(a) Chapters
12.04 through
12.18 set forth uniform requirements for users of the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) for the city of Sunnyvale and enables the city to comply with all applicable state and federal laws including the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) and the General Pretreatment Regulations (40 CFR Part 403). The objectives of these chapters are:
(1) To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the POTW that will
interfere with its operation;
(2) To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the POTW that will
pass through the POTW, inadequately treated, into receiving waters,
or otherwise be incompatible with the POTW;
(3) To protect both the POTW personnel who may be affected by wastewater
and sludge in the course of their employment and the general public;
(4) To enable the reuse and recycling of wastewater and sludge from the
POTW;
(5) To provide for fees for the equitable distribution of the cost of
operation, maintenance and improvements of the POTW; and
(6) To enable the city to comply with its National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permit conditions, sludge reuse and disposal
requirements, and any other federal or state laws to which the POTW
is subject.
(b) Chapters
12.04 through
12.18 shall apply to all users of the POTW. These chapters:
(1) Authorize the issuance of wastewater discharge permits;
(2) Provide for monitoring, compliance and enforcement activities;
(3) Establish administrative review procedures;
(4) Require user reporting; and
(5) Provide for the setting of fees for the equitable distribution of
costs resulting from the program established herein.
(c) Chapters
12.04 through
12.18 apply to the city of Sunnyvale and to persons outside the city who are, by contract or agreement with the city, users of the city POTW. Except as otherwise provided herein, the director of environmental services or, where applicable, the director of public works shall administer, implement and enforce the provisions of these chapters. Any powers granted to or duties imposed upon the director may be delegated by the director to other city personnel.
(Ord. 2490-94 § 1; Ord. 2896-09 § 1; Ord. 3062-15 § 1)
The following abbreviations, when used in this title, shall
have the designated meanings:
BOD
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–
|
Biochemical Oxygen Demand
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BMP
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–
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Best Management Practice
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BMR
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–
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Baseline Monitoring Report
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CFR
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–
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Code of Federal Regulations
|
CIU
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–
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Categorical Industrial User
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COD
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–
|
Chemical Oxygen Demand
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Degree C
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–
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Degrees Celsius or Degrees Centigrade
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Degree F
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–
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Degrees Fahrenheit
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EPA
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–
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
|
FOG
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–
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Fats Oils and Grease
|
FSE
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–
|
Food Service Establishment
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gpd
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–
|
gallons per day
|
GRD
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–
|
Grease Removal Device
|
IU
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–
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Industrial User
|
mg/L
|
–
|
milligrams per Liter
|
NPDES
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–
|
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
|
POTW
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–
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Publicly Owned Treatment Works
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RCRA
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–
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Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
|
SIU
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–
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Significant Industrial User
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SNC
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–
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Significant Noncompliance
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TSS
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–
|
Total Suspended Solids
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USC
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–
|
United States Code
|
(Ord. 2896 § 3)
Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following
terms and phrases, as used in this title, shall have the meaning hereinafter
designated.
"Authorized" or "duly authorized representative
of the user"
means:
(a)
If the user is a corporation:
(i)
The president, secretary, treasurer, or a vice president of
the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any
other person who performs similar policy or decision making functions
for the corporation, or
(ii)
The manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operating
facilities, provided the manager is authorized to make management
decisions that govern the operation of the regulated facility including
having the explicit or implicit duty of making major capital investment
recommendations, and initiate and direct other comprehensive measures
to assure long term environmental compliance with environmental laws
and regulations; can ensure that the necessary systems are established
or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for individual
wastewater discharge permit [or general permit (optional)] requirements;
and where authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated
to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures;
(b)
If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general
partner or proprietor, respectively;
(c)
If the user is a federal, state, or local governmental facility:
a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee
the operation and performance of the activities of the government
facility, or their designee;
(d)
The individuals described in subsections
(a) through
(c) of this subsection, may designate a duly authorized representative if the authorization is in writing, the authorization specifies the individual or position responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the discharge originates or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and the written authorization is submitted to the city.
"Beneficial uses"
means uses of the waters of the city or state which may,
or do, require protection against quality degradation thereof, including,
but not necessarily limited to, waters for domestic, municipal, agricultural,
industrial, power generation, recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, or
navigation purposes, or for the protection and enhancement of fish,
wildlife or other aquatic resources or reserves, and such other uses,
both tangible and intangible, as are or may be specified by federal
or state law as beneficial uses.
