Town of LaGrange, NY Public Water Use

That department or agency of the Town which is authorized by the Town Board to operate, maintain and in general terms manage the water system(s) of the municipality and shall include the Town Engineering Inspector.

WATER MAIN or STREET MAIN

The pipe and attachments of every kind and nature conveying water along the streets of the Town.

§ 233-20 Application; responsibility for charges; compliance.

[Amended 7-22-2009 by L.L. No. 2-2009]

Before water shall be turned on for the supply of any building or premises, application therefor shall be made in writing to the Town of LaGrange. Such application must be signed by the owner and be upon a form supplied by the Water Department and filed with the Water Department before any connection is made with the street main or the service main. There shall be an application fee. The amount of the fee shall be set forth on the prevailing fee schedule adopted by resolution of the Town Board and as such schedule is modified from time to time by resolution of the Town Board. The applicant will be held responsible for all water rents and charges until due notice of change of ownership shall have been made by him in writing and delivered to the Town of LaGrange at least 10 days before going into effect. Every owner taking water or permitting water to be taken for use on the premises of such owner thereby agrees to these rules and regulations and agrees to be bound by them and by such other rules and regulations as may hereafter be established for the Town of LaGrange.

§ 233-21 Opening of streets, sidewalks and public grounds.

No street, sidewalk or other public ground shall be opened for the purpose of laying any water pipe or service pipe or doing any work whatever about any water main or pipe or service pipe or fixture or for the purpose of making any connection with any water pipe or doing any work in connection therewith unless a permit shall be obtained from the Town Superintendent of Highways and the Town Board or from the Town Water Department. There shall be a permit application fee. The amount of the fee shall be set forth on the prevailing fee schedule adopted by resolution of the Town Board and as such schedule is modified from time to time by resolution of the Town Board.

[Amended 7-22-2009 by L.L. No. 2-2009]

No permit shall be granted to open up any street, sidewalk or other public ground for the purpose of laying, installing or repairing water pipes or fixtures unless said permit calls for inspection of the construction by either the Town Water Department or the Town Engineer. The cost of said inspection to be borne by the applicant.

Before any such permit shall be granted, such owner shall file a bond in the office of the Town Clerk in the sum of not less than $10,000, properly conditioned to indemnify the Town of LaGrange against any loss which the Town may sustain by reason of the negligence of such applicant or his failure to comply with these rules. Such bond shall be approved by the Town Board as to its form and sufficiency of the surety before filing.

In the opening of a street, sidewalk or other public grounds for the introduction or repair of any water service pipe or connection under authority of such a permit by the Town Superintendent of Highways and Town Board, the owner shall be responsible for all damages resulting from such trench or opening even though the work is performed by the owner or some other person; the permit for making the excavation or opening in the street, sidewalk or other public grounds being to the owner only; and any person opening the street, sidewalk or other public grounds under such permit does so as the agent of said owner and by no other authority. He shall duly regard public safety and convenience, and such excavations shall be adequately guarded, and proper lights shall be displayed by him at night to warn and protect the public.

§ 233-22 Connection with mains.

No persons shall tap any street main or make any connection therewith except authorized personnel of the Town Water Department, unless such tapping is made as an adjunct to a contract with the Town for the installation of street mains on which such tap is being made. The cost of such tap made by the Town Water Department shall have fixed prices which shall be paid in advance. The Town Water Department shall tap all mains, except as noted above or as hereinafter noted, and shall approve the setting of all meters, and no one shall turn on any water service nor shut off any water service except with the knowledge of and permission of the Water Department.

Service taps larger than one inch shall not necessarily be made by the Town Water Department but will be made under the direction and supervision of the Town Water Department using materials, methods and specialized persons or firms acceptable to the Water Department. Costs for such taps are not included in the fixed fee schedule but shall be borne in their entirety by the applicant.

No person shall lay any service main or make any attachment thereto or any alterations or repairs to the service main or appurtenances thereto except by permission of the Town as prescribed in § 233-32 above or by the Town Water Department or persons or firms working under contract with the Town for such work.

