[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.
A. 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. 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.
[Amended 2-13-2007 by Ord. No. 414; 8-14-2024 by Ord. No. 448]
The City shall put in all secondary or service
wire and connect the same to the premises upon approval from an electrician.
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. 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. 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.