"Best management practices" or "BMPs"
means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in Section
12.12.020 (a) and (b), and the local limits on wastewater in Section
12.12.120(c). BMPs also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage.
"Categorical pretreatment standard" or "categorical
standard"
means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with Sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. S0ection 1317) that apply to a specific category of users and that appear in 40 CFR Chapter
I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 471.
"City"
means the city of Sunnyvale.
"Clean water act"
means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended,
33 U.S.C. Section 1251 et seq.
"Commercial user"
means any nonresidential user that the director determines
will introduce primarily domestic sewage, or treated groundwater acceptable
to the director, to the sewerage system. Classes of commercial users
are:
(a)
"Standard strength" commercial users are all commercial
users unless their wastewater has the characteristics of low strength
or high strength, as defined below.
(b)
"Low strength" commercial users are:
(iii)
Users who discharge groundwater to the sanitary sewer; or
(iv)
Commercial businesses whose sanitary sewer discharges have total
suspended solids less than or equal to one hundred ten mg/L and total
organic carbon less than or equal to seventy-five mg/L, based on a
minimum annual average of four random samples taken approximately
quarterly by water pollution control plant staff, or any additional
number of samples as determined to be necessary by the director to
characterize the discharge.
(c)
"High strength" commercial users are:
(i)
Accommodation or food service establishments as defined by the
North American Industry Classification System (NA-ICS) Sector 72,
where food or beverages are served;
(iii)
Existing markets with garbage disposals; or
(iv)
Commercial businesses whose sanitary sewer discharges have total
suspended solids greater than or equal to six hundred mg/L or total
organic carbon greater than or equal to five hundred mg/L, based on
an annual average of a minimum of four random samples taken approximately
quarterly by water pollution control plan staff, or any additional
number of samples as determined to be necessary by the director to
characterize the discharge.
"Daily maximum"
means the arithmetic average of all effluent samples for
a pollutant collected during a calendar day.
"Daily maximum limit"
means the maximum allowable discharge limit of a pollutant
during a calendar day. Where daily maximum limits are expressed in
units of mass, the daily discharge is the total mass discharged over
the course of the day. Where daily maximum limits are expressed in
terms of a concentration, the daily discharge is the arithmetic average
measurement of the pollutant concentration derived from all measurements
taken that day.
"Diluting waters"
means noncontact cooling water, boiler blowdown, domestic
sewage, groundwater, stormwater, surface drainage, reverse osmosis
reject or potable waters which are not part of an industrial process
and which do not contain priority pollutants but which are combined
with industrial process wastewater prior to the monitoring point for
industrial waste discharge.
"Director"
means the director of environmental services or, where applicable,
the director of public works of the city, or designees.
"Environmental protection agency" or "EPA"
means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where
appropriate, the Regional Water Management Division Director, the
Regional Administrator, or other duly authorized official of said
agency.
"Fats, oils, and grease" or "FOG" or
"oil and grease"
means any compound detectable and measurable using approved
analytical test procedures established in 40 CFR 136, as may be amended
from time to time for the analysis of oil and grease. These detectable
compounds may include petroleum hydrocarbons, vegetable oils, animal
fats, waxes, soaps, greases and related compounds.
"Food service establishment" or "FSE"
means commercial or institutional establishments primarily
engaged in activities of preparing, serving, or otherwise making food
available for retail sale and/or consumption by the public such as
restaurants, commercial kitchens or caterers, and those portions of
the following facilities engaged in similar activities: hotels, schools,
hospitals, and care institutions.
"Grease removal device"
means any device, unit, or installation for separating and
retaining waterborne fats, oils and greases, or grease complexes as
well as settleable solids prior to the discharge of wastewater to
the sanitary sewer. All such installations, whether sub-surface or
above ground, regardless of size, including sand and oil/water separators
as well as two-compartment sumps, are referred to as grease removal
devices.
"Grease trap"
means a device designed to retain FOG from one to a maximum
of four fixtures. Such traps are typically compact under-the-sink
units near food preparation areas.
"Grease interceptor"
means a structure or device designed to retain FOG of at
least seven hundred fifty gallon capacity to serve one or more fixtures
and which shall be remotely located. These devices are often below-ground
units in outside areas and are built as two- or three-chamber baffled
tanks.
