The title of this division and the name by which it shall be known is the city oil and gas ordinance.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 1, adopted -/-/-)
The city council, knowing there is a likelihood of drilling and production operations for oil and gas within the city, now and in the future, and the city council further finding that a substantial portion of said area is urban in character and that the present and prospective density of population and improvements in said area require that operations for the drilling and production of oil and gas within such area be regulated because of the fire hazards created by such operations, as well as the menace of falling derricks, exploding boilers, unsanitary conditions, contaminated water supply and all similar and like threats to the lives, property, health, safety and convenience of the public in general, for which the police power of the state, delegated to this city, is to be and is hereby invoked in aid of the enforcement of the provisions of this division.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 2, adopted -/-/-)
(a) 
For the purposes of this division, and for all purposes under this division, the following words and terms wherever and whenever used or appearing in this division shall have the scope and meaning hereinafter defined and set out in connection with each:
Permittee
means the person to whom is issued a permit for the drilling and operation of a well under this division, and his or its administrators, executors, heirs, successors and assigns.
Person
includes both the singular and plural; and shall mean and include any person, individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, club, society, cooperative, trust, municipal corporation, or political subdivision whatsoever.
Regulated area
means all of the corporate area of the city, as shown by the official map of the city.
Well
means any hole or holes, bore or bores, to any sand, formation, strata or depth, which is or are drilled, bored, sunk, dug or put down for the purpose of either exploring for or ascertaining the existence of any oil, gas, liquid hydrocarbon, or any of them, or for the purpose of producing and recovering any oil, gas, liquid hydrocarbon, or any of them.
(b) 
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 2, sec. 3, adopted -/-/-)
(a) 
The corporate limits of the city, which are included within the terms of this division as provided in the definition of "regulated area" in section 5.05.033, having been found by the city council to be urban in nature and therefore subject to regulation for the safety, health and welfare of the citizens of the city, it is hereby prescribed that no permit for the drilling of any well for oil or gas within said area shall be issued except upon compliance by the applicant with the conditions hereinafter set forth.
(b) 
Within the area defined no well shall be drilled except on a unit comprising not less than five (5) contiguous acres, plus or minus ten percent (10%), nor nearer to any other well for which a permit has been previously issued than the minimum distance hereinafter prescribed. By the term "five (5) contiguous acres" as herein used is meant an area of 217,800 square feet (plus or minus a tolerance of not exceeding ten percent (10%)) which shall be in one connected and contiguous body (exclusive of publicly owned streets) whose dimensions shall not be less than 330 feet in width and not less than a length in feet which when multiplied by the width equals or exceeds 217,800 square feet (with tolerance allowed as herein provided); provided that the location for the well for which a permit is sought shall be placed in the center, as nearly as may be, of the drilling unit with regard to the outside boundaries of such unit; but in no event shall any well be drilled nearer to any outside boundary line of any drilling unit than one-half the distance between opposite boundaries, determined after deducting twenty percent (20%) of such total distance. In determining the total area of any drilling unit upon and for which application for permit is made, the area of those parts of streets, if any, within the boundaries of the proposed drilling unit may be (but are not required to be) calculated as a part of the total area within such unit.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 4, adopted -/-/-)
(a) 
Any person desiring to drill a well for oil and/or gas within the regulated area of the city shall present an application to the city secretary, which application shall set forth in writing the following facts:
(1) 
It shall be addressed to the mayor of the city;
(2) 
The date of said application;
(3) 
The name of the applicant;
(4) 
The address of the applicant;
(5) 
Clear identification of the drilling unit, and the exact location thereon of the proposed well location, together with certified or photostated copies of all requisite permissions (if required) from the owners of the surface and improvements thereon;
(6) 
The proposed depth of the well;
(7) 
The proposed complete casing program;
(8) 
Must be accompanied by a map or plat showing the exact and correct acreage or square feet in the drilling unit (including the streets), the exact location of the proposed well, the distances from the well location to the exterior boundary lines of the drilling unit, and the distances from the well location to all residences, structures and commercial buildings situated within two hundred (200) feet of the well location;
(9) 
Must be accompanied by a payment as set forth in the fee schedule in appendix A of this code, the same being a filing fee;
(10) 
Must be signed by the applicant or some person duly authorized to sign same in his behalf.
