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City of Waltham, MA
Middlesex County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Cross references: Department of public works, street divisions, § 2-211; sewers, drains and sewage disposal, Ch. 16.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, §§ 20-1, 20-2]
(a) 
The director of public works and forestry shall have and exercise all the rights and powers granted to the water commissioners by the provisions of Chapter 337, Acts of 1872, entitled "An act to supply the Town of Waltham with water," or of any act in amendment thereof or in addition thereto.
(b) 
The director of public works and forestry shall have charge of the aqueducts, lands, reservoirs and all other works and property connected with the waterworks; shall have full power to make all necessary repairs, and shall operate said works so as to accomplish the purpose for which they are designated, subject to the provisions of the act referred to in subsection (a) and of the city charter.
(c) 
The director shall, subject to the orders of the council, extend or improve such works, determine and assess the water rates, and shall have power to establish such regulations as he may deem expedient for the introduction and use of water. Water shall not be supplied to any building unless the pipes and fixtures are made conformable to such regulations.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, § 20-15]
The director of public works and forestry shall, at the close of the financial year, present to the mayor a statement of the number of water takers, the number of cases in which the water has been cut off for nonpayment, the number and amount of abatements and of such other matters as the mayor may require.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, § 20-14; Ord. No. 32082; 12-9-2013]
The director of public works and forestry shall see that the rules and the regulations of the division and of the council, relating to the use of water, are strictly observed and fully enforced, and shall perform such other services appertaining to his office as may be required of him by the mayor. That no rules and/or regulations shall be adopted to individually assess or charge any fee in addition to the general water rates established under Section 19-16 of Chapter 19 of the General Ordinances of the City of Waltham to the owner, agent, occupant or person having charge of any building or lot of land or premises for the repair of public water mains or private water mains, which the City of Waltham holds a duly recorded easement for such repairs, or for repair of service lines from said water mains to the property line or to the extent of said easement.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, § 20-3]
Applications for the extension of the main water pipes shall be presented to and acted upon by the council, except that the director of public works and forestry may extend the water pipes into any public street or private way of the city where the water takers will give bond to pay five (5) percent annually for ten (10) years upon the actual cost of such extension; provided, that before laying such pipes in any private way, the owners of such way shall execute to the city a deed granting the city permission so to do.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, § 20-4]
No person shall injure any public pipe, reservoir, stand pipe or fire hydrant, connected with the waterworks, or break and enter the same, or draw off or cause to be removed any of the water therefrom, or turn on or off the water in any such water pipe, reservoir, stand pipe or fire hydrant, or make any opening or connection with such pipe, reservoir, stand pipe or fire hydrant, or remove the cover of any hydrant, except for fire department purposes, without a permit from the director of public works and forestry or the mayor, and then only under the direction of the director of public works and forestry, who shall provide competent men to perform the same, and expense thereof shall be charged to the person or department applying for such permit.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, § 20-6]
The director of public works and forestry shall visit or caused to be visited, at least once in each year, all premises where water is taken, may enter the premises of any water taker to ascertain the quantity of water used.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, § 20-17]
The City hereby reserves the right to cut off without notice any City water service when it is in the best of interest of the City in the opinion of the Director of Public Works and Forestry.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, §§ 20-5, 20-10]
(a) 
The Director of Public Works and Forestry shall keep a set of suitable records and shall enter therein, under appropriate headings, the accounts of the expenditures for constructing and extending the waterworks, separate from the accounts for maintaining the same, and the names of all persons taking water, the kind of building into which the services are laid, the name of the street and the numbers thereof, the uses to which the water is applied, the amount of rates charged, the amount measured and charged and the amount of any abatement thereof.
(b) 
The Director of Public Works and Forestry shall act as registrar and shall keep such accounts, make such reports and perform such other duties relative to water as the Mayor may prescribe.
[Amended 3-25-2019 by Ord. No. 34390]
The City Engineer shall promulgate rules and regulations governing:
(1) 
The rates and charges for City water service;
(2) 
The due date for water bills;
(3) 
The charge for turning on the water supply;
(4) 
The intervals for reading of water meters.
No such rules shall be effective until approved by the Mayor.
State law reference — Collection of water rates, M.G.L.A. c. 40, §§ 42A—42F.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, § 20-11; amended 3-25-2019 by Ord. No. 34390]
All bills for the use of water and all bills pertaining to the Water and Sewer Division shall be made out in the office of the Engineering Department and delivered to the City Treasurer and Collector for collection.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, § 20-12; amended 3-25-2019 by Ord. No. 34390]
At the end of each month the City Engineer shall transmit to the City Auditor a detailed statement of the amount of all water bills, charges and accounts so delivered to the City Treasurer and Collector, together with the amount of all abatements allowed by him upon bills previously rendered.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, § 20-13; amended 3-25-2019 by Ord. No. 34390]
The City Engineer may make abatements in the water rates, and whenever any bill is abated or changed, a certificate of such abatement or change, signed by the City Engineer, shall be delivered to the Collector and shall become his voucher for the amount therein stated.
State law reference — Abatement of water bills, M.G.L.A. c. 40, § 42E.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, § 20-20; amended 3-25-2019 by Ord. No. 34390]
The City Engineer is hereby authorized and directed to collect payment from all municipal departments, except the Fire Department, for the water used by them at the same rate which is paid by other customers.
[Gen. Ords. 1962, § 20-21; amended 3-25-2019 by Ord. No. 34390]
The City Engineer is also hereby authorized and directed to collect from the Fire Department an annual rental not exceeding $8 for each public hydrant. The rental shall include the cost of all water used by the Fire Department for fire or other purposes, and shall also include the cost of furnishing and maintaining the hydrants.
Cross reference — Fire department, § 6-16 et seq.