The City shall have the power:
A.
To construct, operate and maintain a water system and water plant.
B.
To construct, operate, and maintain a sanitary sewerage system and
a sewage treatment plant.
C.
To construct, operate and maintain a storm-water drainage system
and storm-water sewers.
D.
To construct, maintain, reconstruct, enlarge, alter, repair, improve,
or dispose of all parts, installations, and structures of the above
plants and systems.
E.
To have surveys, plans, specifications, and estimates made for any
of the above plants and systems or parts thereof or the extension
thereof.
F.
To do all things it deems necessary for the efficient operation and
maintenance of the above plants and systems.
Any public-service corporation, company, or individual, before
beginning any construction of or placing of or changing the location
of any main, conduit, pipe, or other structure in the public ways
of the City, shall submit plans to the City and obtain written approval
upon such conditions and subject to such limitations as may be imposed
by the City. Any public-service corporation, company, or individual
violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
If any unauthorized main, conduit, pipe or other structure interferes
with the operation of the water, sewerage, or storm-water systems,
the City may order it removed.
All individuals, firms, or corporations having mains, pipes, conduits or other structures, in, on or over any public way in the City or in the County which impede the establishment, construction or operation of any City sewer or water main shall, upon reasonable notice, remove or adjust the obstructions at their own expense to the satisfaction of the City. If necessary to carry out the provisions of this section, the City may use its condemnation powers provided in Section C-94. Any violation of an ordinance passed under the provisions of this section may be made a misdemeanor.
The City may enter upon or do construction in, on or over any
county public way for the purpose of installing or repairing any equipment
or doing any other things necessary to establish, operate, and maintain
the water system, water plant, sanitary sewerage system, sewage treatment
plant, or storm-water sewers provided for in this Charter. Unless
required by the county, the City need not obtain any permit or pay
any charge for these operations, but it must notify the county of
its intent to enter on the public way and must leave the public way
in a condition not inferior to that existing before.
The City shall provide a connection with water and sanitary
sewer mains for all property abutting on any public way in which a
sanitary sewer or water main is laid. When any water main or sanitary
sewer is declared for operation by the City, all abutting property
owners, after reasonable notice, shall connect all fixtures with the
water or sewer main. The City may require that, if it considers existing
fixtures unsatisfactory, satisfactory ones be installed and may require
that all cesspools, sink drains, and privies be abandoned, filled,
removed or left in such a way as not to injure public health. All
wells found to be polluted or a menace to health may be ordered to
be abandoned and closed. Any violation of an ordinance passed under
the provisions of this section may be made a misdemeanor.
The City may make a charge, the amount to be determined by the
Council, for each connection made to the City's water or sewer mains.
This charge shall be uniform throughout the City, but may be changed
from year to year. Arrangements for the payment of this charge shall
be made before the connection is made.
In order to prevent any leakage or waste of water or other improper
use of the City's water system or sewage disposal system, the City
may require such changes in plumbing, fixtures or connections as it
deems necessary to prevent such waste or improper use.
The City may, by ordinance, provide that no water supply, sewerage,
or storm-water drainage system, and no water mains, sewers, drains,
or connections therewith, shall be constructed or operated by any
person or persons, firm, corporation, institution or community, whether
upon private premises or otherwise, and may provide that cesspools
or other private methods of sewage disposal shall be operated and
maintained in such a manner that they do not and will not be likely
to affect adversely the public comfort and health, and any cesspool
or other private method of sewage disposal affecting or likely to
affect adversely the public comfort and health may be deemed a nuisance
and may be abated by the City. Any violation of an ordinance passed
under the provisions of this section may be made a misdemeanor.
The City shall have the power to extend its water or sewerage
systems beyond the City limits.
[Amended 10-18-2021 by Res. No. 545]
Any employee or agent of the City while in the necessary pursuit
of official duties with regard to the water or sewage disposal systems
operated by the City, shall have the right of entry, for access to
water or sewer installations, at all reasonable hours, and after reasonable
advance notice to the owner, tenant, or person in possession, upon
any premises and into any building in the City or in the county served
by the City's water or sewage disposal system. Any restraint or hindrance
offered to such entry by any owner, tenant, or person in possession,
or the agent of any of them, may, by ordinance, be made a misdemeanor.
No person shall do anything which will discolor, pollute or
tend to pollute any water used or to be used in the City water supply
system. Any violation of the provisions of this section shall be a
misdemeanor.
The City, if it deems it advisable, may contract with any party
or parties, inside or outside the City, to obtain water or to provide
for the removal of sewage.
[Amended 2-7-2000 by Res.
No. 321]
The City shall have the power to charge and collect such service
rates, water rates, ready-to-serve charges, or other charges as it
deems necessary for water supplied and for the removal of sewage.
These charges are to be billed and collected by the City, and if bills
are unpaid within thirty days, the service may be discontinued. Utility
bills which are over 30 days in arrears be set at 16% per year. All
charges shall be a lien on the property, collectible in the same manner
as City taxes or by suit at law.
