[Amended 5-26-1992[1]]
There shall be in the City a division of the
Department of Public Works to be called the "Electrical Division,"
which shall be under the charge of the City Electrician/Wire Inspector.
The City Electrician/Wire Inspector shall be a licensed electrician
with at least five years' experience in his profession or occupation
and shall have a thorough knowledge of overhead, underground and inside
electrical construction.
The City Electrician/Wire Inspector shall be
appointed by the chief executive officer of the City. He shall be
on duty seven hours per day, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each working
day, and at such other times as cases of emergency may require and
shall devote his whole time to the service of the City and shall engage
in no other business or calling. He shall receive such compensation
as the City Council may determine.
The City Electrician/Wire Inspector shall keep
a complete record of all work done, permits issued, examinations made
or other official work performed as required by this chapter. Such
records shall be open to inspection at all reasonable times and shall
be kept in such a manner as to give prompt information to any interested
parties.
The City Electrician/Wire Inspector shall annually,
in the month of January, make a report to the chief executive officer
of the City and the City Council of all official work performed in
or by his Department for the year next preceding the month of January.
The City Electrician/Wire Inspector shall have
the right to inspect every wire over or under streets or buildings
and every wire within a building designed to carry an electric light,
heat or power current and shall inspect such wires, their attachments,
insulations, posts, supports and appliances. He shall notify all persons
owning or operating any such wires whenever their attachments, insulations,
posts or appliances are, in his judgment, unsafe or a menace to life,
limb or property and shall see that all laws and regulations relative
to wires are strictly enforced.
The City Electrician/Wire Inspector shall, at
least once each year, inspect all poles supporting electrical or other
wires upon or over any street or buildings, and all supports of such
wires when attached to buildings, and ascertain if such poles and
supports are kept in proper condition and not weakened by decay or
other causes. In case any person owning, leasing or operating wires
shall neglect or refuse to maintain supports in proper condition,
the City Electrician/Wire Inspector, after due notice in writing,
shall cause such fixtures and supports to be put in proper condition
at the expense of the person owning, leasing or operating the same.
It shall be the duty of the City Electrician/Wire
Inspector to cause all dead wires and unused poles or electrical apparatus
on the outside of buildings, or in streets or alleys, to be removed
at the expense of the owner or owners of such wires, poles or apparatus
by giving the owner or his agents 10 days' written notice, and if
the owner or his agents fail or neglect to remove the same within
10 days after the notice has been given, the owner or his agents shall
be subject to a penalty of $10 for each and every day the poles, wires
or apparatus are permitted to remain.
The City Electrician/Wire Inspector shall have
the right at any time to inspect any apparatus or wires used for the
conduction of an electric current for light, heat and power within
or on any building or structure, and if found unsafe or dangerous
to life, limb or property, or likely to become so, or if the installation
has been installed in violation of any of the required rules and regulations,
he shall notify the owner or other person having an interest therein
to repair the same and may order the service discontinued or otherwise
render the serve inoperative. No installation shall be connected to
service or have the current turned on until a permit to connect has
been issued by the City Electrician/Wire Inspector.
The City Electrician/Wire Inspector is hereby
authorized to draw up such rules and regulations as may be deemed
necessary to make electrical conductors and appliances as safe as
possible, which rules and regulations shall become effective upon
adoption by the City Council.
The City Electrician/Wire Inspector shall have
the power to order any defective wiring or electrical construction
repaired, rebuilt or removed whenever in his judgment life, limb or
property is endangered by such defective construction and shall have
access, at all reasonable times, to any building, manhole or subway
in the discharge of his official duties and for the inspection and
maintenance of municipal wires.
The City Electrician/Wire Inspector shall be
the sole judge of what constitutes the proper installation and proper
insulation of electrical conductors and appliances under any circumstances
not fully covered by the rules hereby adopted and/or when, because
of special circumstances, the method of installation or insulation
therein provided for would be unsafe or dangerous to life and property.
