Village of Deerfield Ordinance 4

THE VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD ORDAINS:

Section 1. TITLE

This Ordinance shall be known as the Village of Deerfield Water Use and Rate Ordinance.

Section 2. PURPOSE

The Village Council of the Village of Deerfield, Lenawee County, Michigan, hereby determines it to be necessary for and to secure the public health, safety, convenience and welfare of the Village of Deerfield, to operate and maintain the Water Supply System of said Village, consisting of a water filtration plant and connections to the distribution Water System and appurtenances and attachments thereto.

Section 3. DEFINITIONS

a. "Commercial User" shall mean any user of the Water System other than a residential user.
b. "Residential User" shall mean a user of the Water System whose premises or buildings are used primarily as a domicile for one or more persons. Transient lodging is not included; it is considered commercial.
c. "Revenues" and "net revenues" shall be understood to have the meanings as defined in Section 3, Act 94, Public Acts of Michigan, 1933, as amended.
d. "Water System" shall mean the Village of Deerfield water supply system and all improvements thereto, as set forth in Section (2) hereof.
e. "Village" shall mean Village of Deerfield, Michigan, and any agent thereof.

Section 4. OPERATION OF WATER SYSTEM

The operation, repair and management of the Water System, shall be under the immediate supervision and control of the Village Council.

Section 5. CONNECTION TO SYSTEM

a. The owner of all houses, buildings or other structures which are now connected or which hereafter connect to the Water System must connect directly to the Water System via a metered connection.
b. All connections to the Water System must be inspected and approved by the Village.
c. All connections to the Water System must be maintained and serviced by the owner of the house, building or other structure which is now connected or which hereafter connects to the Water System. Failure to maintain the connection to the Water System is in good condition is deemed to be a violation of this ordinance.

Section 6. CHARGES FOR USE

a. Commodity Charge:

All residential and commercial customers connected to the Water System shall be measured by a meter and charged a commodity charge for water used at a rate established by Village resolution. The rate to be charged shall be from time to time determined and approved by the Village Council. If, at the time the Village reads the meter, it is determined that the meter is inoperable or defective, then until such time as the meter is repaired, the customer shall be charged an amount equal to average quarterly billing charged to the customer during the previous 12 month period.

b. Readiness to Service Charge:

Customers of the Village Water System shall be charged a readiness to serve charge, which represents the fixed cost to the Village for the operation of the Water System. All customers of the Village Water System, whether residential or non-residential, shall be charged by the Village at a flat rate per equivalent unit as established by Village resolution. The equivalent units for the Village are attached hereto in Appendix "A". The flat rate to be charged to each premises within the Village connected to the Water System shall be from time to time determined and approved by the Village Council.

c. Special Rates:

For miscellaneous services for which a special rate should be established, such rates shall be fixed by the Village Council.

d. Connection Charge:

The Village shall charge a connection charge and such charges shall be not less than the actual cost to the Village of making such connection including the cost of the meter. The meter installed shall be the property of the Village.

Section 7. BILLING

a. Billing for water charges shall be made quarterly and water bills shall be sent to consumers quarterly. Meters shall be read on the fifteenth (15th) day of each of the months of March, June, September and December and bills for water service shall be sent to customers not later than the first (1st) day of the following month. Bills for water service shall be due on the fifteenth (15th) day after the date rendered. For bills not paid when due, a penalty charge of ten (10%) percent of such bill shall be added.
b. All customers of the Water System shall be charged a quarterly charge of $3.30 for each bill prepared by the Village to cover the cost of billing and accounting.

Section 8. PUBLICATION OF RATES

Following approval by the Village Council of the rates to be charged for the user charges under this Ordinance, the rates as approved by the Village Council shall be published. Said notice is to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Village of Deerfield within thirty (30) days following approval by the Village Council.

Section 9. ENFORCEMENT

a. The charges for water services which are under the provisions of Section 21, Act 94, Public Acts of Michigan, 1933, as amended, made a lien on all premises served thereby, are hereby recognized to constitute such lien and whenever any such charge against any piece of property shall be delinquent for six (6) months, the Village official or officials in charge of the collection thereof shall certify annually, on March 1st of each year, to the tax assessing officer of the Village, the fact of such delinquency, whereupon such charge shall be by him entered upon the next tax roll as a charge against such premises and shall be collected and the lien thereof enforced in the same manner as general Village taxes against such premises are collected, and the lien thereof enforced.
b. In addition to other remedies provided, the Village shall have the right to shut off and discontinue the supply of water to any premises for the non-payment of water rates when due. If such charges are not paid within thirty (30) days after the due date thereof, then water service to such premises shall be discontinued. Water services so discontinued shall not be restored until all sums then due and owing shall be paid, together with termination and re-establishment charges to be specified by the Village Council. Further, all such charges and penalties may be recovered by the Village by court action.

Section 10. CUSTOMERS OUTSIDE VILLAGE

The Village Council is authorized to enter into contracts regarding the use of and connection to the Water System by customers located outside of the Village limits. In such contracts, the Village may establish special terms and conditions including charges regarding the installation of water mains, connection to the Water System, use and maintenance of the water mains and any connections thereto.

Section 11. NO FREE SERVICE

No free service shall be furnished by the Water System to any person, firm or corporation, public or private, or to any public agency or instrumentality.

Section 12. TURN ON SERVICE

No person other than an authorized employee of the Village shall turn on or off any water service to any public or private premises at the curb box connection of said premises to the water main.

