It hereafter shall be unlawful for any person, partnership, association of persons, or any corporation to drill or to commence to drill a well for oil or gas (commencement is defined as being the date when the well is "spudded in" on the location) within the city limits of Levelland, or to work upon or assist in any way in the drilling of any such well, without a permit for the drilling of such well having first been issued by the authority of the City Council of the City of Levelland, Texas, in accordance with the terms of this article.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 1)
(a) 
The term "drilling district" as used herein is defined to be a tract of land consisting of approximately forty (40) acres, with, the tracts or lots being contiguous and forming one tract of land. Boundaries of the drilling districts are hereby established and adopted as shown on the maps on file in the office of the City Secretary which maps are hereby made a part of this article and are hereby designated "drilling maps" and such maps and all the notations, references and information shown thereon are hereby made a part of this article as if the same were set forth in full herein. It shall be the duty of the City Secretary to keep on file in his or her office the original of said "drilling district maps" and duplicate copies thereof, showing all of the changes, amendments, and additions thereto.
(b) 
Except as hereinafter provided, no permit shall be issued for more than one well in each drilling district, and it shall be unlawful to drill more than one oil or gas well in a drilling district (including any well or wells drilled prior to enactment of this article). It is provided however, that more than one well per drilling district may be drilled, after a permit is obtained for the drilling as herein provided by this article, in the following instances:
(1) 
Application may be made to drill for production to different producing horizons within a drilling district.
(2) 
Application may be made to drill as many as-two wells to the same producing horizon in the event that the Railroad Commission of the State of Texas shall permit spacing of wells to be twenty (20) acres rather than forty (40) acres. As to such wells that shall cause more than one well to be drilled within a single drilling district, all of the terms and conditions of this article shall apply in the same manner and to the same extent as if such proposed well was the first well to be drilled in such drilling district.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 2)
No permit for the drilling of a well shall be issued to a person, persons or corporation not owning or holding oil and gas leases, or drilling contracts with the owners of all the area in the drilling district, except that if a person, persons or corporation not owning or holding oil and gas leases or drilling contracts with the owners of all the area in the drilling district shall desire a permit from the City of Levelland, Texas, such applicant shall first comply with Chapter 102 of the Texas Natural Resources Code, titled "Pooling", as it now exists or as it may hereafter be amended, and such applicant shall furnish the City of Levelland, Texas, a copy, properly certified, of the Order of the Railroad Commission granting the pooling of the land involved in the application.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 3)
If there be any peculiar circumstances regarding the location of a well in the city limits of the City of Levelland, Texas, the drilling permit may prescribe any additional reasonable requirements with regard to safety factors concerning such well and the drilling thereof and the production therefrom. Such requirements may be imposed by the drilling permit board or by the City Council. The requirements may include, but are not limited to the following:
(1) 
Pollution Control;
(2) 
Control of Odors;
(3) 
Control of Noise;
(4) 
Fire Protection;
(5) 
Landscaping and Screening;
(6) 
Restoration of Premises;
(7) 
Storage and Transport of Wastes; and
(8) 
Times of Operation.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 4)
No oil or gas well shall be drilled within any of the streets or alleys of the city nor shall any oil or gas well operation be allowed to block or close up any street or alley except by special permit issued by order of the City Council, and then only temporarily.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 5)
(a) 
Every application for a permit to drill a well shall be in writing, signed by the applicant or some person in his or its behalf; it shall be filed with the City Secretary and be accompanied with a deposit of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) of which five hundred dollars ($500.00) is not refundable to the applicant under any circumstances notwithstanding anything in this article to the contrary, as a fee to the city. The application shall show the following:
(1) 
The date of the filing of the application with the City Secretary. Such date shall be prior to the date of the first publication of the newspaper notice required herein;
(2) 
The name of the applicant;
(3) 
The address of the applicant;
(4) 
The proposed site of the well;
(5) 
The proposed depth of the well;
(6) 
The name and address of each land, mineral, royalty and/or lease owner to whom notice is required to be given by this article;
(7) 
The names and last known addresses of each land, mineral, royalty and/or lease owner to whom notice is required to be given by this article, whose addresses are unknown to applicant;
(8) 
A surveyed plat of the drilling district showing the exact location of the proposed well;
(9) 
Upon receipt from the publisher, the publisher's affidavit for the notices hereinafter required shall be attached to the filed application;
(10) 
