[Adopted 3-1-1993 by Ord. No. 2-93 (Ch. 31 of the 1993 Municipal Code)]
A. 
The City Council of the City of Edgerton hereby find that the management of stormwater and other surface water within the City is a matter that affects the health, safety and welfare of the City, its citizens and businesses and others in the surrounding area. All real property in the City, including property owned by public and tax-exempt entities, contributes runoff and either uses or benefits from the stormwater system.
B. 
Failure to effectively manage stormwater affects the sanitary sewer utility operations of the City by, among other things, increasing the likelihood of infiltration and inflow into the sanitary sewer system. Surface water runoff may cause nonpoint source pollution, erosion of lands, threaten residences and businesses with water damage, and create environmental damage to the rivers, streams and other bodies of water within and adjacent to the City. A system for the collection and disposal of stormwater provides services to all properties within the City of Edgerton and surrounding areas, including those properties not currently served by the system. The cost of operating and maintaining the City stormwater management system and financing necessary repairs, replacements, improvements and extensions thereof should, to the extent practicable, be allocated in relationship to the services received from the system. In order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, the City Council hereby exercises its authority to establish a Stormwater Utility and establish the rates for stormwater management services.
C. 
In promulgating the regulations contained in this chapter, the City is acting pursuant to authority granted by Chs. 62 and 66, Wis. Stats., including, but not limited to, §§ 62.04, 62.11, 62.16(2), 62.18, 66.0101, 66.0621, 66.0811, 66.0813, 66.0703, 66.0723, and 66.0627.
There is hereby created and established a Stormwater Utility within the City of Edgerton, effective July 1, 2013. The entire operation, charge and management of the Stormwater Utility are vested in the City Council, pursuant to applicable state law. The Director of Public Works shall supervise and manage the Stormwater Utility as directed by the Public Works Committee.
The City, acting through the Stormwater Utility may, without limitation due to enumeration, acquire by gift, purchase, eminent domain, condemnation or otherwise, construct, lease, own, operate, maintain, improve, update, modify, extend, expand, replace, clean, dredge, repair, conduct, manage, finance, borrow monies, assess and/or levy fees for such facilities, operations, maintenance and activities as are deemed, from time to time, by the City to be proper and reasonably necessary for a system of stormwater and surface water management. These facilities may include, without limitation due to enumeration, surface and underground drainage facilities, inlets, manholes, sewers, channels, ditches, retention and detention basins, infiltration facilities, retaining walls, streets, roads, natural drainage ways, and such other facilities as will support a stormwater management system.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply. Words used in the singular shall include the plural, and the plural, the singular; words used in the present tense shall include the future tense; the word "shall" is mandatory and not discretionary; the word "may" is permissive.
CHARGE
The periodic or other fee imposed under this article for the rendering of stormwater utility services by the City.
DIRECTOR
The Director of Public Works or his/her designee.
DUPLEX
Any residential property having two dwelling units.
DWELLING UNIT
A room or group of rooms, designed or used as living quarters for one family only. Individual bathrooms and complete kitchen facilities permanently installed shall always be included for each dwelling unit.
EQUIVALENT RUNOFF UNIT (ERU)
The basic unit by which a storm sewer charge is calculated under this article and is based upon the impervious area reasonably determined by the City. The term "ERU" means the statistical average horizontal impervious area of single-family homes within the City of Edgerton on the date of adoption of this article. One ERU is established as 3,000 square feet.
IMPERVIOUS AREA or IMPERVIOUS SURFACE
A surface which has been compacted or covered with a layer of material so that it is highly resistant to infiltration by rainwater. The term includes, without limitation due to enumeration, all areas covered by structures, roof extensions, patios, porches, driveways, loading docks and sidewalks, and semi-impervious surfaces such as compacted gravel, all as measured on a horizontal plane.
MULTIFAMILY UNIT
Any residential property comprised of three or more dwelling units.
NONRESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
A lot or parcel of land, with improvements such as a building, structure, grading or substantial landscaping, which is not residential property, excluding publicly owned rights-of-way, recreational trails, and publicly owned or privately owned railbeds utilized for railroad transportation. This term includes mobile home parks. This term includes mixed-use parcels that contain dwelling units and nonresidential uses.
PERSON
Each and every property owner and includes, but is not limited to, natural persons, partnerships, corporations, limited-liability companies, limited-liability partnerships, joint ventures, and all other legal entities of whatever kind or nature.
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
A lot or parcel of land developed exclusively for residential purposes, including single-family units, duplexes, and multifamily units. The term excludes transient rentals (such as motels and hotels) and mobile home parks.
SINGLE-FAMILY UNIT
Any residential property consisting of one dwelling unit.
STORMWATER UTILITY
The City-owned-and-operated utility established under this article for the purpose of managing stormwater and imposing charges for the recovery of costs connected with such stormwater management.
UNDEVELOPED PROPERTY
Real property that is not developed by the addition of an improvement such as a building, structure, impervious surface, grading or substantial landscaping. A property shall be considered to be developed if:
A. 
