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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-036-04/17/1979-APPROVING WATER UTILITY RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR SERVICE RESOLUTION 79-36 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS APPROVING WATER UTILITY RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR SERVICE WHEREAS, Section 112-29 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins authorizes the Director of Water and Sewer Utilities to promulgate appro- priate rules, regulations, policies and procedures for the operation of the water utility, and WHEREAS, the City Council has received said administrative policies and procedures and desires to approve the same NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS that the Water Utility Rules and Regulations for Service, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit °A,° be, and they hereby are, accepted and approved Passed and adopted at regular meeting of the City Council held this 17th day of April, A D 1979 Mayor A Ci erk Ey 'BIT °A" wiz, a "�,�� s i. ,,,_�,'�^ �f 1�' �' 1 a, #'"' '• ti '�I .> .ist ++II�tti�n .�i t r�A 7 .. '��*t'�'' -2 1 r..�' .=tf;-.Y,y... 4�' t ] r i',2 f�~ ♦ 'T� .�..- 1 M OF FORT COLONS P O BOX 580 FORT COLLINS COLORADO 80522 PH (303)484.4220 WATM AND SEWER UTILITIES ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES Section I Number __A 8 SUBJECT Water Utility Rules and Regulations for Effective Date Service Replaces Policy Section No. A. Purpose The following rules and regulations shall govern the application for and pro- visions of receiving water service from the City water utility system B Scope and Authority These rules and regulations are applicable to any person applying for water service from the City These rules and regulations are promulgated by the Director of Water and Sewer Utilities pursuant to the authority contained in Section 112-29 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins and shall be effective upon approval by the City Council C Application for Utility Service Any person requesting utility services from the City shall make such request in writing on forms provided by the City The signed application shall con- stitute a contract between the customer and the City under which the customer agrees to pay the City for utility services rendered in accordance with the applicable rate schedule including any special rules and regulations appertain- ing thereto The resulting contract may not be assigned without the approval of the City D Service Charge A charge will be made for the processing of a request for service as pre- scribed by the applicable rate schedule E Utility Service Deposits 1 When required A deposit will be required from any person re- questing utility service to premises not owned by that person unless said person has previously established a satisfactory payment history (no turn-off notice on account of delinquency for twelve con- secutive months) for utility services provided by the City. In cases where utility service is provided to the owner of the pro- perty served, no deposit will be required since unpaid utility charges will be a lien upon the property to which service is delivered from the date said charges become due until such charges are paid The lien may be enforced by the City by action at law. 2 Amount and form of deposit The amount of the deposit shall be two (2) times the estimated monthly bill for utilities to the premises served as determined by the City The deposit shall be made in cash at the time the application for service is submitted to the City. 3. Deposit application and/or return All deposits will be held by the City to guarantee payment of bills for utility service. Deposits will not be considered as advance payments for service bills but will be applied to a customer's account when utility service with the City is terminated or after utility service has been received for twelve (12) consecutive months without a turn-off notice. After termination of service, the deposit will be applied to the final bill and any remaining portion of the deposit will be refunded to the customer F. Discontinuance of Utility Service by Customer Any customer desiring to discontinue utility service should complete and submit a "Termination Order" form to the City three days prior to the de- sired discontinuance date. The City will attempt to process all discontinu- ance orders on the date requested or as near that date as possible In any event the customer will be liable for all consumption until the final meter reading has been obtained G. Discontinuance of Utility Services by the City The City may discontinue service under the following conditions 1. If user's utility services (water or sewer lines, valves, connec- tions, etc ) are determined unsafe, service may be discontinued after due notice and will not be reconnected until the unsafe condition has been corrected The City may discontinue service without notice to the user if the unsafe condition could be considered dangerous to the life, health or safety of any person 2. A dustomer shall not connect to any City utility in such a manner as to obtain free water nor tamper or otherwise interfere with the proper operation or registration of meters or permit others to perform such connection, interference or tampering In case of violation of this provision, service shall be dis- connected without notice and will not be reconnected until the customer shall have paid an estimated service bill for the period during which such violation existed and shall have had proper utility connections installed in accordance with the prevailing (2) requirements of the ordinances of the City and rules and regula- tions relating to the utility installations, inspections, licensing, permits and regulations 3. Utility services may be discontinued if continued service would be detrimental to the City's facilities or others served by the City 4. Utility services may be discontinued for nonpayment of past- due accounts directly or indirectly related to the provision of utility services 5. Utility services may be discontinued in case of violation of the provisions of the regulations of the City Utilities 6 Except where notice prior to discontinuing services is specifi- cally not required by these regulations, services shall not be discon- tinued prior to the notice required by these regulations. H. Termination of Service - Notice and Hearing 1 In cases where a notice to the customer is required before termina- tion of service, the following provisions shall apply. 2. If any bill for utility services is not paid within 25 days from the billing date (or if the City determines that service shall be terminated pursuant to these rules and regulations) , the City may mail to the customer a delinquency notice (or a notice of intent to terminate). Such notice shall be addressed to the customer at the address to which bills for service have been sent and shall contain the following information a The number of the account b The amount of the unpaid bill, the date of the unpaid bill, (or the other condition causing service to be terminated) c The officer of the City to be contacted to inquire about the notice and the telephone number at which such officer can be reached Such officer shall be authorized to change any utility billing which is in error d. The date (pot less than seven days from the date the notice is mailed) on which service will be terminated if the account is not paid (or the condition causing termination of service corrected) e. If an agreement on the amount due (or other reason for termination) cannot be reached with the hearing officer, the customer has the right to make a protest to the Utility Appeals Committee by filing such protest with the Finance Director prior to the date set forth in the notice when service will be terminated and the right to a hearing before such committee on any protest timely filed before service will be terminated (3) f. Advisement of an additional $5 00 charge if turnoff notice is delivered 3. If the bill is not paid by the time set for termination of service (or the condition justifying termination corrected by that date) and no protest is filed with the Director of Finance (of is a protest has been filed, the Utility Appeals Committee, after hearing, has not ordered otherwise), the City may deliver a turn-off notice to any person over 18 years of age on the premises served Such notice shall contain the following a. The name of the customer and the number of the account. b The address of the premises served. c. The date and time (not less than 24 hours after delivery of the notice) when service will be terminated unless the condition causing termination of service is corrected d. The amount required to be paid (or the condition to be corrected) in order to avoid termination of service. e The amount of additional charge that will be imposed to reinstate service if service is terminated. If no person is on the premises when attempt is made to deliver the turn-off notice, the notice may be left on the premises in a con- spicuous place and no further delivery of notice will be required. 4 If the delinquent account is not paid (or the other condition i-ausing termination not corrected) within the time required by the turnoff notice, the City may terminate service to the premises Service shall not be reinstated until the cause for disconnection has been corrected and a service restoration fee in the amount of $15.00 for water and/or sewer service has been paid I Budget Billing If any single family residential customer so requests, the City may estimate the average monthly bill of such customer based upon the historic use of utility service by that customer Such average amount shall be the monthly bill rendered to the customer for eleven billing periods In the twelfth billing period the City will collect the amount the customer owes or apply a credit to the customer's account for overpayments The monthly Budget Billing Amount will be adjusted for changes in the base utility rate. J Access to Utility Service Equipment on Consumer Premises Authorized employees of the City shall have the right of access to consumer's premises at all reasonable times for any purpose incidental to the supply- ing of utility services Access to the utility meters must be provided for proper billing If any meter cannot be read for three consecutive months, the consumer will be notified by certified mail that this condition must be corrected or the City will discontinue service until actual readings can be obtained (4)