(b) 
The application will be accepted and filed by the city secretary and kept as a part of the public records of the city.
(Ordinance 2 adopted 7/11/1995; Ordinance adopting Code)
No well shall be drilled and no permit shall be issued for any well to be drilled in any location within a drilling unit, which location is nearer than two hundred (200) feet from any real property, residence, building or structure, without the applicant's having first secured the written permission of the owner or owners thereof.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 7, adopted -/-/-)
Neither this division, nor any permit issued hereunder, shall be interpreted to grant any right or license to the permittee to enter upon, use or occupy in any respect for the drilling or operation of any well, any surface land except by the written contract of the surface owner; nor shall it limit or prevent the free right of any owner to contract for the amount of damages, rights or privileges with respect to his own land and property.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 8, adopted -/-/-)
At the time fixed in said notice provided for herein, a hearing on such application for a permit shall be held in accordance with said notice. In the event a majority of the members of the city council are not present at the hearing, or at the discretion of the members of the city council if a majority of the members thereof are present at the hearing, the hearing may be recessed, continued or postponed from time to time until final disposition of the application; provided that in no event shall a final decision on the application be postponed for a longer period than thirty (30) days from the original date of hearing fixed for such application unless a final decision within such time be waived in writing by the applicant.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 9, adopted -/-/-)
(a) 
If, after such hearing, an application filed pursuant to this division be found by the city council to comply in all respects with the terms of this division, and the drilling and operation of a well on such drilling unit is not prohibited by the terms of this division, then the city council shall issue a permit for the drilling and operation of the well applied for. Each permit issued under this division shall:
(1) 
By reference have incorporated therein all provisions of this division with the same force and effect as if this division were copied verbatim in said permit;
(2) 
Specify the well location with particularity as to lot number, block number, name of addition or subdivision, or the available legal description;
(3) 
Contain and specify that the term of such permit shall be for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of the permit and as long thereafter as the permittee is engaged in continuous drilling operations or oil or gas is produced in commercial quantities from the well drilled pursuant to such permit, provided that if at any time after discovery of oil or gas the production thereof in commercial quantities should cease the term shall not terminate if the permittee commences additional re-working operations within ninety (90) days thereafter, and if they result in the production of oil or gas, so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in commercial quantities from said well;
(4) 
Contain and specify such conditions as are by this division authorized;
(5) 
Specify the total depth to which the well may be drilled, not exceeding the projected depth; and
(6) 
Obligate the permittee, in accordance with the leases and contracts held by him and in accordance with this division, to pay to the owners thereof their portion of the royalties and other payments on oil and gas produced from the drilling unit.
(b) 
Said permit shall not issue until the provisions of section 5.05.040 be complied with. Said permit, in duplicate originals, shall be signed by the mayor of the city, and prior to delivery to the permittee shall be signed by the permittee (with one original to be retained by the city and one by the permittee); and when so signed shall constitute the permittee's drilling and operating license and the contractual obligation of the permittee to comply with the terms of such permit and this division.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 10, adopted -/-/-; Ordinance adopting Code)
(a) 
Said permit shall not be issued until the applicant shall also file with the city secretary a memorandum copy of a policy or policies of public liability and property damage insurance, issued by a solvent insurance company or companies authorized to do business in the State of Texas, to be approved by the city secretary, the amount of which policy or policies of insurance for liability for bodily injury or death of one person shall not be less than two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00), and for any one accident not less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00), and the amount of such policy or policies for damage to property of others shall not be less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00). The terms and conditions of such policy or policies covering such operations are to be such as to assure persons, firms or corporations against loss by liability imposed by law by reason of any accidental personal injury or death to any person other than the assured or his employees, or by reason of any such loss or damage to property of any person, firm or corporation other than the assured or his employees. The applicant shall execute an agreement with the city to hold the city harmless from any and all liability arising out of the granting of the permit or the applicant's operations pursuant to the drilling permit herein described. The applicant shall insure performance of this indemnity agreement by having contractual liability insurance. Each policy of insurance shall contain a provision obligating the insurer to give the city council written notice of cancellation, not less than thirty (30) days prior to the date of cancellation. The applicant shall, upon request of the city council, submit the original or certified copy of any policy for inspection at any time.
