[Amended 10-5-1976 by Ord. No. 1065; 9-2-1977 by Ord. No. 1099; 4-7-1981 by Ord. No. 11-81; 10-1-1985 by Ord. No. 11-85; 10-15-1985 by Ord. No. 17-85; 5-4-1993 by Ord. No. 15-93; 4-4-1995 by Ord. No. 22-95]
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to dig, drill or construct
a well within the corporate limits of the City without first having
obtained a permit therefor from the City Council. The applications
for private well permits shall be obtained from the office of the
Water/Wastewater Director and shall set forth:
(1)
Location of proposed well in conjunction with sewers. No well
shall be located within 25 feet of any sewer line, private or public.
No well shall be located within 50 feet of any septic tank or within
100 feet of any disposal field.
(2)
Location of proposed well in conjunction with water lines. No
well shall be located within 25 feet of any water line, private or
public.
(3)
Minimum clearance from property line of five feet. No well shall
be installed in any easement on the property.
(4)
Depth of proposed well.
(5)
Size and type of casing to be installed.
(6)
Pumping equipment to be used.
(7)
Name and address of well driller.
(8)
Assurance that no water from the private well shall be used
for domestic purposes, but shall be used solely for lawn irrigation
and garden irrigation or for water used in heating or cooling equipment.
Any permits required by the State of Nebraska and the Upper Big Blue
Natural Resources District shall be submitted prior to issuance of
a permit by the City. Disposal of water for heating or cooling shall
be through reinjection back to the same level of aquifer, except that
during the spring, summer and fall months such water used for heating
or cooling may be used for irrigation of lawn or garden. No water
from the private well shall be allowed to run off into a City stormwater
sewer. In addition, assurance shall be given that water from the private
well shall be used exclusively on the property on which the well is
located.
(9)
Assurance that the property owner will install and maintain proper backflow prevention devices as prescribed in Article II of this chapter.
(10)
Assurance that a well log will be recorded by the well driller
and filed with the Water/Wastewater Director prior to use of said
well.
(11)
Assurance that the Water/Wastewater Director may inspect said
well during construction and any time thereafter; and that at least
24 hours prior to well drilling, the well driller shall contact the
Water/Wastewater Director for final site approval.
B.
Such application shall be accompanied by an application fee as set
from time to time by the City Council, which shall cover the inspections,
no part of which is refunded if the application is denied.
A.
Well drillers registration, bond and insurance.
(1)
Every well driller, before doing business in the City, shall
be registered with the City. Registration forms may be obtained from
the City Building Inspector. A registration fee in an amount set from
time to time by the City Council shall be required. Each well driller
shall obtain and file with the City a personal surety bond in a sum
set from time to time by the City Council and signed by one or more
sufficient sureties or a bond in a like amount of some approved corporate
surety company doing business in the City to be approved by the Mayor
and Council, conditioned that the licensee shall indemnify and hold
harmless the City of and from all accidents, damages, liability, claims,
judgment, costs or expense caused by any negligence arising from a
failure to protect such drilling work, or by any unfinished, unskilled
and inadequate work done in pursuance of his registration to drill
wells, or using out of furnishing defective material or from failure
to execute and perform any work during the period of such driller's
registration. The obligee of said bond shall be the City and action
may be maintained thereon by anyone injured by a breach of its conditions
for a period of one year after the completion of any drilling work.
All bonds tendered by drillers shall be approved in writing, as to
form and substance, by the City Attorney.
(2)
The applicant shall also provide certificates of liability coverage
with bodily injury coverage and property damage coverage in amounts
set from time to time by the City Council.
B.
Notification of Water/Wastewater Director prior to drilling well.
Well drillers shall contact the Water/Wastewater Director at least
24 hours in advance of commencement of any work to advise him of the
location and time drilling is to take place in order that final site
approval may be given.
The City may grant a temporary well permit when an emergency
is determined to exist for purposes other than lawn and garden irrigation.