"Health official"
means the Santa Clara County health department or California
Department of Health Services health official, his or her assistants,
or his or her authorized personnel acting as health official of the
city.
"Holding tank waste"
means any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical
toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks, and tank trucks.
"Industrial waste"
means the waste and wastewater from any production, manufacturing
or processing operation of whatever nature including institutional
and commercial operations where wastewater is used for the removal
of significant quantities of waste other than from domestic sewage
from premises connected to the city's POTW.
"Interference"
means a discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge
or discharges from other sources, both:
(a)
Inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations,
or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and
(b)
Is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the city's
NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of
a violation) or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal
in compliance with the following statutory provisions and regulations
or permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations):
Section 405 of the Clean Water Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA)
(including Title II, more commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA), and including state regulations contained
in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to subtitle
D of the SWDA), the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act,
and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act.
"Local limit"
means specific discharge limits developed and enforced by the city upon industrial or commercial facilities to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in Section
12.12.020.
"Medical waste"
means isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and
blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated
bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes,
and dialysis wastes.
"New source:"
(a)
Any building, structure, facility, or installation from which
there is (or may be) a discharge of pollutants, the construction of
which commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards
under Section 307(c) of the Act that will be applicable to such source
if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that
section, provided that:
(i)
The building, structure, facility, or installation is constructed
at a site at which no other source is located; or
(ii)
The building, structure, facility, or installation totally replaces
the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants
at an existing source; or
(iii)
The production or wastewater generating processes of the building,
structure, facility, or installation are substantially independent
of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether these
are substantially independent, factors such as the extent to which
the new facility is integrated with the existing plant, and the extent
to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of activity
as the existing source, should be considered.
(b)
Construction on a site at which an existing source is located
results in a modification rather than a new source if the construction
does not create a new building, structure, facility, or installation
meeting the criteria of subsection (1)(b) or (c) of this section,
but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production
equipment.
(c)
Construction of a new source as defined under this subsection
has commenced if the owner or operator has:
(i)
Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous onsite construction
program:
(A)
Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment;
or
(B)
Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation,
or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities which
is necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source
facilities or equipment; or
(ii)
Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase
of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in its operation
within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts which can
be terminated or modified without substantial loss, and contracts
for feasibility, engineering, and design studies do not constitute
a contractual obligation under this subsection.
"Noncontact cooling water"
means water used for cooling that does not come into direct
contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product,
or finished product.
"Pass through"
means a discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the
United States in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction
with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a
violation of any requirement of the city's NPDES permit, including
an increase in magnitude or duration of a violation.
"Person"
means any individual, partnership, firm, company, corporation,
association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity,
or any other legal entity; or their legal representatives, agents,
or assigns. This definition includes all federal, state, and local
governmental entities.
"pH"
means a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution,
expressed in standard units.
"Pollutant"
means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter
backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes,
biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded
equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, municipal, agricultural and industrial
wastes, and certain characteristics of wastewater (e.g., pH, temperature,
TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, or odor).
"Premises"
means a parcel of real estate, or portion thereof, including
any improvements thereon, which is determined by the director to be
a single user for purposes of receiving, using and paying for service.
"Pretreatment" or "treatment"
means the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination
of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties
in wastewater prior to, or in lieu of, introducing such pollutants
into the POTW. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical,
chemical or biological processes; by process changes; or by other
means, except by diluting the concentration of the pollutant unless
allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.
"Pretreatment facility"
means any works or device for treatment, control or flow
limitation of sewage or industrial waste, prior to discharge into
the city POTW.
"Pretreatment requirements"
means any substantive or procedural requirement related to
pretreatment imposed on a user, other than a pretreatment standard.
"Process wastewater"
means any water which, during manufacturing or processing,
comes into contact with or results from the production or use of any
raw material, intermediate product, finished product, byproduct or
waste product.
"Publicly owned treatment works" or "POTW"
means a treatment works, as defined by Section 212 of the
Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1292), which is owned by the city. This definition
includes any devices equipment or sewerage systems used in the collection,
storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial
wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances, which convey wastewater
to a treatment plant.
"Reclaimed or recycled water"
means water which, as a result of treatment of waste, is
suitable for beneficial use that would not otherwise occur.