(b) 
Irrespective of the requirements as to insurance to be carried, the insolvency, bankruptcy or failure of an insurance company carrying insurance for any applicant or permittee hereunder, or the failure of any such company to pay claims accruing, shall not be held to waive any of the provisions of this division. The applicant shall pay promptly all premiums for such insurance in strict accordance with its obligations to its carrier or carriers and to maintain the above-described coverage in full effect so long as the permit shall be valid and alive.
(c) 
Failure to keep said policy or policies in full force and effect, in accordance with the terms hereof, shall be unlawful and shall be punishable in accordance with this division.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 12, adopted -/-/-)
The granting of a permit as provided herein and the acceptance thereof by the permittee obligates said permittee to hold the city harmless from any and all liability of every kind and nature whatsoever which may arise because of any act done or omitted by the permittee or successors thereto.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 13, adopted -/-/-)
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to permit to escape any mud, water, oil, slush or other waste matter from any slush or mud pit or tank used in the drilling or operating of any oil and/or gas well into any adjoining lots or leases or into the alleys, streets, gutters or sewers of the city; and within thirty (30) days after the completion or abandonment of any oil or gas well, the mud and other similar matter and materials used in connection with the drilling and operations thereon shall be removed from the premises.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 14, adopted -/-/-)
It shall be unlawful and an offense for any person, acting either for himself or as agent, employee, independent contractor or servant of any other person, to commence to drill, to drill, or to operate any well within the regulated area of the city or to work upon or assist in any way in the prosecution or operation of any such well, without a permit for the drilling and operation of such well having first been issued by authority of the city council in accordance with the provisions of this division.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 16, adopted -/-/-)
(a) 
Once any well has either been completed as a producer or abandoned as a dry hole, it shall be unlawful and an offense for any person to drill such well to a greater depth than to such well without obtaining a supplemental permit after filing a supplemental application with the city secretary specifying:
(1) 
The then condition of the well and the casing therein;
(2) 
The depth to which it is proposed such well be deepened;
(3) 
The proposed casing program to be used in connection with proposed deepening operations; and
(4) 
Evidence of adequate current tests showing that the casing strings in said well currently pass the same tests as are in this division provided for in case of the drilling of the original well.
(b) 
In the event the city council is satisfied that said well may be deepened with the same degree of safety as existed in the original well, a supplemental permit may be issued without an additional filing fee to the permittee authorizing the deepening and operation of the well to such specified depth as applied for. In any deeper drilling or any deeper completion, or any deeper production operations, the permittee shall comply with all other provisions contained in this division and applicable to the drilling, completion and operation of a well or wells.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 16, adopted -/-/-)
Any violation of the laws of the state or regulations of the railroad commission of the state, or any other present or future ordinance of the city, pertaining to the drilling of oil, gas or other minerals wells within the regulated area of the city, shall be a violation of this division and shall be punishable in accordance with the provisions hereof.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 17, adopted -/-/-)
All persons engaged in the drilling and operations of oil and/or gas wells within the regulated area of the city shall comply with the following rules and regulations:
(1) 
No person, firm or corporation shall make any excavations or construct any lines for the conveyance of fuel, water or minerals on, under and through the streets of the city without the express permission of the city, in writing, and then only in strict compliance with the ordinances of the city, and all such lines must be constructed out of new pipe and buried to a minimum depth of twenty-four (24) inches below the surface at each and every point, and any of said lines which cross under a street must be properly cased and vented.
