Any person or entity that shall fail to comply with or that shall violate any of the provisions of this article shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof may be fined as provided in section
1.01.009 of this code, as amended.
(Ordinance 1572, sec. 5, adopted 11/17/03)
The provisions of subchapter C of chapter 402 of the Texas Local
Government Code, as amended, are hereby adopted by the Town. Accordingly,
the municipal drainage utility system of the Town is hereby declared
to be a public utility.
(Ordinance 1572, sec. 1, adopted 11/17/03)
The Town shall not require a deposit for drainage charges as
a precondition to accepting surface flow into the Town’s municipal
drainage utility system.
(Ordinance 1572, sec. 2, adopted 11/17/03)
All billings, credits, exemptions and other procedures, including
penalties for delinquent payments, shall be as specified and as set
forth in subchapter C of chapter 402 of the Texas Local Government
Code, as amended.
(Ordinance 1572, sec. 3, adopted 11/17/03)
Drainage charges for all real property in the Town shall be
in accordance with a schedule of charges adopted by resolution of
the Town Council following a public hearing as required by section
402.045 of the Texas Local Government Code, as amended. Said resolution
shall be placed on file at the office of the Town Secretary following
passage and made available upon request to the public. Such charges
may be changed, adjusted or readjusted by Town Council resolution
as required, and a current copy of such drainage charges shall be
kept available at the office of the Town Secretary.
(Ordinance 1572, sec. 4, adopted 11/17/03)
(a) Definitions.
Calculated drainage area (CDA).
The value determined for each commercial real property that
is the product of the respective total square feet of the lot or tract
times the runoff percentage assigned to the lot or tract based upon
its use and/or characteristics.
Commercial real property.
An improved lot or tract, platted or unplatted:
(1)
To which municipal drainage service is made available;
(2)
That eventually discharges into a street, storm sewer system,
creek, river, slough, culvert, or other channel that is part of the
Town’s municipal drainage utility system; and
(3)
That is not residential or unimproved real property.
Director.
The Director of the Department designated by the Town Administrator
to manage the municipal drainage utility.
Improved lot or tract.
A lot or tract of land that has a structure or other improvement
on it that causes an impervious coverage of the soil under the structure
or improvement.
Owner.
Has the meaning given that term in section
1.01.004 of this code.
Residential real property.
An improved lot or tract:
(1)
To which municipal drainage service is made available;
(2)
That eventually discharges into a street, storm sewer system,
creek, river, slough, culvert or other channel that is part of the
Town’s municipal drainage utility system; and
(3)
That contains or is platted to contain:
(A)
A single-family or duplex dwelling unit; or
(B)
More than two dwelling units, if each dwelling unit is individually
metered for water service from the Town.
Runoff percentage.
That estimated percentage of rainfall that will run off a
piece of property and into the Town’s municipal drainage system.
Unimproved real property.
A lot or tract of land:
(1)
To which municipal drainage service is made available;
(2)
That eventually discharges into a street, storm sewer system,
creek, river, slough, culvert, or other channel that is part of the
Town’s municipal drainage utility system; and
(3)
That is:
(A)
Owned and maintained in its natural, undeveloped state; or
(B)
Subdivided, but does not yet contain any structure or other
improvement.
(b) Charge for residential property.
The monthly municipal
drainage charge for residential real property for each dwelling unit
receiving water or wastewater service from the Town shall be at such
rate as established and approved by the Town Council and included
in the Town’s adopted master fee schedule.
(c) Charge for commercial property and unimproved property.
The municipal drainage charge for commercial and unimproved real
property shall be at such rate as established and approved by the
Town Council and included in the Town’s adopted master fee schedule.
If information regarding the square footage of a particular lot or
tract of commercial or unimproved real property is unavailable or
inadequate, the Director may make a reasonable estimate of square
footage and levy the drainage charge on that basis.
(d) Billing procedures.
Municipal drainage charges will
be billed and collected in accordance with the following procedures:
(1) For municipal drainage service to commercial and residential real
property, the Water Utilities Department shall bill the customer in
the regular water and wastewater service bill or, if no water or wastewater
service account exists, the owner as shown in the current Town tax
rolls.
(2) For municipal drainage service to unimproved real property, the Water
Utilities Department shall bill the owner as shown in the current
Town tax rolls or, if a water or wastewater service account exists,
the customer. For the purpose of assessing and billing municipal drainage
charges, adjoining tracts of unimproved real property that have the
same owner, as shown in the current Town tax rolls, will be treated
as a single property.
(3) In cases involving occupancy of a lot or tract of commercial real
property by two or more tenants who are customers, the Water Utilities
Department may either prorate the charges on an equitable basis between
all the customers or may instead bill the property owner for municipal
drainage service under a separate account. In addition, if a lot or
tract of land receives water or wastewater service under two or more
service accounts and the service accounts are all in the name of the
same customer, the Water Utilities Department may bill the entire
drainage charge due through one service account.
(4) If more than one person is named in the current Town tax rolls as
the owner of unimproved real property, each person is jointly and
severally liable for municipal drainage charges on the property. The
Water Utilities Department may bill any or all of the joint owners
through one service account.
(e) Administration.
The Water Utilities Department shall
administer collection procedures and service accounts under this section.
An application for water or wastewater service is deemed to include
application for municipal drainage service.
(f) Additional regulations.
Except as otherwise provided in this section, the provisions of sections
13.02.003 and
13.02.044 of this code will govern in all matters regarding the application for municipal drainage service, payment and collection of municipal drainage charges, the liability of persons for charges, and the remedies of the Town in the event of nonpayment.
(Ordinance 1574, sec. 1, adopted 12/22/03; Ordinance 1898 adopted 9/10/12)
The service area of the municipal drainage utility shall be
defined by the corporate boundaries of the Town.
(Ordinance 1574, sec. 2, adopted 12/22/03)