For the purpose of this article, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Each separate family using water for domestic purposes or
watering of livestock or any person using water for business or other
purposes, taking water by the means of and through a single service
pipe or through connecting service lines from the water mains of the
Town, including all persons purchasing water from the Town.
All charges for the taking of water by a consumer
shall be payable monthly and shall be determined, with the exception
of the minimum charge, by the amount of water used during the preceding
month.
With regard to the quantity of water used by
any consumer, the quantity recorded by the meter in question shall
be conclusive, both on the consumer and on the Town Council, except
when the meter has been found to be registering inadequately or has
ceased to register. In the latter case, the quantity of water so used
shall be determined by the average registration of the meter when
in order.
All statements for Town water and sewer service
shall be computed by the Town Clerk on the basis of the water rates
established by the Town Council and shall be on a monthly basis. Such
statements shall be rendered to the family, property owner, occupant
or user as soon as practicable after monthly readings. This statement
shall be considered the correct assessment unless a correction is
requested by the Town Clerk within 10 days after the statement is
sent out.
When water is supplied by the Town through a
single service line on which there is only one meter and such water
is used by more than one segregated unit in the building, the owner
of the building shall be responsible for the payment of the water
bill.
[Amended 6-18-1991 by Ord. No. 1991-1]
Any user of water or of sewer service having a complaint in connection with the assessment of charges under this article shall report the same to the Town Clerk, as provided in § 160-24, who shall adjust the same or refer the complaint to the Town Manager.
[Amended 6-18-1991 by Ord. No. 1991-1]
In the event that a person whose duty it is to pay a statement for Town water and sewer service, rendered as provided in § 160-24 by such date as may be established by the Town Clerk with the approval of the Town Council, shall fail to do so, the Town Manager may cause the water to the premises in question to be turned off.
[Added 1-19-1999]
A.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter
of the Town Code, if the use of the public water system of the Town
is contracted for by an occupant who is not the owner or the premises,
and such occupant's premises are separately metered for service, the
owner of any such premises shall be liable only for the payment of
delinquent rates or charges applicable to three delinquent billing
periods, which together shall not exceed a period of 90 days. Service
shall not be refused to other premises of the owner not occupied by
someone who is delinquent in the payment of such rates or charges
on account of such delinquency herein described, provided that owner
has paid in full any delinquent charges for which the owner is liable.
Service shall not be refused nor shall reinstatement be unreasonably
delayed for service to premises vacated by a delinquent occupant if
a new party has applied for service, provided the owner of the premises
has paid in full all delinquent charges for which the owner is liable.
B.
This provision shall become effective as to all water
services provided on or after March 1, 1999.
All water meters through which water is supplied
to consumers shall be furnished by the Town and shall remain the property
of the Town.
Each meter installed for the measurement of
water supplied by the Town shall be installed by the Town or its appointed
agent at a location approved by the Town or its agent.
Each meter installed for the measurement of
water supplied by the Town shall at all times be subject to control
and inspection by the Town or its agent, and where any meter is located
on private property, building or premises, the Town shall have the
right to enter upon or on the same at all reasonable hours for the
purpose of inspection, repairing, replacing or removing such meter
or to take meter readings.
Any meter injured for any cause, directly or
indirectly, attributable to the owner or occupant shall be renewed
or repaired at the expense of such owner or occupant of the property
in question.
No person other than an authorized representative
of the Town shall at any time remove, tamper with, undertake to repair
or in anyway interfere with the meter connected to the Town system.
Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
If at any time it is found that a meter installed
for the measurement of water supplied by the Town has been tampered
with or for any reason fails to register or shall be found defective
in registering since the previous reading, the water consumption for
such period shall be estimated from other similar readings and the
average taken of such readings for the same period or from past readings
or from a like installation.
A.
There shall be a separate water meter for each residence
or industrial or commercial establishment or the minimum charges set
forth in this article shall be paid for each house or establishment
served when a person has a meter that serves two or more houses or
establishments, and if, in such situation, more than the minimum amount
of water passes through such meter, the excess shall be paid for at
the rates established and provided in this chapter.
B.
When water is supplied by the Town through a single
service line on which there is only one meter and such water is used
by more than one segregated unit in the building, the prevailing water
rate shall apply to each such unit.
[Amended 6-18-1991 by Ord. No. 1991-1]
Where the water has been turned off for nonpayment
of a bill by the person responsible therefor or for any other valid
reason, it shall not be turned on again until the charges or tariff
as fixed in this chapter for the use of water and a reconnection fee
as established by the Town Council shall have been paid and the requisite
deposit made, if no such deposit has previously been made.
[Amended 6-18-1991 by Ord. No. 1991-1]
A charge as established by the Town Council
shall be made for having water service to particular premises turned
off at the request of a water service customer.
