[Adopted 4-21-2005 by Ord. No. 05-01]
The management, operation, and control of the
water system for the Menominee Indian Tribe are vested in the Menominee
Tribal Legislature acting through the Menominee Department of Tribal
Utilities. All records and minutes and all written proceedings thereof
shall be kept by the Chairperson of the Menominee Tribal Legislature
and the Director of the Department of Tribal Utilities. The financial
records of the Department of Tribal Utilities shall be kept by the
Director of the Department of Tribal Utilities and the Director of
the Department of Finance.
The Department of Tribal Utilities of the Menominee
Indian Tribe shall have the power to construct waterlines for public
use and shall have the power to lay water pipes in and through the
alleys, streets, and public grounds of the Menominee Indian Tribe
and, generally, to do all such work as may be found necessary or convenient
in the management of the water system. The Menominee Department of
Tribal Utilities shall have the power by itself, its agents, servants
and employees to enter upon any land for the purpose of making examination
or supervise in the performance of their duties under this article
without liability therefor, and the Menominee Tribal Legislature shall
have the power to purchase and acquire for the Department of Tribal
Utilities all real and personal property which may be necessary for
construction of the water system or for any repair, remodeling, or
additions thereto.
All property, real, personal, and mixed, acquired
for the construction of the water system and all plans, specifications,
diagrams, papers, books and records connected with said water system
and all buildings, machinery, and fixtures pertaining thereto shall
be the property of the Menominee Indian Tribe.
The rules, regulations, and water rates of the
Menominee Department of Tribal Utilities of the Menominee Indian Tribe
hereinafter set forth shall be considered a part of the contract with
every person, company or corporation who or which is connected with
the water system of the Menominee Tribe, and every such person, company,
or corporation by connecting with the water system shall be considered
as expressing his or its assent to be bound thereby. Whenever any
of said rules and regulations, or such others as said Department of
Tribal Utilities of the Menominee Tribe may hereafter adopt, are violated,
the service shall be shut off from the building or place of such violation
(even though two or more parties are receiving service through the
same connection) and shall not be reestablished except by order of
the Director of Tribal Utilities and on payment of all arrears and
the expenses and established charges of shutting off and putting on
and such other terms as the Director of Tribal Utilities shall determine,
and a satisfactory understanding with the party that no further cause
for complaint shall arise. In case of such violation, said Director
of Tribal Utilities, furthermore, may declare any payment made for
the service by the party or parties committing such violation to be
forfeited, and the same shall thereupon be forfeited. The right is
reserved to the Menominee Department of Tribal Utilities with approval
from the Menominee Tribal Legislature by motion to change said rules,
regulations, and water rates from time to time as it may deem advisable
and to make special rates and contracts in all proper cases.
A.
Plumbers. No plumber, pipe fitter, or other person
will be permitted to do any plumbing or pipe fitting work in connection
with the water system without first receiving written permission from
the Menominee Department of Tribal Utilities.
B.
Users.
(1)
Application for service. Every person connecting with
the water system shall file an application in writing with the Department
of Tribal Utilities in such form as is prescribed for that purpose.
Blanks for such applications will be furnished at the Office of Tribal
Utilities. The application must state fully and truly all the uses
which will be allowed except upon further application and permission
regularly obtained from said Department. If the applicant is not the
owner of the premises, the written consent of the owner must accompany
the application. The application may be for service to more than one
building, or more than one unit of service through one service connection,
and in such case charges shall be made accordingly. If it appears
that the service applied for will not provide adequate service for
the contemplated use, the Department of Tribal Utilities may reject
the application. If the Department of Tribal Utilities shall approve
the application, it shall issue a permit for the services as shown
on the application.
(2)
Payment for connection application. Prior to the issuance
of the application for service all users shall pay the connection
fee listed in the Schedule of Rates and Fees of the Menominee Department
of Tribal Utilities.
(3)
Tap permits. After water connections have been introduced
into any building or upon any premises, no plumber shall make any
alterations, extensions, or attachments unless the party ordering
such tapping or other work shall exhibit the proper permit.
(4)
User to keep in repair. All users shall keep their
own service pipes in good repair and protected from frost, at their
own risk and expense, and shall prevent any unnecessary overburdening
of the water system.
(5)
User use only. No user shall allow others or other
services to connect to the water system through his or its lateral.
(6)
User to permit inspection. Every user shall permit
the Department of Tribal Utilities and its employees or authorized
agents, at all reasonable hours of the day, to enter his or its premises
or building to examine the pipes and fixtures, and the manner in which
the drains and water connections operate, and the user must at all
times, frankly and without concealment, answer all questions put to
him or it relative to its use.
(7)
Responsibility. It is expressly stipulated that no
claim shall be made against the Menominee Tribe or the Menominee Department
of Tribal Utilities or any officers, employees or agents thereof by
reason of the breaking, clogging, stoppage or freezing of any service
pipes nor from any damage arising from repairing mains, making connections
or extensions or any other work that may be deemed necessary. The
right is hereby reserved to cut off the service at any time for the
purpose of repairs or any other necessary purpose, any permit granted
or regulation to the contrary notwithstanding. Whenever it shall become
necessary to shut off the water service, the Department of Tribal
Utilities shall, if practicable, give notice to each and every user
affected of the time when such service will be so shut off.