A certificate of occupancy has been issued for a building or structure on the property or, if no certificate of occupancy has been issued, upon substantial completion of construction or final inspection; or
B. 
Construction of an improvement on the property is at least 50% completed and such construction has ceased for a period of at least three months, whether consecutive or not.
The Stormwater Utility finances shall be accounted for in a separate Stormwater Utility Enterprise Fund by the City. All income and revenues shall be retained by the Stormwater Utility Enterprise Fund. The Stormwater Utility shall prepare an annual budget, which may include all operation and maintenance costs, debt service and other costs related to the operation of the Stormwater Utility. The annual budget is subject to approval by the City Council. The City shall require that adequate revenues are generated through user fees to provide for a balanced operating budget.
A. 
Every person shall pay the applicable Edgerton stormwater service charge when due for each property owned by that person.
B. 
The basis for computation of the charge for stormwater services to lots and parcels of land within the City is established under this section. The amount of charge to be imposed, the establishment of formulas for the calculation of charges, the creation of customer classifications for the imposition of charges, and changes in such charges, formulas and customer classifications shall be consistent with this article. Each year the City Council shall determine the value of one ERU based upon the applicable year's adopted City Budget and this article, and shall report such value to the City Clerk. All charges established pursuant to this article shall be fair and reasonable. A schedule of current charges shall be maintained and on file in the office of the City Clerk.
C. 
Charges shall be imposed to recover all or a portion of the costs incurred by the Stormwater Utility.
The Stormwater Utility billing schedule shall coincide with the billing schedule for the Edgerton Water Utility. Stormwater Utility charges shall be due and payable to the City Treasurer at the same time that the Water Utility bills are payable. Stormwater Utility charges shall be mailed to the designated utility bill recipient. This mailing shall not relieve the owner of the property from liability for rental property in the event the payment is not made as required by this article. The owner of the property served which is occupied by tenants shall have the right to examine collection records of the City for the purpose of determining whether such charges have been paid for by such tenants, provided that such examination shall be made at the office at which records are kept and during the hours that such office is open for business.
A. 
Stormwater Utility charges shall be payable upon receipt, subject to the provisions of this section.
B. 
Charges remaining unpaid for a period of 20 days or more from the date of the utility bill shall be assessed a late payment penalty charge. The amount of the late payment charge shall be 3% of the bill, except a minimum charge of $0.30 shall apply. Late payment charges shall be applied to all customer classes and rate classifications. The Utility shall not waive any properly applied late payment charges. A late payment charge shall be applied only once to any given amount outstanding.
C. 
If a charge and/or late penalty remains unpaid for a period of 20 days after the date of the utility bill, such charge and penalty shall become a lien upon the real property to which it applies, as provided in §§ 66.0821 and 66.0809, Wis. Stats., and other applicable provisions of the Wisconsin Statutes, as from time to time amended or renumbered.
D. 
Delinquent charges, administrative charges, and penalties shall be automatically extended upon the next available tax roll as a delinquent tax against the real property, and all proceedings relating to the collection, return and sale of property for delinquent real estate taxes shall apply to such charges.
A. 
The City Council, from time to time, by budget adoption may establish classifications other than the customer classifications set forth in this article as may be needed to provide a reasonable and fair distribution of the costs of the Stormwater Utility to all users.
B. 
For the purpose of imposing and collecting the charges imposed under this article, all lots and parcels of real property (land) in the City shall be classified into the following customer classifications:
(1) 
Residential, single-family unit.
(2) 
Residential, duplex.
(3) 
Residential, multifamily.
(4) 
Nonresidential.
(5) 
Undeveloped.
C. 
The Director shall prepare and maintain an updated current list of all lots and parcels of real property (land) within the City of Edgerton and assign the appropriate customer classification to each lot and parcel. This list shall include the number of ERUs assigned to each lot or parcel.
D. 
The average square footage of impervious area of the ERU as of the date of adoption of this article is hereby established to be equivalent to 3,000 square feet.
E. 
The ERU charges for the foregoing customer classifications shall be established as follows:
(1) 
Residential, single-family unit: 1.0 ERU.
(2) 
Residential, duplex: 0.5 ERU per dwelling unit.
(3) 
Residential, multifamily: 0.4 ERU per dwelling unit.
(4) 
Nonresidential: one ERU for each 3,000 square feet of impervious area.
(5) 
Undeveloped: no stormwater charge shall be assigned to undeveloped land.
F. 
The Director shall be responsible for determining the impervious area based on the best available information, including, but not limited to, data supplied by the City Assessor, aerial photography, the property owner, tenant, or developer. The billing amount shall be updated by the Director in accordance with § 366-55. Individual property owners may submit site and building surveys to the Director that help more accurately determine the total area and impervious area.
G. 
The minimum ERU calculations for any customer other than undeveloped properties shall be not less than the rate of 0.4 of one ERU.
H. 
All unoccupied developed parcels shall be subject to the stormwater utility charges.
A. 