A duly executed bond given by the applicant, as principal, and a surety company authorized to do business in the State of Texas, as surety, running to the City of Levelland, for the benefit of the city and all persons, firms and corporations concerned, conditioned that if the permit be granted and if drilling operations be commenced thereunder, the applicant and his or its assigns will comply with the terms and conditions of this article in the drilling and operation of the well; will restore the streets and sidewalks and other public places of the city which may be disturbed in the operations, to their former conditions; will clear the block and lots of all litter, machinery, derricks, buildings, oil and other substances, erected, used or allowed in the drilling or producing operations, whenever the well shall be abandoned, or the operation thereof discontinued, and that he or it will pay any and all damages suffered by any person or corporation as to property in the city from fire, explosion or from oil, gas or water, caused by or originating from the operations connected with such well, and will hold the city harmless from any or all liability growing out of the granting of such permit. Such bond shall be in the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00), except where the applicant holds oil and gas leases on the entire drilling district, when the bond shall be for only twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00). Provided, that in all cases where there are no buildings or other improvements on said drilling district, the bond need not be in excess of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) and shall be approved by the Mayor and filed with the City Secretary; provided, further, that upon the expiration of ninety (90) days next after the completion of any producing well, the bond theretofore given in connection with such well shall be reduced to five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), except that if the bond theretofore given shall be in the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), then such bond shall be reduced to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00). If and when any well shall be plugged and abandoned, the bond theretofore given in connection with such well shall be canceled and returned to the party or parties giving the same.
(b) 
Notice of the filing of the application shall be given by the applicant in the manner hereinafter provided to each owner of minerals, royalty, fee or oil and gas leasehold estate in lands within the drilling district in which the lot upon which applicant seeks a permit to drill is located as such ownership is disclosed by the records of the county clerk of Hockley County, Texas, except that no notice need be given to the owners of the fee, royalty or mineral estates in lands within said district on which applicant holds oil and gas mineral leases. Such notice shall be in words and figures as follows:
"Notice is hereby given that __________, acting under and pursuant to the terms and provisions of AN ORDINANCE REGULATING THE DRILLING OF OIL AND GAS WELLS WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF LEVELLAND, TEXAS, and ESTABLISHING RESTRICTIONS THEREON, being Ordinance No. 639 and any and all ordinances amendatory thereof, did on the _____ day of __________, 20_____, file with the City Secretary of the City of Levelland, an application for a permit to drill a well for oil and or gas upon the following described property:
____________________.
A hearing upon such application will be held in the office of the City Secretary of the City of Levelland, Texas, at _____ on the _____ day of __________, 20_____, at _____ o'clock _____.m."
At least ten (10) days prior to the date of the hearing on such application as fixed in said notice, a copy of such notice shall be mailed by certified mail, addressed to the last known address of each land, mineral, royalty and/or lease owner's if known to applicant, and a copy of such notice shall be published, at the expense of applicant, in every issue of a newspaper regularly published in the City of Levelland for ten (10) days prior to the date of such hearing; if the official paper be published weekly, the publication shall be made in one issue thereof. Proof of each publication shall be made by the printer or publisher of the paper by affidavit filed with the City Secretary and shall be prima facie evidence of such publication.
(c) 
On the date and at the time set by the published notice for a hearing in the office of the City Secretary, a drilling permit board composed of the City Manager, the City Secretary and the City Attorney shall review the application for a drilling permit. The board shall determine if all requirements of this article have been met in the application. If all requirements are met, the board shall issue the permit over the signature of the City Secretary, with such additional requirements as it deems necessary to insure that the drilling shall be safely performed as described in Section 4.404 of this article.
The permit shall specify the particular location of the well to be drilled, and it shall be unlawful for the permittee to drill elsewhere in the drilling district. The granting and issuance of a permit as in this article provided, shall automatically operate as a rejection and denial of all other applications for a permit or permits covering the drilling district, or any portion or portions thereof included within and covered by the permit so granted, and which applications are pending at the time of the granting of such permit or may be filed during the life thereof. If all requirements of this article are not met, the board shall deny the permit and refund the applicant's deposit, less five hundred dollars ($500.00), at the end of five days unless applicant perfects an appeal. The board is hereby delegated the authority to act by the City Council.