In making excavations in streets or highways
for laying service pipe or making repairs, the paving and earth removed
must be deposited in a manner that will occasion the least inconvenience
to the public. No person shall leave any such excavation made in any
street or highway open at any time without barricades, and during
the night warning lights must be maintained at such excavations. In
refilling the opening after the service pipes are laid, the earth
must be laid in layers of not more than nine inches in depth and each
layer thoroughly compacted to prevent settling. No opening of the
streets for tapping the pipes will be permitted when the ground is
frozen.
No person, except those having special permission
from the Department of Tribal Utilities, will be permitted under any
circumstances to tap the mains or collection pipes. The kind and size
of the connection with the pipe shall be that specified in the permit
or order.
All service pipes (laterals) on private property
will be installed in accordance with State of Wisconsin Administrative
Code Chapter Comm 82, Design, Construction, Installation, Supervision
and Inspection of Plumbing. All buildings under construction will
be inspected by a designated representative of the Department of Tribal
Utilities. The building shall be inspected upon completion of placement
of the pipe and before backfilling and tested before or after backfilling.
Any service pipe that is backfilled prior to inspection shall be reexcavated
to allow said inspection at the owner's expense.
A.
It shall be the policy of the Menominee Department
of Tribal Utilities to obtain sufficient revenues to pay the cost
of the annual debt retirement payment on any bonded indebtedness,
any required cash reserve account payment, and operation and maintenance
of the water works, including a replacement fund, through a system
of user charges defined in this section. The system shall assure that
each user of the water works pays a proportionate share of the cost
of such works.[1]
B.
All water users shall be classified by the Department
of Tribal Utilities as residential, commercial, or industrial customers.
C.
User charges shall consist of a minimum quarterly
billing, on the basis of user charge factors, and a unit price per
volume of water utilized, or flat rate.
D.
Users shall be charged in accordance with the Schedule
of Rates and Fees of the Menominee Department of Tribal Utilities
which is approved by the Menominee Tribal Legislature by motion. Said
Schedule of Rates and Fees shall be reviewed not less than biannually.
Such review shall be performed by the Menominee Department of Tribal
Utilities. User charges shall be adjusted, as required, to reflect
actual number and size of users and actual costs, and any changes
shall become effective when approved by the Menominee Tribal Legislature
by motion.
E.
All revenues collected will be applied to operation,
maintenance, and replacement costs for the next year.
The owner of each parcel of land adjacent to
a water main on which there exists a building usable for human habitation
or in a block through which such system is extended shall connect
to such system within 30 days of notice in writing from the Department
of Tribal Utilities. Upon failure to do so the Department of Tribal
Utilities may cause such connection to be made and bill the property
owner for such costs. If such costs are not paid within 30 days, a
penalty for the period that the violation continues in the amount
of $100 per month for each residential unit equivalent shall be payable
quarterly for the period in which the failure to connect continues.
This article ordains that the failure to connect to the water system
is contrary to the minimum health standards of the Menominee Indian
Tribe and fails to assure preservation of the public health, comfort,
and safety of the community and constitutes a public nuisance.
[Amended 1-5-2012 by Ord. No. 11-32]
The Department of Tribal Utilities shall maintain
the water service from the street main to the property line and including
all controls between the same, without expense to the property owner,
except when it is damaged as a result of negligence or carelessness
on the part of the property owner, a tenant, or an agent of the owner,
in which case it will be repaired at the expense of the property owner.
All water service from the point of maintenance by the system to and
throughout the premises must be maintained free of defective conditions
by and at the expense of the owner or occupant of the property. When
any water service is to be relaid and there are two or more buildings
on such service, each building shall be disconnected from such service
and a new water service shall be installed for each building.
It shall be unlawful for any person to wilfully
injure the water system, or any building, machinery, or fixture pertaining
thereto, or to wilfully and without authority of the Department of
Tribal Utilities bore or otherwise cause to leak any tunnel, aqueduct,
reservoir, pipe or other thing used in the system for holding, conveying,
or collecting water.
[Amended 1-5-2012 by Ord. No. 11-32]
In addition to any other penalty provided by
this article or other law, the Department of Tribal Utilities shall
have the right of recovery from any responsible persons of any expense
incurred by the Tribe for penalties imposed on the Tribe due to a
violation of this article or other law, correction of conditions impairing
the proper operation to the water system and the repair or replacement
of any water pipe or other property of the water system damaged in
any manner by any negligent or intended act or omission by such person
or by others under his control.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this article or rules or regulations of the Department of Tribal Utilities or who shall connect a service pipe without first having obtained a permit therefor shall, upon conviction thereof, forfeit not less than $50 nor more than $500 and the costs of prosecution. This, however, shall not bar the Department of Tribal Utilities from enforcing the connection duties set out in § 562-17 for mandatory hookup.
Whenever premises served by the system are to
be vacated, or whenever any person desires to discontinue service
from the system, the Department of Tribal Utilities must be notified
in writing. The owner of the premises shall be liable for any damages
to the property or such damage which may be discovered as having occurred
to the property of the system other than through the fault of the
system or its employees, representatives, or agents.
A unit of service shall consist of any residential,
commercial, industrial, or charitable aggregation of space or area
occupied for a distinct purpose, such as a residence, apartment, flat,
store, office, industrial plant, church, or school. Each unit of service
shall be regarded as one consumer. Suites in houses, or apartments
with complete housekeeping functions (such as cooking), shall be classed
as apartment houses; thus houses and apartments having suites of one,
two, or more rooms with toilet facilities but without kitchens for
cooking are classed as rooming houses. When a consumer's premises
has several buildings for which services are eligible and such buildings
are used in the same business and connected by the user, the Department
of Tribal Utilities shall set a separate rate for such complex.