(2) 
No person engaged in drilling or operating any well shall permit gas to escape or be vented into the air unless said gas be flared and burned. All gas flared or burned from a torch, pipe, or any other burning device, within the city, must be done in such manner so as not to constitute a fire hazard to any property; and the location of the torch, pipe or other burning device, the construction thereof, the maintenance thereof and the operation thereof shall at all times be in full compliance with such regulations as may from time to time be issued by the fire department or fire marshal.
(3) 
It shall be unlawful for any person to use or operate in connection with the drilling or reworking of any well any wooden derrick or any steam powered rig, or permit any drilling rig or derrick to remain on the premises or drilling site for a period longer than sixty (60) days after completion or abandonment of the well.
(4) 
Whenever any well is abandoned it shall be the obligation of the permittee and the operator of the well to set a cast iron bridge plug in the top of all the remaining completion and protection casing sections and a 100-foot cement plug pumped below and above each such bridge plug, and to set a cast iron bridge plug as low as possible in the surface casing and a 100-foot cement plug pumped below and above such bridge plug. No surface string or conductor string of casing may be pulled and removed from a well. The production string of casing may be removed from a point 100 feet or more above the shoe of the protection string. The protection string of casing may be removed from a point 100 feet or more above the shoe of the surface string of casing. Whenever any such well is abandoned and plugged, it shall be the further obligation of the permittee and the operator of the well to cut the surface casing off at least six feet below the surface of the ground, to place at least a 25-foot cement plug in the top of the casing, and to weld the top of the casing completely shut, with the resulting hole being completely filled to the surface of the ground and duly tamped. Any additional provisions or precautionary measures prescribed by the state, or the railroad commissions of the state, in connection with the abandonment and plugging of a well shall be complied with by the permittee.
(5) 
The premises shall be kept in a clean and sanitary condition, free from rubbish of every character, to the satisfaction of the health officer or the city council, at all times, during the drilling operations and as long thereafter as oil and/or gas are being produced therefrom.
(6) 
The person so drilling or operating an oil and/or gas well shall make adequate provision for the disposal of salt water or other impurities which he may bring to the surface of the earth in such a manner as not to contaminate the water supply of the city, or to destroy the vegetation.
(7) 
Open earthen storage for oil is prohibited. No earthen slush, mud or reserve pit or pits shall be used within the regulated area, and all tanks thereof and their contents shall be promptly removed from the premises and drilling site as soon as the well is either completed for production or abandoned as a dry hole.
(8) 
All permanent oil tanks or battery of tanks, separators, treaters, and gun-barrels shall be vapor tight and must be surrounded by a dike or ditch of at least one and one-half times the capacity of the tank, or battery of tanks, and such construction must be of a nature and equipped, maintained and operated so as to assure, at all times, such capacity.
(9) 
Printed signs reading "DANGEROUS, NO SMOKING ALLOWED", or similar words, shall be posted in conspicuous places on each producing or drilling unit.
(10) 
All of the permittee's premises shall be kept clear of high grass, weeds and combustible trash, or any other rubbish or debris that might constitute a fire hazard, within a radius of one hundred (100) feet around an oil tank, tanks or producing well or wells, or to the limits of the premises, whichever is the lesser.
(11) 
No person engaged in the drilling or operation of any oil or gas well within the city shall use, set or place in any well any used or reconditioned casing, pipe or tubing, unless it has been tested and found to conform to API specifications. All casing (other than conductor), including surface, protection and production strings, shall be either seamless steel or equivalent quality oil well casing. Each production string of casing must comply with a least the minimum internal pressure yield strength, computed in accordance with the latest API standards, for the depths at which set.
(12) 
No well shall be drilled within the city without properly setting conductor casing to a minimum depth of 20 feet and without properly setting surface casing to a minimum depth to assure that all fresh water surface sands are sealed off. No well shall be drilled within the city without cementing the conductor casing and the surface casing by the pump and plug method with sufficient cement to completely fill all of the annular space behind such casing to the surface of the ground, and without cementing the production string by the pump and plug method with sufficient cement to completely fill all of the annular space behind the production string to at least 600 feet above the highest oil and/or gas bearing horizon, and in the event a protection string of casing be required under the terms of this division, without cementing the protection string by the pump and plug method with sufficient cement to completely fill all of the annular space behind the protection string to at least 600 feet above the highest oil and/or gas bearing horizon.