(d) 
Within five days of the action taken by the drilling permit board, an appeal may be made for a review of the board action to the City Council. Such appeal may by made by the applicant or by any owner of surface minerals, royalty, or oil and gas leasehold estate in lands within the drilling district in which the lot upon which the application to drill is located. The appeal is presumed to have been perfected upon the date that an appeal fee, as provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code, is received in the office of the City Secretary. After a hearing before the next available regularly scheduled meeting of the City Council, the permit will be either issued or denied upon a majority vote of the Council. If no appeal has been perfected within five days of the date of action by the board, the action of the board shall be deemed a final determination of the city on the application.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 6)
The City Council on appeal from a decision of the drilling permit board shall have the power, and reserves the authority to deny any application for a permit where:
(1) 
by reason of the location of the proposed well and the character and value of the permanent improvements already erected in the drilling district in question, or adjacent thereto, or;
(2) 
the use to which the land and surroundings are adapted for civic purposes; or
(3) 
for sanitary reasons, the drilling of an oil or gas well will be a serious disadvantage to the city and its inhabitants as a whole. When a permit shall be refused for any of the above reasons, five hundred dollars ($500.00) of the deposit made with the application shall be returned to the applicant.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 7)
All drilling plants shall be equipped with fire extinguishers, maintained in good order. The permittee will use steel mud pits and will haul from the city cuttings and drilling fluids.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 8)
(a) 
No permit shall be granted or issued for the drilling of a well except upon ground owned by the applicant or held by him or it under oil and gas lease or drilling contract from the owner giving the owner's permission to drill the well.
(b) 
When a permit shall have been issued, the same shall terminate and become inoperative without any action on the part of the City Council of the city, unless within ninety (90) days from the date of issue, actual drilling of the well shall have commenced. After the drilling of a well shall be commenced, the cessation of the drilling operations for a period of six (6) months shall operate to terminate and cancel the permit and the well shall be considered as abandoned for all purposes of this article, and it shall be unlawful thereafter to continue the operation or drilling of such well without the issuance of a new permit; provided that if said well shall be a producer and shall thereafter cease to produce, the permittee shall have the right to conduct reworking operations on said well within six (6) months after cessation of production without having to procure a new permit. If and when any permit shall terminate and become inoperative, as in this section provided, or if and when the permittee shall file with the City Council of said city written notice of his election to surrender his permit and abandon the premises covered thereby, then the bond or bonds, undertaking or undertakings, security or securities theretofore furnished by permittee in connection with such permit shall be immediately returned to him, provided such permittee shall have fully complied with all of the terms and conditions of this article.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 9)
Neither this article, nor any permit issued here under, shall be interpreted to grant any right or license to the permittee to enter upon or occupy in any respect, in the drilling or the production operation of a well, any land except by the written consent of the owner, nor shall it limit or prevent the free right of any lot owner to contract for the amount of royalty to be paid with respect to his own land, or for damages, rights, or privileges with respect thereto.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 10)
(a) 
All drilling site locations described in any applications for a drilling permit within the City of Levelland shall be on a surface with a minimum size of one hundred feet by one hundred feet exclusive of any surface easements. Such site locations shall be sufficiently described in the application as to disclose that the minimum site size is provided.
(b) 
All drilling operations in the City of Levelland shall be conducted so as to avoid, in so far as is possible, unnecessary noise that may disturb neighboring property owners; and that to further the goal of reduced noise, that the applicant must provide that effective mufflers be in place and in use on the engines of all drilling equipment used on the drilling site from the date of the granting of the drilling permit until the installation of the pump upon the drilling site.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 11)
In operating under any permit issued under this article or any amendment thereto, or of any well drilled prior to enactment of this article, all oil, gas and water produced or arising from the operations, shall, within a reasonable time after production, be piped or otherwise conveyed or removed from the territory of the city. The ordinary use of a slush pond and usual production facilities, and all excavations in or use of the streets and alleys in such operations shall be under the reasonable direction of the city authorities, and done without unreasonable obstruction of the streets and without expense or cost to the city.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 12)
No well shall be drilled and no permit shall be issued for any well to be drilled at any location which is nearer than one hundred fifty (150) feet to any residence or commercial building without the applicant having first secured the written permission of the owner or owners thereof. No crude oil storage tank or tanks shall be erected or maintained within one hundred fifty (150) feet of any residence or commercial building without the applicant having first secured written permission of the owner or owners thereof.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 13)
(a) 
Service wells shall be governed solely by this section of the article.
