[Ord. No. 722, 8-12-2008; Ord. No. 792 §§1 — 2, 8-25-2015]
All applications shall be made in writing to the City Collector or other designated employee. The application shall show the deposits required, the conditions under which deposits may be returned and that as a consideration for utility service the applicant acknowledges the requirements of this Article and shall express his/her consent to be bound thereby as though such provisions were incorporated in the application. In such application, the applicant shall agree to the rules and regulations that now and hereafter may be established. If the said party seeking water service is married, said contract shall be signed by both husband and wife, and said contract shall also direct to whom the refund shall be paid. The application shall give the date that it is entered into, the address of said premises and the owner of said premises. The applicant must provide proof of ownership or lease agreement along with proper identification.
[Ord. No. 722, 8-12-2008]
A. 
It shall be the duty of the City Collector to collect all water rents and to keep proper accounts at all times. It shall be the duty of the City Clerk on or before the first (1st) day of each month to mail to users of the City water a statement which shall show the amount of water used, the amount due the City for such water and the dates the water was used.
B. 
All water bills shall become due and payable on the first (1st) day of each month following the month in which the water was consumed; except that when service is discontinued, then the bill shall become due and payable forthwith.
C. 
All bills rendered to consumers for water shall be paid to the City Collector. He/she shall issue his/her receipt therefor.
D. 
Before being connected to the City water system, there shall be deposited with the City Collector by all consumers of water hereafter contracting for water from the City the following sums:
[Ord. No. 775 §§1 — 3, 7-8-2014; Ord. No. 793 §§1 — 2, 8-25-2015]
For owner-occupied property
$150.00
For rental property/contract for deed
$150.00
For owner-occupied mobile/manufactured homes
$150.00
For pasture meter
$150.00
For the purpose of this Section, "mobile/manufactured home" means a factory-built structure equipped with the necessary service connections and made so as to be readily moveable as a unit on its own running gear and designed to be used as a dwelling unit without a permanent foundation.
E. 
Should any consumer's service be disconnected for any reason and thereafter reconnected at any location in the City, there shall be assessed against the consumer a reconnect charge of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) plus a deposit of one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00).
[Ord. No. 793 §§1 — 2, 8-25-2015]
F. 
All money deposited with the City of Granby to secure the payment of accounts incurred for water shall remain on deposit with the City until service is terminated and until such time as all accounts for water shall have been satisfied.
G. 
Whenever any consumer of water shall order his/her service discontinued, the City Clerk, upon the payment by the consumer of all amounts due the Water Department, shall pay the consumer the amount of his/her deposit and order the Water Department employees to take charge of the meter belonging to the City.
H. 
Payment for utility bills is due not later than the 15th day of the month following the month of consumption. To payments after that date a delinquency charge of ten percent (10%) of the amount of such bill will be added thereto and paid by the consumer or property owner as indicated below. In the event water bills are not paid in full on or before the last day of the month when same shall become due and payable, it shall be the duty of the City Clerk to give the Water Superintendent a disconnect notice on the first working day of the next month. It then shall be the duty of the Water Superintendent to thereupon discontinue water service to such consumer by disconnecting the service and removing the meter therefrom. Thereupon any deposit of the consumer may be utilized and applied to the delinquent bill plus delinquent charges and any excess shall be refunded to the consumer. To reinstate the service to the property that has been disconnected, all delinquent bills and delinquency charges must be fully paid along with the reconnection charge of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) plus the normal deposit as set forth above.
[Ord. No. 793 §§1 — 2, 8-25-2015]
I. 
Whenever any charge on any municipal utility service account is unpaid after sixty (60) days from the date the bill for such account was rendered, then the amount for all charges, including late fees and attorney fees, accrued and accruing on the account may be collected by any or all of the procedures listed below:
[Ord. No. 793 §§1 — 2, 8-25-2015]
1. 
By assignment or forwarding for collection to a collection agency or law firm; or
2. 
By suit or other proceedings in any court of competent jurisdiction. The City shall have the power to sue any owner and/or user, jointly and severally, in a civil action to recover delinquent charges plus the late payment charge and interest on the delinquent bill, plus all costs incurred by the City in connection with the filing, enforcement and relinquishment of such lien and the prosecution and collection of such charges, including court costs, fees for transcript judgments, special process servers, credit reports, video reports, utility shutoff costs, other related fees, and reasonable attorneys' fees to be fixed by the court; or
3. 
By enforcement of a lien on the property.
a. 
The delinquent charges, along with any fees related to such, shall constitute a lien upon the property served on the date a bill is rendered for service, and said lien shall have the same priority as taxes levied for State and county purposes.
b. 
The City may cause a notice of lien for non-payment of such charges to be filed in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds. Such notice of lien shall state charges due, and shall adequately describe the property against which such lien is asserted. A copy of such notice of lien shall be mailed to the owner of the property at the last address on file with the City, and the filing of such notice in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds may be deferred as a matter of grace for not more than thirty (30) days from the mailing date.
c. 
All charges that remain unpaid shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed the lower of nine percent (9%) per annum or the maximum legal rate from the time a notice of lien is filed with the Recorder of Deeds as herein prescribed, until such time as the account is brought current.
d. 