(13) 
All wells shall be equipped with a bradenhead and a master valve with working pressure of not less than three thousand (3,000) pounds per square inch. The bradenhead shall not be welded, and the same shall be equipped with the proper pipe connection and valve accessible at the surface. No well shall be drilled within the city without properly equipping the surface casing when set with at least one master valve and at least one ram type blow-out preventer. On each well drilled a valve cock or kelly cock shall be installed on the kelly used. Each blow-out preventer shall be tested at least once every eight-hour period and all control equipment shall be in good working condition and order at all times.
(14) 
No boiler or electric lighting generator or open fire shall be placed or remain nearer than one hundred fifty (150) feet to any producing well or oil tank.
(15) 
All well heads, pits, tank batteries and pumping units and equipment appurtenant thereto shall be adequately protected with "man-proof" fencing.
(16) 
No oil storage tanks used in connection with the production or operation of a well, other than flow tanks, shall be permitted within the regulated area of the city, and no flow tank shall exceed five hundred (500) barrel capacity and a battery of flow tanks shall not exceed three (3) in number, except by special permission from the city council. Each flow tank as herein permitted shall be permanently connected to a foamite, or similar system, generator for fighting fires in a manner to be approved by the city.
(17) 
No well shall be drilled or reworked in the city without the bore hole at all times being filled with drilling fluid of such weight and viscosity as will keep the well under control at all times.
(18) 
It shall be unlawful for any person in connection with the drilling or reworking operations of any well within the city to take and to complete any drill stem test or tests except during daylight hours, and then only if the well effluent during the tests is produced through an adequate oil and gas separator to storage tanks, and the effluent remaining in the drill pipe at the time the tool is closed is flushed to the surface by circulating drilling fluid down the annulus and up the drill pipe.
(19) 
It shall be unlawful for any well, oil and/or gas, to be operated at any time in such a manner that it will cause a nuisance, disturbance or menace to health or safety in the regulated area of the city.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 18, adopted -/-/-; Ordinance adopting Code)
It is further provided that, in addition to the fines and penalties provided for herein, the city council will revoke the license or permit under which a well for oil or gas is being drilled, produced or operated, upon a proof and evidence that any provision of this division is being violated after the issuance of the permit by the city secretary and the mayor of the city. Notice of revocation shall be in writing and shall be mailed by registered mail to the permittee's address shown in his application. Any permittee whose permit or license has been revoked may, within fifteen (15) days from and after the date of the order of revocation, appeal to the city council from such order. Within 15 days from the filing of such application, the city council shall hear the same and shall either sustain or set aside the order.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 20, adopted -/-/-)
A holder of a permit as provided for herein shall be bound by all regulations herein set forth and by all regulations set forth in amendments hereof.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 21, adopted -/-/-)
Any violation of any of the terms of this division, whether herein denominated as unlawful or not, shall be deemed a misdemeanor, and any person convicted of any such violation shall be fined in a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200.00), and any natural person so convicted shall be committed to jail until such fine and cost are paid. Each day of the continuance of such violation shall be considered a separate offense and be punished separately, and any person, agent or employee engaged in any such violation shall on conviction be so punished therefor.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 22, adopted -/-/-)
If ever and whenever in this division, restrictions, prohibitions or provisions conflict with the laws of the state, or with regulations of the railroad commission of the state, in each such instance the more restrictive restriction, prohibition or provision shall apply.
(Ordinance 2, sec. 23, adopted -//-)
The city council shall have the right, upon proper application submitted and for good cause shown to said council, to grant exemptions, exceptions, or modifications to any persons, to any provisions and requirements of this division.
(Ordinance 2 adopted -/-/-)