(b) 
For purposes of this article the term "service wells" shall include those wells drilled within the city limits of the City of Levelland, Texas, for the purpose of injecting water or other substances into a producing oil or gas formation for the purpose of pressure maintenance or improved recovery operations or for the purpose of disposal of water produced in connection with oil or gas, or for the purpose of supplying water for use in connection with the drilling for or producing of oil or gas. A well drilled for the production of oil or gas shall not be considered to be a service well.
(c) 
Any person desiring to obtain a permit for the drilling of a service well within the city limits of Levelland shall first make written application to the City Council for a permit and shall include in such application the following:
(1) 
A map showing the proposed location of the well to be drilled,
(2) 
Proof of notice to all owners of property within the drilling district and proof of publication in the same manner as called for in an application for an oil or gas well drilling permit.
(3) 
Written authorization for the drilling of the well from the surface owner of the lot or tract upon which the well is to be located or evidence of ownership by the applicant of the surface of such lot or tract; provided that, if the City of Levelland is the owner of the surface of such lot or tract, the issuance of the permit in accordance with this Section shall constitute such authorization.
(4) 
A reasonably detailed statement showing the contemplated drilling and completion program which shall set forth the formation to which such well shall be drilled and which shall describe the casing and cementing programs to be used for the purpose of insuring protection of fresh water formations.
(d) 
The City Council shall have the power, and reserves the authority, to refuse any application for a permit on appeal from an action of the drilling permit board where by reason of the location of the proposed service well and character and value of the permanent improvements already erected adjacent thereto, or the use to which the land and surroundings are adapted for civic purposes, or for sanitary reasons, the drilling of a service well will be a serious disadvantage to the city and its inhabitants as a whole. Except as herein above provided, if an application complies in all respects with the terms of this section, the drilling permit board, over the signature of the City Secretary shall issue a permit for the drilling of a service well applied for. Appeal from a decision of the drilling permit board is accomplished in the same fashion as is an appeal on an oil or gas well drilling application.
(e) 
All drilling plants shall be equipped with fire extinguishers maintained in good order. In developed areas, including parks, the permittee will use steel mud pits and will haul from the city cuttings and drilling fluids. Each service well shall be drilled in a workmanlike manner, and the permittee shall use adequate blowout control equipment, together with adequate equipment to prevent the escape of deleterious substances, such as oil, gas, salt water and drilling fluid from the well. If the well is completed as a service well, it shall be equipped with fittings, pipe, and other equipment of sufficient working pressure to control the maximum anticipated pressure in the well, and the well shall be enclosed by a fence reasonably sufficient to prevent easy access thereto by the general public. The permittee shall furnish to the City Council copies of all forms filed with the Railroad Commission of Texas relating to the drilling, completion and abandonment of such well.
(f) 
It shall be unlawful to drill any service well within any of the streets or alleys of the city or to block or close up any street or alley in any drilling or production operations except by special permit by order of the City Council, and then only temporarily.
(g) 
All service wells drilled here under and the facilities and equipment appurtenant to the operation thereof shall be maintained in good working order and shall be operated in such manner as to reasonably prevent the escape of deleterious materials therefrom. The area around wells, facilities and equipment will be maintained in such manner as to prevent an unsightly appearance around such well, facilities and equipment, and following abandonment of wells and above ground facilities, the surface area shall be restored as nearly as is practicable to its original condition.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 14)
All technical or oil and gas industry words or phrases used herein and not specifically defined herein shall have that meaning customarily attributable thereto by prudent operators in the oil and gas industry.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 15)
Any violation of any of the terms of this article, whether herein denominated as unlawful or not, shall be deemed a misdemeanor, and any person or corporation convicted of any such violation shall be fined in accordance with the general penalty provision found in Section 1.106 of this code. Each day such violation shall continue, shall be considered a separate offense and be punishable separately, and any person, agent or employee engaged in any such violation shall, upon conviction, be so punished therefore.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 16)
Any violation of laws of the State of Texas or any rules, regulations or requirements of any state or federal regulatory body having jurisdiction in reference to drilling, completing, equipping, operating, producing, maintaining or abandoning an oil or gas well or related appurtenances equipment or facilities or in reference to fire walls, fire protection, blowout protection, safety protection or convenience of persons or property shall also be a violation of this article and shall be punishable in accordance with the provisions hereof.
(Ordinance 639, adopted 12/15/81, Section 17)