"Residential user"
means a user whose premises are for residential purposes
and thus discharge only domestic sewage.
Sample Types.
(a)
"Grab sample" means a single sample collected over
a period of time not exceeding fifteen minutes, taken at a particular
time and place which represents the composition of the wastewater
only at that time and place.
(b)
"Composite sample" means a flow-proportional or
time-proportioned sample collected manually or automatically either
discretely or continuously. For manual compositing, a minimum of four
individual samples that when combined and mixed form one representative
sample that is analyzed to determine the conditions during a specific
period.
"Sanitary sewer" or "sewer"
means a pipe or conduit which carries domestic sewage and/or
industrial wastes and to which storm, surface, and groundwaters are
not intentionally admitted. A city sewer or public sewer is any sewer
located within an easement or public right-of-way and which is maintained
by the city and part of the POTW.
"Sewerage system"
means all sewers, facilities and appurtenances owned or operated
by the city for carrying, collecting, pumping, treatment and disposal
of waste and wastewater, including the water pollution control plant,
and POTW.
"Significant industrial user (SIU)"
means:
(a)
An industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards;
or
(b)
An industrial user that:
(i)
Discharges an average of twenty-five thousand gpd or more of
process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling
and boiler blowdown wastewater),
(ii)
Contributes process wastestream which makes up five percent
or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of
the POTW treatment plant, or
(iii)
Is designated as such by the city on the basis that it has a
reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation
or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
"Significant noncompliance"
means industrial user violations which meet one or more of
the following criteria:
(a)
Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined as those in which sixty-six percent or more of all the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including those defined in Chapter
12.12 of this title;
(b)
Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined as those in which thirty-three percent or more of wastewater measurements taken for each pollutant parameter during a six-month period equals or exceeds the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement including those defined in Chapter
12.12 of this title, multiplied by the applicable criteria (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oils and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);
(c)
Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement as defined by Chapter
12.12 of this title that the director determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass through, including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public;
(d)
Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment
to the public or to the environment, or has resulted in the director's
exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(e)
Failure to meet, within ninety days of the scheduled date, a
compliance schedule milestone contained in an individual wastewater
discharge permit or enforcement order for starting construction, completing
construction, or attaining final compliance;
(f)
Failure to provide within forty-five days after the due date,
any required reports, including baseline monitoring reports, reports
on compliance with categorical pretreatment standard deadlines, periodic
self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance
schedules;
(g)
Failure to accurately report noncompliance; or
(h)
Any other violation(s), which may include a violation of best
management practices, which the director determines will adversely
affect the operation or implementation of the local pretreatment program.
"Sludge"
means the settleable solids segregated from liquid during
wastewater treatment.
"Slug load" or "slug discharge"
means any discharge at a flow rate or concentration, which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in Section
12.12.020 of this title. A slug discharge is any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including but not limited to an accidental spill or a noncustomary batch discharge, which has a reasonable potential to cause Interference or pass through, or in any other way violate the POTW's regulations, local limits or permit conditions.
"Storm sewer"
means a sewer that is designed to carry stormwater and surface
water, or drainage.
"User classification"
means a classification of user based on the North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS), prepared by the United States
Executive Office of Management and Budget.
"Waste"
means domestic sewage and any and all other waste substances,
liquid, solid, gaseous or radioactive, associated with human habitation,
or of human or animal origin, or from or related to any producing,
manufacturing or processing operation of whatever nature, including
such waste placed within containers of whatever nature prior to, and
for purposes of, disposal.
"Wastewater"
means liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage
from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing
facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which
are contributed to the POTW.
"Wastewater constituents and characteristics"
means the individual chemical, physical, bacteriological
and radiological parameters, including volume and flow rate and such
other parameters that serve to define, classify or measure the contents,
quality, quantity and strength of wastewater.
"Waters of the state"
means any water, surface or underground, including saline
waters within the boundaries of the state.
"Wastewater treatment plant" or "treatment
plant"
means that portion of the POTW which is designated to provide
treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste, and production
of recycled water for reuse. Also known as the Sunnyvale Water Pollution
Control Plant.
(Ord. 2490-94 § 1; Ord. 2661-01 § 2; Ord. 2896-09 § 4; Ord. 2952-11 § 1; Ord. 3062-15 §
2)