After such notice of lien is filed of record, the fees of the Recorder for filing and releasing said lien shall also be payable to the City as a prerequisite to releasing said lien.
[Ord. No. 722, 8-12-2008]
A. 
Henceforth no water meter shall be installed or water service reconnected to an existing meter which is located within a residence or enclosed structure. It shall be the duty of the property owner or applicant to have the premises where such water service is desired so plumbed that a water meter can be set in a convenient place adjacent or on the property owned or occupied by the consumer so that it will be convenient for the reading, inspecting and servicing of same by the said City and its employees. The location of such meter shall be designated by the Water Superintendent. All meters shall be installed in a meter box having the inside diameter of not less than fifteen (15) inches.
B. 
All meters shall be and remain the property of the City of Granby and shall at all times be under its control and shall not be tampered with by the consumer or any other person.
C. 
When the reading of water meters is prohibited by inclement weather or other impossible circumstances, the City Mayor may authorize the City Clerk to estimate the monthly bill of any user. The City Clerk shall make such estimate considering the average consumption of the user of the previous twelve (12) months, considering relative use of such utility service within the City as a whole for the period of time in question, and considering such other factors as the City Clerk may seem appropriate. Such estimated bills shall be due and payable as are all other bills rendered under this Article.
D. 
All water sets and service connections to City water main shall be done by the City with the consumer paying all costs. The City Water Superintendent will make an on-site inspection before and after the connection is made. None of the connecting lines shall be covered until the Water Superintendent has made a final inspection of the water connection.
E. 
A consumer wanting a new pasture meter service will be responsible for costs and expenses. "Pasture meter" is defined as a meter to be used when water does not go into the City sewer system.
[Ord. No. 722, 8-12-2008]
A. 
Whenever an emergency shall exist for the reason of shortage of water supply of the municipal water works, which shortage shall endanger the health of the inhabitants of the City and the property therein, the Board of Aldermen shall have the power and authority to declare, by proclamation, that such exists and shall have the further authority to order and enforce the discontinuance and use of water by all consumers for the following purposes to wit: sprinkling lawns and gardens, washing motorcars or other vehicles, flushing ditches, washing sidewalks and porches, use in swimming pools, and the general use of water through a garden or other hose, or the wasting of water in any manner.
B. 
A proclamation required by the foregoing Subsection shall be issued by the Mayor and shall state the effective date of such order and what uses the water from the municipal plant are prohibited and shall further state the length of time such order is to remain in effect; however, provided that the proclamation may state that the order therein contained is to remain in effect until revoked by subsequent proclamation. Notice of the adoption and issuance of the proclamation shall be given to all water consumers by publishing the same in some newspaper published in the City or by posting copies thereof in at least ten (10) public places in the City, including the City Hall and the post office, whichever may be deemed by the Board of Aldermen the best manner of giving notice of the adoption thereof to the greatest number of consumers.
C. 
Any consumer, who shall violate any such proclamation by use of the water in violation of the prohibition therein contained, shall forfeit his/her right to water during said emergency and be subject to a violation of this Section as hereinafter provided. It shall be the duty of the Water Superintendent to discontinue service until notified by the Board of Aldermen to again service said user.
[Ord. No. 722, 8-12-2008]
The consumer, in his/her application, shall agree that the properly authorized agent of the City shall at all reasonable hours have full access to the consumer's premises for the purpose of testing, examining, repairing, reading or removing of the meter or any other material and appliance and that no one is permitted to remove, repair or tamper with such material or appliance who is not an agent of the City. The City and its authorized agent shall at all times have access to and may make any reasonable inspection concerning the water system. In the event such agents of the City are refused such rights by the consumer, then and in that event the Water Superintendent shall forthwith discontinue the service of water to such consumer and the meter shall be forthwith removed.
[Ord. No. 722, 8-12-2008]
If any person, partnership, firm or corporation shall in any way attempt to permit, while a consumer of water furnished by the City, to defraud the City by circumventing any meter or by any other manner, it shall be the duty of the Water Superintendent, upon the instructions of the Board of Aldermen, to disconnect the service of said consumer. If said consumer shall be convicted of such acts, he/she shall be subject to penalties hereinafter provided.
[Ord. No. 722, 8-12-2008]
The City shall furnish water service to customers only upon express conditions precedent that the City shall not be liable to the customer or other person for inconvenience, delay, injury or damage whatsoever occurring by reason of derangements, stoppage, leak, fault or negligent construction or operation of any utility equipment, apparatus, distribution means, pipes and lines, or by reason of the temporary shutting off of any service to clear or repair the same or for any other purpose, or by reason of the scarcity or insufficiency of supply or disruptions of distribution due to weather or other acts of God; nor shall the City be liable for the expense of repair of any service, pipes, mains or lines not owned by the City. The City reserves the right at any time to restrict service for any and all purposes.
[Ord. No. 722, 8-12-2008]
Any person violating any of the provisions of this Chapter shall be deemed guilty of a violation of the City Code and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one dollar ($1.00) and not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each such offense.