Water System Ordinance No.



WATER SYSTEM ORDINANCE NO. 122AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY OF BIWABIK ORDINANCE NO. 122.00 ESTABLISHING WATER SYSTEM REGULATIONSThe City of Biwabik does hereby ordain that the City of Biwabik Ordinance No. 122.00 is hereby amended to read as follows:SECTION 1. Authorization. Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, this ordinance and other related ordinances that are required for the city water system.SECTION 2. General water regulations. Subdivision 1. Discontinuance of service. The city may discontinue service to any water consumer without notice for necessary repairs or, upon notice as provided in this ordinance, or for violations of rules and regulations affecting utility service. Subd. 2. Supply from one service. No more than one house or building shall be supplied from one service connection except by special permission of the city representative and/or city council. Whenever two or more parties are supplied from one pipe connection with a service main, each building or part of a building shall be billed separately by flat rate or individual meters depending on the plumbing the building will allow. Subd. 3. Multi Units. Each residential unit or business unit within a multi-residential or multi-business building will be treated as a single family residential home or single commercial business. If an apartment building or condominium building has only one meter, each apartment or condominium unit therein is considered the same as a single family house. The landlord or homeowner’s association or other entity in whose name the meter is in will be charged for each apartment or condominium unit the fixed-rate fee for single family homes. If more than one business is in a building that has only one meter each business within that building will be charged the fixed-rate commercial fee and the fee shall be charged against the owner of the building or the person in whose name the meter is in. Subd. 4. Turning on water, tapping mains. No person except a person authorized by the city of Biwabik shall turn on any water supply at the stop box or tap any distributing main or pipe of the water supply system or insert a stop cock or other appurtenance therein without knowledge and permission of water department. Subd. 5. Repair of leaks. The consumer or owner shall be responsible for maintaining the service pipe from the curb box into the building served. If he fails to repair any leak in such service pipe within 24 hours after notice by the city, the city may turn the water off. The water shall not then be turned on again until the sum of dollars as established in resolution of the city council has been paid to the city for restoring the water service. When the waste of water is great or damage is likely to result from the leak, the city shall turn the water off immediately upon the giving of notice if repair is not commence immediately.Subd. 6. Use of fire hydrants. No person other than an authorized city employee shall operate a fire hydrant or interfere in any way with the city water system without first obtaining approval to do so from the city representative. Upon approval the amount of water used shall be calculated or metered (at the discretion of the Department) by the Department and billed at the current rate. Subd. 7. Private water supply. No water pipe of the city water system shall be connected with any pump, well, or tank that is connected with any other source of water supply. When any such connection is found, the city public works/utility department(s) shall notify the owner to sever the connection and if this is not done immediately, the city shall turn off the water supply forthwith. Before any new connection to the city system is permitted, the department shall ascertain that no cross connection will exist when the new connection is made.Subd. 8. Restricted hours. Whenever the city public works/utility superintendent(s) and/or city council determines that a shortage of water supply threatens the city, it may, by resolution, limit the times and hours during which city water may be used for sprinkling, irrigation, car washing, air conditioning, or other specified uses. If an emergency exist, the city council vests through this ordinance the authority for the public works/utility superintendent(s) to declare an emergency and restrict water usage until the city council can convene to formally pass a resolution. After publication of the resolution or two days after the mailing of the resolution to each customer, no person shall use or permit water to be used in violation of the resolution and any customer who does so shall be charged according to the penalties section of this ordinance for each day of violation and the charge for the violation shall be added to the next customer water bill. The penalty will be established by resolution of the council and will fall in the category of a misdemeanor.Subd. 9. Permitting use by others. No person shall permit city water to be used for any purpose except upon their own premises except in an emergency and then only if written permission is first obtained from the city representative. Anyone wishing to obtain water from a hydrant for construction purposes shall make application to the city with the rates as determined by resolution of the council.SECTION 3. Meters. Subdivision 1. Meters required as per resolution of the city council. Except for the extinguishment of fires, no person other than an authorized city employee shall use water from the city water supply system or permit water to be drawn therefrom unless the water passes through a meter supplied or approved by the Public Utility Commission. No person not authorized by the city public works/utility departments(s) shall connect, disconnect, take apart, or in any manner change or interfere with any such meter or its use.Subd. 2. Deposit. Meters shall be installed by the city in accordance to resolution approved by the council. Each new customer shall deposit on each water meter in an amount fixed by the council in resolution. The deposit shall be refunded with interest at the current interest rate of the financial institution maintaining the meter deposit account when the property ownership is transferred and all charges under this ordinance have been paid. Meter(s) requires as per resolution of the council.Subd. 3. Maintenance. The city shall maintain and repair at its expense any meter that has become unserviceable through ordinary wear and tear and shall replace it if necessary. However, where any replacement or repair or adjustment of any meter is necessary because of damage from hot water backup, damage from freezing water, or damage from any act, carelessness or negligence of the owner or occupants of any premises, any expense incurred by the City to repair said damage shall be charged against and collected from the property owner, and water service may be disconnected until the cause is corrected and the amount charged is paid.Subd.4. Complaints; meter testing. When a customer complains that the bill for