ARTICLE 11.100 WATER AND SEWER SERVICE

The water department shall determine and designate the accounts for water and sewer service furnished by the city together with the billing date therefore, all of which shall be due and payable at the City Hall, 310 North Louise Street, Atlanta, Texas.

Such rates and charges hereby fixed and prescribed shall be paid by the customers of the waterworks and sanitary sewer system to the water department and such bills and accounts shall be due and payable on or before the 10th day following the billing date and shall become delinquent on, the 11th day after such billing date and a ten percent (10%) penalty shall be added to the amount due and unpaid.

Customers requesting accounts to be placed on “Vacation” must do so in writing by applying for such consideration at the water department in city hall. Accounts will not be placed on vacation for a period of time less than 4 weeks.

(d)

When the billing of an account for water/wastewater is disputed by the customer and re-read of the account is requested, the customer shall be liable for a fee, as provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code, per re-read to be assessed on the next months billing if the meter reading is found to be accurate.

(Ordinance 00-05 adopted 9/18/00)

§ 11.105 Deposits.

Each customer shall, at the time of making application for water and sewer service, pay a deposit to the water department as provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code.

The charges for water and sewer service furnished shall be a valid lien and legal charge against the deposit made by the customer. The deposit shall bear no interest. Upon termination of the service, the deposit shall be refunded to the customer, less any amount or amounts of unpaid balances due the city for water, sewer or trash collection services.

The city manager may waive the payment of additional deposit when an additional account location is added to an existing established account which has been satisfactorily maintained in good standing for a period of one year.

(Ordinance 00-05 adopted 9/18/00)

§ 11.106 Disconnection of Services.

If a customer shall fail to pay in full for water or sewer service rendered by the city before the expiration of ten (10) days after the date upon which such bill becomes delinquent, the water service of the customer shall be disconnected, and such service shall not be restored until the customer shall have paid the delinquent water and sewer bill in full, together with a re-connection fee as provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code. In the event service is discontinued for nonpayment, the customer’s deposit shall be applied to the unpaid balance of the account.

Prior to the restoration of service to a customer whose service has been discontinued for nonpayment, the customer must pay all amounts due and make the residential or commercial deposit required by this article.

§ 11.107 Special Provisions for the Payment of Delinquent Accounts.

In the event water service is terminated for nonpayment or theft of services, the fee for resuming service shall be provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code, which fee must be paid at the water department prior to the restoration of water service.

(1)

Water service shall not be restored to any residential or commercial customer unless a responsible person is present at the premises when such restoration of services is made.

(2)

Restoration of services shall be during business hours of 8:00 o’clock a.m. until 4:30 o’clock p.m.

(3)

In the event the customer or other responsible person is not present at the premises for re-connection purposes, an additional trip fee as provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code, shall be paid by the customer.

(d)

All water customers are required to maintain a sanitary sewer system in good order. Failure to satisfactorily maintain the customer’s sewer system or to make improvements as directed by the city may result in the cut off of city water service to the location. Any improvements required by the city will be for sanitary or health reasons only.

(Ordinance 00-05 adopted 9/18/00)

The city manager is designated as the due process hearing officer for water and sewer accounts and as such shall hear and determine matters of hardship, illness or disability which would justify a payment schedule other than that fixed by this article.

Customers desiring special consideration with regard to the payment of accounts as established by the ordinance must make an affidavit showing the circumstances upon which they request a variance of the established payment schedule. Such affidavit shall be delivered to the city manager who may act solely upon the affidavit or may set a hearing date and request the customer to be present for the purpose of answering, under oath, questions concerning the request for a variance in payment of the customer’s account. Any determination by the city manager may be appealed to the city council at its regularly scheduled meeting.

§ 11.110 Hours for Restoring Water Service.

Any person making untrue or false statements in an affidavit for the purpose of gaining a variance or exception with regard to the payment of an account shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine in accordance with the general penalty provision found in Section 1.106 of this code.

(Ordinance 00-05 adopted 9/18/00)

§ 11.108 Insufficient Check Policy.

The city manager shall establish a written policy with regard to the processing of insufficient or other returned checks given in payment of water and sewer accounts. The city manager is authorized to charge a fee, as provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code, for each occasion upon which a check is dishonored by the bank upon which it is written. In the event a customer’s check should be dishonored two times, then the account shall be declared past due and water service to the customer shall be discontinued as provided herein. In the event a customer has six checks returned from the bank, the city will then place that customer on a “cash only” no check payment system, and will no longer accept checks from that customer for payment of water/wastewater/trash collection accounts.

(Ordinance 00-05 adopted 9/18/00)

§ 11.109 Damaged Meters.

The customer shall have the sole responsibility for safeguarding the water meter on his premises. Should the water meter be damaged in any way, the customer may be charged for the price of a new meter, plus an amount equal to the costs of one hour’s labor charge required to replace the meter.

(Ordinance 00-05 adopted 9/18/00)

It shall be the policy of the water department to commence or terminate water service during normal business hours of 8:00 o’clock a.m. until 4:30 o’clock p.m., Monday through Friday. The city manager is authorized to establish reasonable procedures through which a customer may request restoration. The city manager is authorized to make reasonable charges related to special services made at the request of a customer.

(Ordinance 00-05 adopted 9/18/00)

§ 11.111 Tapping Fee.

A tapping fee for connecting new customers to the water land sanitary sewer system shall be provided in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code.