall be borne by the owner or occupier of the facilities serviced, together with any other service fee or connection fee. The connection fee shall be paid to the City prior to installation of such service line. All installations shall be made under the supervision of the Director of Public Works or his designee. After installation, the customer shall be responsible for maintenance of the service line from the individual facility to the facility entrance of the service valve, exclusive of the meter. The remainder of the water system shall be maintained by the City.
E. Meters: At the time the service lines are installed from mains to facilities to be serviced, City water meters shall also be installed in a location that is readily accessible to City employees and has been approved by the Director of Public Works or his designee prior to the installation of such meters. No water from the water system shall be turned on to facilities unless approved meters have been installed. Duly authorized City employees shall be afforded free entry for the purpose of examining, testing, reading or repairing any meters and equipment appurtenant thereto. All meters shall be owned and maintained by the City. The cost of the initial installation of the meters shall be borne by the owner of the facilities receiving water.
F. Plumbing: No water shall be turned on for service to any facility in which the plumbing does not comply with the ordinances of the City and Illinois Plumbing Code, subject to the provisions of this section. All plumbing fixtures and methods of installation shall comply with the applicable regulations of the City.
G. Repairs: As indicated in subsection D of this section, all repairs for customer service lines and plumbing systems of buildings shall be made by and at the expense of the owners of the premises served. The City may in case of an emergency, repair any service line and if this is done the cost of such repair work shall be repaid to the City by the owner of the facility served.
H. Excavations: Excavations for installing customer service lines or repairing the same shall be made in compliance with the ordinance provisions relating to making excavations in City streets. Provided, that it shall be unlawful to place any customer service line in the same excavation with, or directly over, any drain or sewer pipe.
I. Water Rates:
1. Metered Usage: Each and every business or residential dwelling unit utilizing the City's water distribution system shall be considered a facility. Any facility having connection with the City's distribution system that may hereafter be constructed and used in connection with the distribution system shall pay the following rates per month, effective May 1, 2022:
FY 2021-22 | FY 2022-23 | |
Water supply charge per 1,000 gallons | $ 6.51 | $ 6.51 |
Monthly customer delivery charge | 30.20 | 30.81 |
Monthly infrastructure reserve charge | 12.00 | 12.31 |
Monthly debt service charge | 5.84 | 6.17 |
Supply charges by the City water supplier will be based on actual billed charges to the City and will be determined on an annual basis.
2. Bulk Water Usage: The use of the City's water system without a permanent meter installed at a given facility constitutes bulk water use and is billed as follows:
Daily | $35.00 (first 1,000 gallons; $6.00/1,000 thereafter) |
Weekly | $175.00 (first 2,000 gallons; $6.00/1,000 thereafter) |
Monthly | $756.00 (first 9,000 gallons; $6.00/1,000 thereafter) |
J. Billings: Bills for water used will base themselves on monthly meter readings. Such meter readings will occur during the first three (3) business days of the month. All payments of water used shall be due thirty (30) days after the billing date as it appears on the bill. Late payments shall carry a penalty of an additional ten percent (10%). Payments overdue for more than thirty (30) days past the deadline will incur a monthly interest charge of one percent (1%), compounded monthly. The water supply may be shut off from any facility for which the water bill remains unpaid for a period of ninety (90) days after the due date. When shut off, water shall not be turned on except upon the payment in full of the overdue water bill and a fee, if any, established by ordinance or resolution of the city.
K. Liens: Charges for water shall be a lien upon the facility as provided by statute. Whenever a bill for water service remains unpaid for a period of sixty (60) days after it has been rendered, the city clerk may file with the recorder of Cook County a statement of lien claim. This statement shall contain the legal description of the facility served, the amount of the unpaid bill, and a notice that the city claims a lien for this amount as well as for all charges for water served subsequent to the period covered by the bill.
If the consumer of water whose bill is unpaid is not the owner of the serviced facility, and the city clerk has notice thereof, the notice shall be mailed to the owner of the facility if his address is known to the city clerk, whenever such bill remains unpaid for a period of sixty (60) days after it has been rendered.
The failure of the city clerk to record such lien claim or to mail such notice, or the failure of the owner to receive such notice, shall not affect the right to foreclose the lien for unpaid water bills as mentioned in subsection L of this section.
L. Foreclosure Of Liens: A facility subject to a lien for unpaid water charges shall be sold for the nonpayment of same, and the proceeds of such sale shall be applied to pay the charges, after deducting costs, as is the case in the foreclosure of statutory liens. Such foreclosure shall be by an action in equity in the name of the city.
M. Resale: No water shall be resold or distributed by the recipient thereof from the water system to any facilities other than that for which application has been made and the meter installed, except in case of emergency.
N. Waiver Of Liability: All connections to the water system shall be authorized only after the owner or user of the facilities shall execute an agreement holding the city harmless from any and all liability that may result from any damage or injury caused by reason of the breaking of any main, service pipe, or the breakage or malfunction of any part of the water system, or any interruption in the supply of water for any reason whatever.
O. Connection Fee: Owners or operators of facilities to be serviced by the water system shall pay a connection fee as determined by appropriate resolution or ordinance of the city council (unless otherwise lawfully exempted from the payment of this connection fee by the provisions of other agreements applicable to such facilities). Whenever a connection to the water system is abandoned because the facilities to which the water connection is made have been abandoned, destroyed or removed, the water department at the direction of the director of public works may cause the removal of the meter and any pipe or connections in the public way or easement, and cap, plug or otherwise seal the pipe or main. Except in emergency situations as determined by the director of public works, before taking any such steps, the director of public works or his designee shall notify the owner of the facility if the owner's name and address is known, and shall notify the person shown on the latest available real estate tax records as having paid taxes on the facility. Notice shall be made by first class mail, at least thirty (30) days before any action is taken under this section.
P. Construction Contractors: No person shall make any connection to the water system without the permission of the director of public works. During the construction of any building and before any meter is installed, as is herein provided, the contractor so constructing such building may be permitted to use the city water supply by making application therefor, and paying a charge for bulk water usage as specified in subsection I2 of this section.
Q. Larceny Charges: Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prohibiting institution of larceny charges against any person stealing water from the city by bypassing a meter, tampering with a meter or by any other means. (Ord. 0-07-36, 12-3-2007, eff. 12-14-2007; amd. Ord. 0-17-08, 4-24-2017; Ord. 0-18-17, 4-23-2018; Ord. O-19-11, 4-22-2019; Ord. 0-20-11, 4-27-2020; Ord. O-21-07, 4-12-2021; Ord. O-22-08, 4-11-2022, eff. 5-1-2022)