any past service period is excessive, the city shall have the meter reread upon request. If the customer remains dissatisfied, he may, upon written request and a deposit of a dollar amount established in resolution of the council have the meter tested. If the test shows an error in the city’s favor exceeding five percent of the water consumed, the deposit shall be refunded, an accurate meter shall be installed, and the bill shall be adjusted accordingly. Such adjustment shall not extend back more than one service period (one month) from the date of the written request.Subd. 5. Meters property of city. All water meters shall be and remains the property of the City and may be removed or replaced or changed as to size and type by the City whenever deemed necessary.Subd. 6. Meter reading and inspection. Authorized meter readers shall have free access at reasonable hours of the day to all parts of every building and premises connected with the city water supply system in order to read meters and make inspections.Subd. 7. Tampering with a meter. Any person convicted of tampering with a water meter is guilty of a misdemeanor as defined in Minnesota Law.SECTION 4. Plumbing regulations. Subdivision 1. New service pipes. Every service pipe shall be laid with sufficient bend to allow not less than one foot for extra length and in such a manner as to prevent rupture by settlement. The service pipe shall be placed not less than six (6) feet below the surface and be so arranged as to prevent rupture by freezing. A shut-off or other stop cock with waste valve of the size and strength required shall be placed close to the inside wall of the building and be well protected from freezing. Copper tubing shall be used for all services of two inches or less. Joints on copper tubing shall be as few as possible and not more than one joint shall be used for a service up to 70 feet in length. Each joint shall be left uncovered until inspected by the city. Every service over two inches shall be cast iron. Connections with the mains for domestic supply shall be at least ? of an inch.Subd. 2. Water meter setting. Every new water meter shall be installed in accordance with the following provisions:The service pipe from the water main to the meter shall be brought through the floor in a vertical position where the pipe enters the building. The stop and waste valve shall be 12 inches above the floor.The bottom of the meter shall be between 6 and 12 inches above the finished floor line. The meter shall be set not more than 12 inches horizontally from the inside line of the basement wall unless a different position is approved by the public works/utility department(s). A suitable bracket shall be provided to support the meter in a proper vertical position and prevent noise from vibration.Each meter installation shall have a stop and waste valve on the street side of the meter. In no case shall more than 12 inches of pipe be exposed between the point of entrance through the basement floor and the stop and waste valve. A stop and waste valve shall also be installed on the house side of the meter.The water pipe connecting with the main shall not exceed two feet under the basement floor from the inside of the basement wall to the water meter connection.Meter setting devices for 5/8-inch, 3/4-inch, and one-inch meters shall be of copper pipe or tubing from the terminus of the service pipe up to and including the stop and waste valve on the building side.Subd. 3. Location of stop boxes. Curb stop boxes shall be installed generally where desired by the owners or occupied properties, but they shall be placed as near as possible to the curb if on a street or within one foot of the alley line if the main is located in the alley. They shall be installed at an approximate depth of six (6) feet below the established grade and shall be left in an accurate vertical position when back-filling is completed.Subd. 4. Water service standpipe. As a service to our customers, during the service crew’s normal working hours the Department will make one (1) reasonable attempt to locate the customer’s standpipe. If the Department is unable to locate the standpipe, the responsibility rests with the customer. Should a customer service standpipe be damaged by City-owned equipment, an order will be issued from the City’s office to the Utility to repair the standpipe in question. Cost of said repairs will be billed to the City.Should a home owner request the water be turned off at the standpipe, the owner will be made aware of the following:The Department will attempt to turn off the water at the standpipe contingent upon the following:The customer is aware that any damage to the water service resulting from such as attempt by the Department is and shall remain the responsibility of the home owner.If the Department is unable to catch the valve because the standpipe is filled or partially filled with mud and/or debris, the Department will make one (1) reasonable attempt to blow out the standpipe with compressed air. Should this attempt meet with failure, further efforts will be the responsibility of the home owner. SECTION 5. Water rates. Subdivision 1. Service charge. Utility charges payments to include accounting, billing, collecting, billing for services, delinquent accounts and shutoff of service procedures are specified in a separate ordinance dealing with these requirements.Subd. 2. Rate schedule. In addition each water user shall pay for water used according to a rate schedule(s) established by resolution of the city council.SECTION 6. Liability. The City shall not be liable for any deficiency or failure in the supply of water to property owners or users, whether occasioned by shutting the water off for the purpose of making repairs or connections, or from any other cause whatsoever.SECTION 7. Penalty. Violations of the provisions of this ordinance shall fall under Minnesota State Law in accordance with the magnitude of the violation or in the absence of law, shall constitute a misdemeanor as defined in Minnesota Law.SECTION 8. Severability. If any provisions or sections of this ordinance are found invalid by any court of law, such a decision does not invalidate any other provision of this ordinance not specifically included in such a decision.SECTION 9. Jurisdiction. The City of Biwabik has a utility commission which by charter provisions has jurisdiction over various areas of this ordinance for the purposes of management and rate setting and as such would be substituted where the city council is now so designated and where the utility did not have jurisdiction they would recommend the appropriate action to the city council for inclusion into this ordinance by resolution. SECTION 10. Effective date of Ordinance. The effective date of this ordinance is thirty (30) days after publication.BY _____________________________________ Jim Weikum, MayorATTEST ______________________________ Jeff Jacobson, City AdministratorPublish _________________, 2015 in the Biwabik Range Times ................
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