(A) Application, connection and sale of service. Application for municipal utility services shall be made upon forms supplied by the city, and strictly in accordance therewith. No connection shall be made until consent has been received from the city to make the same. All municipal utilities shall be sold and delivered to consumers under the then applicable rate applied to the amount of the utilities taken as metered or ascertained in connection with the rates.
(B) Discontinuance of service. All municipal utilities may be shut off or discontinued whenever it is found that:
(1) The owner or occupant of the premises served, or any person working on any connection with the municipal utility systems, has violated any requirement of the city code relative thereto, or any connection therewith;
(2) Any charge for a municipal utility service, or any other financial obligation imposed on the present owner or occupant of the premises served, is unpaid after due notice thereof; or
(3) There is fraud or misrepresentation by the owner or occupant in connection with any application for service or delivery or charges therefor.
(C) Ownership of municipal utilities. Ownership of all municipal utilities, plants, lines, mains, extensions and appurtenances thereto, shall be and remain in the city and no person shall own any part or portion thereof; provided, however, that, private facilities and appurtenances constructed on private property are not intended to be included in municipal ownership.
(D) Right of entry. By applying for, or receiving, a municipal utility service, a customer irrevocably consents and agrees that any city employee acting within the course and scope of his or her employment may enter into and upon the private property of the customer, including dwellings and other buildings, at all reasonable times under the circumstances, in or upon which private property a municipal utility or connection therewith, is installed, for the purpose of inspecting, repairing, reading meters, connecting or disconnecting the municipal utility service.
(E) Meter test.
(1) Whenever a consumer shall request the city to test any utility meter in use by him or her, a request shall be accompanied by a cash deposit for each meter to be tested. If any meter is found to be inaccurate, the same shall be replaced with an accurate meter and the deposit thereon refunded.
(2) If the meter shall be found to be accurate in its recordings or calculations, it shall be reinstalled and the deposit shall be retained by the city to defray the cost of the test.
(F) Unlawful acts.
(1) It is unlawful for any person to willfully or carelessly break, injure, mar, deface, disturb or in any way interfere with any buildings, attachments, machinery, apparatus, equipment, fixture or appurtenance of any municipal utility or municipal utility system or commit any act tending to obstruct or impair the use of any municipal utility.
(2) It is unlawful for any person to make any connection with, opening into, use or alter in any way any municipal utility system without first having applied for and received written permission to do so from the city.
(3) It is unlawful for any person to turn on or connect a utility when the same has been turned off or disconnected by the city for non-payment of a bill, or for any other reason, without first having obtained a permit to do so from the city.
(4) It is unlawful for any person to “jumper” or by any means or device fully or partially circumvent a municipal utility meter, or to knowingly use or consume unmetered utilities or use the services of any utility system, the use of which the proper billing authorities have no knowledge.
(G) Municipal utility services and charges a lien.
(1) Payment for all municipal utility (as that term is defined in § 3.01 of this chapter) service charges shall be the primary responsibility of the owner of the premises served and shall be billed to him or her unless otherwise contracted for and authorized in writing by the owner and the tenant, as agent for the owner, and consented to by the city. The city may collect the same in a civil action or, in the alternative and at the option of the city, as otherwise provided in this division (G). In addition to all penalties and costs attributable and chargeable to recording notices of the lien or filing a civil action or any other fees or costs related to the collection of this bill, the owner or user of the real estate being serviced by the Virginia Public Utilities shall be liable for interest upon all unpaid balances at the rate of 8% per annum.
(Amended 3-26-2002)
(2) Each such account is hereby made a lien upon the premises served. All such accounts which are more than 45 days past due may, when authorized by resolution of the Council, be certified by the City Clerk to the County Auditor and the City Clerk, in so certifying, shall specify the amount thereof, the description of the premises served and the name of the owner thereof. The amount so certified shall be extended by the Auditor on the tax rolls against the premises in the same manner as other taxes, and collected by the County Treasurer, and paid to the city along with other taxes.
(H) Customer’s responsibility. It is the responsibility of the customer to install, service, repair and maintain all lines, pipes and appurtenances from the point of delivery and consumption up to and including:
(1) The corporation stop on water mains; and
(2) The “Y” on sewer mains.