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(a) Authority of the City Manager. When, for any reason, the supply of water from the City's water utility is inadequate to meet the demand or projected demand for water, including the maintenance of necessary water reserves and projected reserves necessary for fire suppression activities, as determined by the Fire & EMS Chief, the City Manager may declare, by administrative directive, that the use of water by all users of the City's water utility, for purposes not essential to the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the City, is prohibited or restricted during specified hours and/or days, or for a specified time period, or for a continuing time period until notice is given that such uses are no longer prohibited and/or restricted. Water uses not essential to the health, safety and welfare include, but are not limited to, the watering of lawns and gardens, vehicle washing, manufacturing facilities, cooling facilities, commercial laundries, and commercial vehicle washing facilities. Restrictions shall be placed on any or all nonessential water uses consistent with the severity of the situation, as determined by the City Manager.
(b) Notice. Any prohibitions and/or restrictions declared by the City Manager in accordance with division (a) of this section shall be published on the City's website, any official City social media accounts, and shall be provided to appropriate television and radio stations. Such publication shall constitute official notice to all users of City water. The prohibitions and/or restrictions on water usage shall remain in full force and effect until the prohibitions and/or restrictions are declared lifted by the City Manager. Notice of the lifting of restrictions shall be done by the same methods as notice of their imposition.
(c) Prohibitions. No person, business, industry, or other user of the City's water utility, including extraterritorial customers, shall use water in violation of the prohibitions and/or restrictions established by the City Manager in accordance with this section. Twenty-four (24) hours after notice has been given in accordance with division (b) of this section, the City may terminate water service to any person using water in violation of the published prohibitions and/or restrictions. Such termination may continue until the use is no longer prohibited and/or restricted. The City, including its agents and employees, shall not be liable or responsible for any damage resulting from the termination of water service, nor for any damage due to prohibitions and/or restrictions placed on water usage by the City Manager.
(Ord. 88-81. Adopted 08/11/88; Ord. 2023-38. Adopted 12/28/23; Em. Ord. 2024-01. Adopted 02/08/24; Ord. 2024-02. Adopted 02/22/24)
(a) Protection of Water Utility System. The City's water utility and public water system shall be protected against backflow and siphonage, both natural and induced. All equipment connected to the City's water utility system that is capable of polluting or contaminating the system or any part thereof by means of flow, pressure drop, pressure loss or induced vacuum, or by injection because of any primary or auxiliary pumping system connected thereto, must be isolated and contained by means of approved backflow devices or accepted engineering practices. Water consumers may be required to utilize backflow devices, as set forth in Section 1010.10
of this Chapter.
(b) Limitation on Connections. No person shall establish or permit to be established, or maintain or permit to be maintained, any connection whereby a private, auxiliary or emergency water supply, other than the regular public water supply of the City's water utility system, may enter the supply or distribution system of the City, unless such private, auxiliary or emergency water supply and the method of connection and use of such supply shall have been approved by the Public Service Director and by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
(c) Duty of Public Service Director. It shall be the duty of the Public Service Director to cause surveys and investigations to be made of industrial and other properties serviced by the City's water utility system where actual or potential hazards to the system may exist. Such surveys and investigations shall be made a matter of public record and shall be repeated as often as the Public Service Director deems necessary.
(d) Right of Entry. The Public Service Director or his or her duly authorized representative shall have the right to enter, at any reasonable time, upon any property or premises served by a connection to the City's water utility system for the purpose of inspecting the piping system or systems thereof. On demand, the owner, lessee or occupant of any property so served shall furnish to the Public Service Director any information which he or she may request regarding the piping system or systems, or the water use on such property. The refusal to provide such information, when demanded, shall, within the discretion of the Public Service Director, be deemed evidence of the presence of improper connections as provided in this section.
(e) Disconnection for Violations. The Public Service Director is hereby authorized and directed to discontinue, after reasonable notice to the occupant thereof, the water service to any property wherein any connection exists in violation of the provisions of this Chapter and/or the Water Utility Rules and Regulations is known to exist, and to take such other precautionary measures as he or she may deem necessary to eliminate any danger of contamination of the City's water utility system. Water service to such property shall not be restored until such violations have been eliminated or corrected in compliance with the provisions of this Chapter and/or the Water Utility Rules and Regulations.