Section 13. ESTABLISHMENT OF RATES

The rates hereby fixed are estimated to be sufficient to provide for the payment of the expenses of administration and operation and such expenses for maintenance of the Water System as are necessary to preserve the same in good repair and working order, to provide for the payment of the interest upon and the principal of all the bonds as and when the same become due and payable, and the creation of the reserve therefor required by this Ordinance, and to provide for such other expenditures and funds for Water System as this Ordinance may require. Such rates shall be fixed and revised from time to time as may be necessary to produce these amounts, and it is hereby covenanted and agreed at all times to fix and maintain such rates for service furnished by the Water System as shall be sufficient to provide for the foregoing.

Section 14. OPERATING YEAR

The Water System shall be operated on the basis of an operating year commencing March 1st and ending on the last day of the following February.

Section 15. DEPOSITORY FOR REVENUES

a. All revenues of the Water System are hereby ordered to be set aside, as collected, and deposited in a bank duly qualified to do business in Michigan, in an account to be designated Operation and Maintenance Fund and said revenues so deposited are pledged for the purpose of providing for the payment of the current expenses for the Water System
and for the maintenance thereof as may be necessary to preserve the same in good repair and working order.
b. The Village Council, prior to the commencement of each operating year, shall adopt a budget covering the foregoing expenses for each year, and such total expenses shall not exceed the total amount specified in said budget, except by vote of four-sevenths (4/7ths) of the members of the Village Council.

Section 16. INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE

The Village shall inspect the property of any user of the Village Water System to ascertain compliance with this Ordinance. Owners and/or occupants of the premises where Village water service are provided shall allow representative of the Village ready to access to the premises at all reasonable times for the purpose of inspection, observation, maintenance, measurement, sampling and testing in conjunction with the Water System.

Section 17. REFUSAL OF INFORMATION

Whenever requested by the Village, the owner or occupant of any lot or parcel of land serviced by the Water Distribution System shall furnish to the Superintendent all information requested concerning the piping system or systems servicing the said lot or parcel of land in question to make such inspections or investigation as he shall deem to be necessary. The
refusal to permit access when requested, shall be deemed to be a prima facie evidence of the presence of cross-connections of the type prohibited by the ordinance.

Section 18. SERVICE DISCONTINUED

Whenever the Superintendent shall find any violation of this ordinance the Superintendent is authorized and directed to discontinue water service to that lot. Notice shall be given to the owner or occupant of the lot in question by first class mail or by personal service five (5) days in advance of discontinuing the water service. For purposes of this ordinance, notices
addressed to the owner of the land shown on the Assessment Rolls of the Village of Deerfield shall be sufficient notice to the owner, and notice addressed to an occupant at the street address of the land in question shall be sufficient
notice to an occupant. The Superintendent is further authorized and directed to take such other precautionary measures as may be deemed necessary to eliminate any danger of contamination of the water distribution system. Water service to the land in question shall not be restored until either the crossconnection has been eliminated or evidence furnished and access permitted to
enable the Superintendent to determine that no cross-connection prohibited by this chapter exists.

Section 19. COLLECTION

The payment of charges for water service to any premises may be enforced by discontinuing the water service to such premises and legal action may be instituted by the Village for collection of any amounts owed by the customer. The charges for water service, which, under the provisions of Act 94, Public Acts of 1933 of the State of Michigan, as amended, are made a lien on
the premises to which furnished, are hereby recognized to constitute such lien; and the Village Clerk shall, annually, report all unpaid charges for such services furnished to any premises.

Section 20. PENALTY

a. Every person who violates any provision of this Ordinance or any rule or regulation adopted or issued in pursuance hereof shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more that one hundred ($100.00) dollars and costs of prosecution or imprisonment for not more than ninety (90) days or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each act of violation and every day upon which any such violation shall occur shall constitute a separate offense. The imposition of any such sentence shall not exempt the offender from compliance with the Ordinance.
b. In addition to the criminal penalties specified above, any person who violates this Ordinance, by removing a water meter or tampering with a water meter for the purpose of obtaining water from the Village water system without paying for any or all of the water so used, shall be civilly liable to the Village and as liquidated damages shall pay to the Village a
per diem water usage charge of $10 from the date of the last accurate meter reading (or to the day that water service was turned on to the property if there was no prior meter reading) until the day that the meter is connected or reconnected to the water service line or until the meter is repaired or replaced, whichever is applicable.

Section 21. ENFORCEABILITY OR MANDATORY INJUNCTION

As a cumulative remedy to Section18 above entitled SERVICE DISCONTINUED and Section 20 above entitled PENALTY any person who violates any provision of this Ordinance or any rule or regulation adopted or issued in pursuance thereof, may be made a defendant in a suit in the Circuit Court for the County of Lenawee; the Village of Deerfield shall have the power, through its attorneys, to request that the Circuit Court issue a mandatory injunction compelling the defendant to forthwith comply with this Ordinance.

Section 22. SEVERABILITY

If any section, paragraph, clause or provision of this Ordinance shall be held invalid, the invalidity of such section, paragraph, clause or provision shall not affect any of the other provisions of this Ordinance.

Section 23. REPEALER

All ordinance, resolutions or orders, or parts thereof, in conflict with the provisions of this Ordinance, are to the extent of such conflict, hereby repealed.

Section 24. PUBLICATION

This Ordinance shall be published in full in The Blissfield Advance, a newspaper of general circulation in the Village of Deerfield, qualified under State law to publish legal notices, within one week of its adoption.

Section 25. EFFECTIVE DATE

This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its adoption.

YEAS: 6

NAYS: 0

ORDINANCE DECLARED ADOPTED ON September 12, 2005.__________________________________

Todd Nighswander

Deerfield Village President