There shall be no tap, provision for tap, plugged tee or other such fitting in the service main between the street main and the meter inside the building. Any yard hydrant, fountain or hose must be connected on the building side of the meter or service.

All service pipe shall be of the best grade and weight standard Type K copper tubing of sizes through two inches, meeting AWWA Specification 7S-CR. Service pipe over two inches shall be cast iron or ductile iron meeting AWWA Specifications C106-62 and C151-65, respectively. All pipe shall be rated for service of 150 pounds per square inch or greater. No service shall be less than three-fourths-inch.

Service pipe shall be laid not less than 4 1/2 feet below the surface of grade, and its vertical and horizontal alignment in relation to any sewer or other parallel pipe shall conform to Health Department standards and to the requirements of the Town Sewer Ordinance[1] and other Town local laws.

[1]

Editor's Note: See Ch. 187, Sewers.

Only one property or property unit shall be supplied through a single service pipe. The owner of the premises being served shall be responsible for all repairs to the service main or any of its appurtenances and fixtures, including the curb stop, to the extent that such service main, appurtenances and fixtures are not located on Town property. Where the curb stop associated with the service main serving the owner's premises is located on Town property, the owner of the premises being served shall also be responsible for all repairs to the service main or any of its appurtenances and fixtures, including the curb stop, located between the curb stop and the premises being served. Failure to effect such repairs immediately shall cause the Water Department to turn off the water supply at the curb stop.

[Amended 1-8-2003 by L.L. No. 2-2003]

Every service main shall have a cock or other approved valved tap in the main, an inverted key stop cock or other approved valve with a metal protecting box at the curb or property line and a gate valve or other approved valve just before the meter. It shall be the duty and responsibility of the property owner to keep the curb box in good repair, above ground and accessible at all times.

No persons except Water Department personnel or those acting with permission of the Water Superintendent shall open or close any valve on the street mains or services or any cocks in any curb box or molest or interfere with same in any way whatever.

Personnel of the Water Department or other persons authorized by the Town Board may at any time enter a building or upon premises where water is used from supply pipes connected to the street mains for purposes of examining such pipes and materials which have been installed.

The property owner's installation of a water main to serve the owner's premises and the premises' continuing use of public water bestows upon the Water Department a continuing right of entry upon such premises to access and repair the water service main(s) serving the premises where repairs required by the Town or the Town's Water Department have not been made by the owner as required under Subsection G of this § 233-22 within five days after a Code Enforcement Officer has notified the owner in writing that the repair must be made. Where the condition of the service main has been determined by the Town's Water Department or a Code Enforcement Officer to be a threat to the health, safety or welfare of the community, the Town may effect such repair immediately. In the event that the Town or the improvement district is required to make such repairs due to the owner's default, the Town shall be entitled to reimbursement of all reasonable and necessary design, construction, engineering, legal and related expenses it incurs as a result. In the event that the owner fails to reimburse the Town for these expenses, the Town shall have the following options:

[Added 1-8-2003 by L.L. No. 2-2003]

(1)

It may commence suit against the owner to recover such costs, as well as to recover its reasonable and necessary attorneys' fees in prosecuting such claim; or

(2)

The Town may charge such expenses against the owner's real property by adding such expenses to, and making them part of, the next annual real property tax assessment roll of the Town. Such charges shall be levied at the same time and in the same manner as Town assessed taxes and shall be paid to the Town Supervisor to be applied in reimbursing the funds from which the costs were paid. Prior to charging such assessments, the owner of the real property shall be provided written notice at the last known address of record, by certified mail/return receipt requested, of an opportunity to be heard before the Town Board and to object to the proposed real property assessment at a date to be designated in the notice, which date shall be no less than 30 days after its mailing.

§ 233-23 Restrictions on water usage.

No person or owner shall use any water supplied or furnished by the Town or by a municipal water district to fill any swimming pool or similar structure. It is hereby declared that all public water supplies in the Town of LaGrange are functioning for the purpose of supplying potable water for domestic use within the building or residence supplied. The use of any publicly supplied water to fill a swimming pools is hereby prohibited.