In granting said permit, the City may establish conditions under which
said well is to be operated, including the purposes therefor, its
location, the period of time during which such well shall be operated,
conditions for the closing and capping of such well and such safety
requirements as the Council may provide and such other conditions
as may protect the health and welfare of the City. The application
for a temporary well permit shall give the same information as required
for a regular well permit and shall be accompanied by an application
fee as set from time to time by the City Council, no part of which
shall be refunded if the application is denied.
A.
All abandoned wells shall be properly abandoned, closed up or destroyed
in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Upper Big Blue
Natural Resources District and in accordance with Nebraska Department
of Health Title 178 NAC 12 and all amendments thereto and amended
editions and any supplements thereto.
B.
Whenever the Water/Wastewater Director shall find a well which has
been improperly abandoned and discontinued for use, it shall be his/her
duty to notify or inform the owner of the property on which such well
is located, in writing, that such well must be abandoned in accordance
with this article within 30 days of the time of service of such notice.
Upon failure of the owner of the property upon which said well is
located to comply with such order, the Water/Wastewater Director shall
cause the well to be properly abandoned, assessing the costs and expense
to the property and the property owner upon which such well is located.[1]
No cross-connections shall be allowed from a private well to
or from the City water system. It shall be the duty of the owner or
occupant of the property to give the Water/Wastewater Director free
access to the property at reasonable times for the purpose of making
a cross-connection inspection. If the Water/Wastewater Director is
denied entry to make said inspection, a judicial order for entry into
and onto the property shall be obtained. If the Water/Wastewater Director
of the City finds that a cross-connection exists, then he shall order
the use of the private well to be permanently discontinued. The owner,
tenant and lessee shall be liable severally and jointly for all damages
to the City water system and users of the City water system caused
by such cross-connection.
The City shall have power and authority to refuse to issue well
drilling permits if it appears that the plan of drilling and construction
is not sound, or the proposed driller does not have proper equipment,
or if it appears that such well may endanger, impair or in any way
interfere with the municipal public water system of the City.
The standards for wells in Title 178 of the Nebraska Administrative
Code are hereby adopted, and such minimum standards, including all
subsequent additions, amendments, supplements or appendices thereto,
are made a part of this article as fully as if set forth at length
herein. One copy of said minimum standards shall be placed on file
with the City Clerk, and any and all subsequent additions, amendments
or supplements or appendices thereto shall be placed on file with
the City Clerk.
All spigots or other connections to or from a private well shall
have a sign thereon stating that water is not safe for drinking, and
said sign shall be continually maintained visibly upon said private
well.
The owner or the occupant of the property upon which a private
well is located shall be responsible jointly and severally for all
water usage from said private well.
The City Council may order the discontinuance of the use of
a private well or wells where it has reason and cause to believe that
the public health is endangered, and for that purpose may revoke and
cancel any well permit or renewal of such permit after notice and
hearing. Such permit or renewal thereof may be revoked and canceled
by the City upon violation of any of the terms and provisions of this
article by the permittee or his successor in the interest to the property
upon which such well is located or its occupants, in and to any private
well, after notice and hearing.
The granting of a well permit or the renewal thereof to a permittee
or its successors in interest shall constitute consent and shall grant
consent by the permittee or any tenant thereon to and for the Water/Wastewater
Director of the City or his agents or employees to enter upon the
premises upon which the well is located in order to take any action
required by the Water/Wastewater Director by this article and to determine
whether or not there is any violation of this article by said well
or the use thereof.
Any person who violates the prohibitions or provisions of this
article shall be deemed guilty of a violation. The penalty for such
violation shall be an amount not to exceed $500 for any one offense,
recoverable with costs, and in default of said payment the offender
shall stand committed to the County Jail until such fine and costs
are paid. Each period of 24 hours during or on which a violation occurs
or continues shall be deemed a separate offense.
