The Municipal Administrator shall be responsible for the operation of the utility services owned or operated by the Municipality.
Establishment of rates and charges for the use of services furnished by municipal utilities shall be by ordinance.
Council shall have the right to establish new public services or improvements or additions to existing services by passage of appropriate ordinances when estimates, prepared by the Municipal Administrator, of costs of operation and of expected revenue indicate the service will not be operated at a loss. Any necessary bonds required for the financing of said new public services, improvements, or additions to existing services may be issued when in accordance with this Charter.
New public services may be proposed by passage of appropriate ordinances to submit the question of issuance of the required general obligations or other bonds to the electors at a regular or special election.
Council may terminate new services established under provisions of Section 10.05
of this Charter. Other public services owned and operated by the Municipality may be sold, leased, or abandoned only by affirmative vote of a majority of those voting on this question at a regular or special election.
Public services owned, operated, or regulated by the Municipality may be extended beyond the corporate limits of the Municipality as determined by Council. The rates and charges for such service shall be determined by Council.
Council may, by ordinance, grant permission to construct and operate a public utility in the streets and public grounds of the Municipality or across private property when a right to cross has been acquired by agreement or condemnation.
No grant or renewal of franchise shall be considered an emergency measure. No exclusive franchise or renewal shall ever be granted and no franchise shall be renewed before one (l) year prior to its expiration. No franchise or renewal shall exceed ten (10) years in duration unless the Council determines that the ten-year limitation would create a legitimate hardship affecting life, health, property, or the public peace. In the case of such a legitimate hardship, the Council may grant, renew, or extend a franchise for a period of up to, but not exceeding, an additional ten (10) years beyond the standard ten-year limitation.
No consent of the owner of property abutting on any highway or public ground shall be required for the construction, extension, maintenance, or operation of any utility, whether municipally owned or operated on franchise unless such utility is of such character that its construction or operation is an additional burden upon the rights of the property owners in such highways or public grounds.
Council shall at all times control the allocation of space in, over, under, or across all streets or public grounds occupied by utility fixtures. All rights granted for the construction and operation of utilities shall be subject to the continuing right of Council to require, at the expense of the utility, such reconstruction, relocation, change, or discontinuance of the appliances used by the utility in the streets, alleys, avenues, and the highways of the Municipality, as shall in the opinion of Council be necessary in the public interest.
(Amended 11-8-77; 5-3-88; 11-4-97; 11-7-17)