The Town Board of the Town of LaGrange may in times of water shortage or emergency limit the amount of public water supplied to each owner or building. The Town Board hereby expressly gives notice to all owners of buildings or residences presently supplied by public water (or to be supplied in the future) that said Town Board may, by resolution, determine when such a water shortage or emergency exists. In case of such emergency or water shortage, notice thereof will be given by publication in the Poughkeepsie Journal. Said notice shall contain the date when such shortage or emergency commenced, as well as the restrictions on use of water necessitated thereby.

§ 233-24 Nonpotable water.

If an owner has any source of water other than from the municipal public water system, such source will be considered nonpotable. Before making any service connection between the municipal public water supply and a consumer's premises, it is required that all connections between individual wells or other outside sources of supply physically be disconnected from the consumer's plumbing fixtures, which are connected to the municipal potable water supply.

All owners of property within the confines of a municipal water district shall not use nonpotable water as a source of water supply for any purpose. "Nonpotable water" is defined as any source of water other than from a municipally owned water system.

§ 233-25 Water used for building purposes.

Water used for building purposes shall be charged to the owner of the property. The amount consumed shall be metered or estimated by the Town Board or its duly authorized representative at its option.

§ 233-26 Service outside water district area.

[Amended 1-24-2001 by L.L. No. 1-2001]

No water main shall be tapped for, nor any service main extended outside the boundaries of any water district, except by special permit therefor granted and issued by the Town Board. There shall be a fee for the special permit, and such fee shall be set forth on the prevailing fee schedule adopted by resolution of the Town Board and as such schedule is modified from time to time by resolution of the Town Board.

[Amended 7-22-2009 by L.L. No. 2-2009]

The Town Board shall impose such conditions upon the granting of the permit as it shall deem fitting and proper.

Unless otherwise agreed or imposed as a condition of special permit to connect, the Town Board shall impose prevailing water rents and usage charges on any real property located outside the applicable water district on the same basis as if the real property were located within the district.

If any real property located within a water district should be subject, at any time, to special benefit assessment or ad valorem assessment for capital or other expenses of that district, real property receiving water services from that district, but located outside of the district, shall be annually charged and shall be obligated to pay an amount equal to the assessment which would have been levied against the real property if it had been located within the district.

A default in payment of the charges set forth in Subsections C and D above shall be remedied by charging such sums against the real property which benefits from the out-of-district water service, by adding any such charge to and making it a part of the next annual real property tax assessment roll of the Town. Such charges shall be levied and collected at the same time and in the same manner as Town-assessed taxes and shall be paid to the Town Supervisor, to be applied in reimbursing the applicable water district. Prior to charging such assessments, the owners of the real property shall be provided written notice to their last known address of record by certified mail, return receipt requested, of an opportunity to be heard and object, before the Town Board, to the proposed real property assessment, at a date to be designated in the notice, which shall be no less than 30 days after its mailing.

[Amended 2-28-2001 by L.L. No. 3-2001]

§ 233-27 Penalties for offenses.

Pursuant to §§ 135 and 198, Subdivision 3(c), of the Town Law, a violation of these rules and regulations is hereby declared to be a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine for each violation not exceeding $250 or imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or both, and each day said violation continues shall constitute a separate violation. The proper local authorities of the Town, in addition to other remedies, may institute any appropriate action or proceeding to prevent unlawful violation of these rules and regulations and to restrain, correct or abate such violation or to prevent any illegal action, conduct or use in or about said water district.

§ 233-28 Reservation of rights by Town Board.

The Town Board reserves the right to change, modify, supplement or amend these rules and regulations from time to time. The right is also reserved to make such additional rules and regulations which to the Town Board seems best to regulate the water supply and the proper and efficient administration of the Town water districts and to make contracts for the use of water in special cases.[1]

[1]

Editor's Note: The following articles of original Ch. 98, which immediately followed this section, were repealed 12-11-1985 by L.L. No. 4-1985: Art. VII, Deerfield Estates Water District, adopted 12-28-1981 by L.L. No. 6-1981; and Art. VIII, LaGrange Club Estates Water District, adopted 7-6-1983 by L.L. No. 2-1983.