(Ord. 91-17. Adopted 04/25/91; Ord. 11-05. Adopted 01/27/11; Ord. 13-05. Adopted 02/14/13; Ord. 2023-38. Adopted 12/28/23; Em. Ord. 2024-01. Adopted 02/08/24; Ord. 2024-02. Adopted 02/22/24)
(a) Authority of the Public Service Director. If, in the judgment of the Public Service Director, an approved backflow prevention device is necessary for the safety of the City's water utility system, the Director will give notice to the customer to install such an approved device. The customer, at his or her expense, shall install such an approved device at a location and in a manner approved by the Director and shall have inspections and tests made of such approved devices, as required by the Director.
(b) When Required. Backflow prevention devices shall be required on all residential irrigation lines without notice from the Public Service Director.
(c) Inspection Fees. All backflow devices that require testing by the Ohio EPA shall provide proof of an annual inspection by a certified plumber or may have the City Public Service Department perform the required testing, if such testing is available from the Public Service Department. If the City performs the required testing, the property owner shall pay the City an inspection fee, as set forth in the City's Fee Schedule, Appendix A
to the City Government Code.
(d) Disclaimer. Nothing in this section shall be construed to create, in general or with respect to any particular customer or property, any obligation for the Public Service Department to inspect a backflow prevention device or advise any customer or property owner with respect to backflow protection, nor any obligation or responsibility on the Public Service Department or the City to require the installation and maintenance of a backflow prevention device. Further, nothing in this section shall be construed to create, in general or with respect to any particular customer or property, any liability on the City for any claim for damages for water and/or sewer backup where the customer has failed to install or maintain the required backflow prevention device.
(Ord. 63-10. Adopted 02/14/63; Ord. 2023-38. Adopted 12/28/23; Em. Ord. 2024-01. Adopted 02/08/24; Ord. 2024-02. Adopted 02/22/24)
(a) Authority of the City Manager. The City Manager is hereby authorized to establish, by administrative directive, a program for the sale of bulk potable water. The City Manager shall establish rules and regulations for participation in the bulk water program, which shall, at a minimum, require:
(1) All purchasers of bulk water to create a bulk operator account with the City;
(2) A deposit of five hundred dollars ($500) at the opening of each account;
(3) An annual fee of one hundred twenty dollars ($120), which shall be prorated to the month when the account is opened; and
(4) Purchasers shall pay for bulk water purchased by the gallon, rounded up to the nearest whole gallon, at the current usage rate per gallon, plus fifty percent (50%).
(b) Authority of the Finance Director. The Finance Director is hereby authorized to close any bulk operator account when the operator has not paid the required annual fee within thirty (30) days of the date of the invoice from the City or when any operator account has an outstanding balance of five hundred dollars ($500) or more that is more than sixty (60) days past due. Upon closing an account, the Finance Director shall refund the deposit to the operator, minus any unpaid balance on the operator's account.
(c) Participation. The City Manager is hereby authorized to deny further participation in the bulk water program to any operator whose account has been closed due to nonpayment or who violates any of the rules or regulations established for the program by the City Manager by administrative directive.
(Ord. 78-29. Adopted 06/22/78; Ord. 2023-38. Adopted 12/28/23; Em. Ord. 2024-01. Adopted 02/08/24; Ord. 2024-02. Adopted 02/22/24)
If any provision, section, division, sentence, clause or phrase of this Chapter is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding or decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Chapter.
(Ord. 63-10. Adopted 02/14/63; Ord. 2023-38. Adopted 12/28/23; Em. Ord. 2024-01. Adopted 02/08/24; Ord. 2024-02. Adopted 02/22/24)
(a) Penalties. Whoever violates any of the provisions of this Chapter or any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to the Ohio Revised Code, the Ohio Administrative Code, or the Water Utility Rules and Regulations, shall be guilty of an unclassified misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) for each offense. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
(b) Damages. Whoever violates any of the provisions of this Chapter or any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to the Ohio Revised Code, the Ohio Administrative Code, or the Water Utility Rules and Regulations shall be liable to the City for any expense, loss or damage occasioned by the City by reason of such violation, in addition to the penalty provided in division (a) of this section.
(c) Civil Action. The criminal penalties set forth in division (a) of this section are not exclusive, and nothing shall prohibit the City from also pursuing a civil action including, but not limited to, injunction, declaratory judgment, or civil penalties against any person who violates any of the provisions of this Chapter or any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to the Ohio Revised Code, Ohio Administrative Code, or the Water Utility Rules and Regulations.
(Ord. 88-81. Adopted 08/11/88; Ord. 2023-38. Adopted 12/28/23; Em. Ord. 2024-01. Adopted 02/08/24; Ord. 2024-02. Adopted 02/22/24)