Credits may be available to individual nonresidential property owners. It shall be the burden of the nonresidential property owner to request such a credit and to demonstrate to a reasonable degree of certainty with evidence that a fee adjustment is warranted. All applications with an accompanying $50 fee for credit shall be reviewed by the Director and the Director may reduce the measured impervious area after taking into consideration the demonstrated reduction in stormwater volume. Credits may be applied to nonresidential properties based upon two criteria:
(1) 
A credit may be applicable if some or all of a nonresidential customer's property drains directly into Saunders Creek and provided:
(a) 
The discharge is direct and not across another parcel under different ownership or through any form of conveyance system owned or operated by the Stormwater Utility; and
(b) 
The drainage is not in violation of any environmental code or federal, state or local surface water drainage requirements.
(c) 
If a parcel qualifies for a credit under this section, the charge will be prorated based on the percentage of the impervious area that drains directly to Saunders Creek. That portion of the impervious surface that drains to a conveyance owned by the Stormwater Utility will be calculated in accordance with § 366-54. That portion of the impervious area that drains directly to Saunders Creek will be charged by the linear footage of street frontage of the property; 75 linear feet of street frontage is equal to 1 ERU. For example, if 15% of the 40,000 square feet of impervious surface on a parcel drains directly to Saunders Creek and the total curb length is 200 feet the ERU for the property would be (40,000 sf x 85%)/3000 = 11.3 ERU plus (15% x 200 feet)/75 feet = 0.4 ERU for a total ERU of 11.7.
(2) 
A credit may be applicable if a portion of the impervious area drains to an on-site collection facility that is not owned or maintained by the Stormwater Utility, is not a wetland or a lake and provided:
(a) 
The facility provides 100% retention and infiltration of stormwater without an outlet; and
(b) 
The facility is not in violation of any environmental code or federal, state, or local stormwater drainage requirements.
(c) 
Information to be submitted to the Director may include survey data approved by a register land surveyor (RLS) and engineering reports approved by a professional engineer (PE). If the Director determines the parcel is eligible for a credit, the Director will prorate the charge using the formula described in § 366-55A(1).
B. 
A denial or revocation of a credit may be appealed in accordance with § 366-57.
For all classifications other than residential, the construction of a new structure, the expansion of an existing structure, an increase in the amount of impervious area, and site work that requires site plan approval or an erosion permit shall be subject to an increase in the number of ERUs assigned to a lot or parcel. The City shall recalculate the number of ERUs upon completion of the construction. A property owner shall be responsible for timely submitting a fully completed and accurate stormwater utility service application at the time a building permit is issued or a site plan review is conducted. The application shall be made on a form prescribed by the City and provided with each application for a building permit or application for site plan review. Failure to submit such stormwater utility service application or providing false information on such form shall constitute a violation of this article. The implementation of stormwater charges shall commence as set forth in this article.
A. 
The amount of a particular stormwater utility charge, the determination of the ERUs or ERU credits may be appealed to the Public Works Committee by filing a written appeal with the City Clerk prior to the due date of the charge or within 30 days of payment. The written appeal shall specify all grounds for challenge to the amount of the charge and shall state the amount of charge that the appellant considers to be inappropriate. Failure to timely appeal waives all rights to later challenge the charge.
B. 
In considering an appeal, the Public Works Committee shall determine whether the stormwater utility charge is fair and reasonable under the particular facts and circumstances pertaining to that specific property and, in the event the appeal is granted, whether or not a refund is due the appellant and the amount of the refund. The City Clerk shall notify the appellant in writing of his/her determination.
C. 
The customer has 30 days from the date of the written decision of the Public Works Committee to file a written appeal with the City Council.
D. 
If the Public Works Committee or City Council determines that a refund is due the customer, the refund will be applied as a credit towards the customer's next stormwater billing charge, provided that the refund will not exceed the customer's next stormwater billing charge, or it may be refunded in the form of a check at the discretion of the Director of Finance.
A. 
The City Council hereby finds and determines that the stormwater utility charges established under this article reasonably reflect the services rendered to real property and may be, and are hereby authorized to be, assessed, charged, levied, imposed and collected upon such property as a special charge in accord with all applicable Wisconsin Statutes.
B. 
The mailing of the bill for stormwater utility charges to a property owner shall serve as notice to the property owner that failure to pay the charges when due may result in the charges being levied upon the owner's applicable real property.
C. 
In addition, the City may provide notice each October of any unpaid charges to the Stormwater Utility and such charges, if not paid by November 15, may be placed upon the tax roll and collected in the manner provided by this article and/or the applicable provisions of the Wisconsin Statutes. The collection method provided in this section is in addition to the collection method provided for in this article.
A. 
In the event of any conflict between any provision set forth in this article and any other City ordinance, the competing provisions shall be harmonized to the fullest extent possible so as to facilitate the intent and proper effect of the separate areas of regulation.
B. 
If any section or portion hereof shall be declared by a court of competent jurisdictions to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, such decision shall apply only to the specific section or portion hereof directly specified in the decision, and shall not affect the validity of any other provisions, sections, or portions hereof of this article. The remainder of this article shall remain in full force and effect.