[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Fairfax 12-18-1984
by Ord. No. 102 (Ord. No. 102 of the 1984 Code).
Amendments noted where applicable.]
There is hereby created the job of Superintendent of Electric Lights
of the City of Fairfax.
The salary of the Superintendent of Electric Lights shall be fixed by
the City Council.
It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Electric Lights, subject
to such resolution and ordinances as may from time to time be adopted by the
City Council, in addition to his other duties to superintend and manage the
City electric light plant in all its parts to course and direct the labor
of all persons who may be employable in any capacity thereupon; to engage
and employ all workmen required by the City in and about the operation of
said plant subject to the confirmation by the City Council of all permanent
employees under such regulations as the City Council may from time to time
establish as to the number and compensation of such employees, and he shall
have the power to discharge any employee for unfitness and misconduct.
The Superintendent shall sign and issue all permits of connecting service
wires therewith, and keep an accurate record of such permits and work done
by the City therein, and of all materials furnished therefor and report the
same to the City Clerk-Treasurer, who shall keep an accurate record of the
names of all consumers taking electric current for the plant and the place
which it is used. The Superintendent shall on the 30th day of the month read
the meters. The consumer's bill for electric light shall show the previous
reading and the present reading with the amount due. The Superintendent shall
keep a record of all work done and installations made as well as materials
used and report the same to the Clerk-Treasurer. He shall also report all
labor done or supplied for any person in connection with the use of electric
current from the plant. It shall be his duty to see that all property belonging
to the Department is properly cared for and preserved.
The Superintendent of Electric Lights shall at the expiration of his
employment and as often as required by the City Council make a complete inventory
in detail of all stock and property belonging to the City and report at length
of all extensions, connections, and improvements made; also, number of lights
in use and by whom used. He shall also make such other and further reports
from time to time as the City Council may require.
The Superintendent of Electric Lights shall also perform such other
duties and exercise such other powers relating to the electric light plant
as may hereinafter be assigned to him from time to time.[1]
A.Â
Applications for permission to connect electric wires with any
premises shall be made to the Superintendent in writing by the owner or tenant
(if the latter, with the written consent of the owner endorsed thereon) upon
printed blanks provided for that purpose. The applicant shall state duly and
accurately all the purposes for which electric current is required, the premises
where, and the extent to which it is to be used, and should it be desired
at any time to make additional use of electric current, the person so requiring
the same must make a new application thereof.
B.Â
If the application is in due form and may, consistent with public
intent, be granted, the Superintendent shall issue a permit to the applicant
which shall authorize any duly licensed electrician to do the desired work.
The City shall put in all secondary or service wire and connect the
same to the premises with a connection charge of $150 to the consumer. Should
it be necessary to set a pole on private ground to carry such wires, permission
having first been attained from the owner, the Superintendent or any one designated
by him, shall have the right to go on and over said premises for the purpose
of stringing wires, making repairs or removing such wires, poles on other
property.
Consumers of electric current from the City plant shall pay for the
service exclusively on the meter basis. The City shall keep the meters in
repair. All such meters shall be kept closed with a seal, and such seal shall
not be broken or such meter opened except by the Superintendent or some person
under his direction and control.
All residential electrical meters shall be placed on the outside of
the residential dwelling.
A.Â
New construction. All electrical meters on all new residential
dwellings constructed after the effective date of this chapter shall be installed
on the outside of the dwelling.
B.Â
Penalty. A residential dwelling which fails to have the
electrical meter installed on the outside of the residential dwelling shall
have electrical services discontinued.
The rates for the use of electric current by consumers shall be as set
by resolution by the City Council.
All electric light and power bills shall be due and payable on the 15th
day of the month for which the bill is dated, and shall be paid to the City
Clerk-Treasurer, and if such bill shall not be paid before the 15th day of
the following month for which the bill was incurred, then it shall be the
duty of the Clerk-Treasurer to notify the customer of disconnection and the
right to a hearing before the City Council. Then if payment is not made, The
Clerk-Treasurer shall notify the Superintendent thereof, whose duty it shall
be to disconnect the service wires with such consumer, and shall not be reconnected
until the whole amount due, including an additional sum $25/$50 for disconnecting
and reconnecting the wires has been paid, and the Superintendent shall forthwith
reconnect such wires upon the payment of the necessary sum, provided that
nothing herein contained shall operate to prevent the City from otherwise
enforcing payments of any past due bill.
The Superintendent or any person under his supervision or control shall
have the right to enter any and all premises at any reasonable time for the
purpose of reading meters.
The rules, regulations and rates herein contained shall be construed
as a contract with every person who is supplied with light or power, and every
person so taking such light or power shall be construed, by his so taking,
to be bound by such rules, regulations and rates as a part of his contract
with the City; and whenever a violation of any of the rules, regulations or
rates occur, the light or power wires may be cut off by the Superintendent
in the building where such violation occurs, and shall not be reconnected,
except after a satisfactory understanding with the consumer that no further
violation shall occur and the payment of $25/$50 for the expense of disconnecting
and reconnecting the wires.
No rule or regulation in this chapter, or such as may hereafter be enacted,
unchanging the supply of electric current to consumers, shall be construed
as in the nature of a contract in such a sense as to prevent the City Council
from altering or amending the same, or from establishing such additional rules
and regulations as may from time to time be found necessary, and the City
Council reserves the right to make such additions and changes at its own discretion.
The City Council of the City of Fairfax shall not be liable under any
circumstances for a deficiency or failure in the supply of electric current
to consumers, whether occasional or by the breaking of any wire, machinery
or other interruption of the current, or by reason of any stoppage for the
purpose of making repairs, or for any cause whatever; and in case of fire
the Superintendent may shut off the electric current so long as he may deem
necessary for the safety of the firemen. The current of every consumer except
when otherwise specified must be conveyed through the meter, and no consumer,
electrician or other person shall make any connection around the meter or
in any manner, so as to convey any current for light or power which does not
pass through the meter.
No person shall willfully break, destroy, cut, mark, deface, injure,
sever, disconnect or in any manner tamper or interfere with any electric light
or guy wire, pole, support, lamp, fixtures, conductors, converters, or any
part of any machinery, apparatus or equipment connected with the City electric
lighting plant, owned or controlled by the City; nor shall any person post
any bills or attach anything to any pole, wire or support or other machinery,
apparatus or equipment of said electric lighting plant. No electrician or
other person shall connect or disconnect any service wires to or from any
building or otherwise, without the express permission or authority of the
Superintendent of Electric Lights.
Any person or party violating any of the provisions of this chapter
shall upon conviction thereof be punished by a fine of not less than $5 nor
more than $100 and costs, or in lieu thereof imprisoned until such fine and
costs are paid, not exceeding 90 days.
