§ 8-2-55. Fees.

(a)

Purpose. It is the purpose of this section to provide for the recovery of costs from users of the city's wastewater disposal system for the implementation of the program established herein. The applicable charges or fees shall be as set forth in the city's schedule of charges and fees.

(b)

User charges. A user charge shall be levied on all users including, but not limited to, persons, firms, corporations or governmental entities that discharge, cause or permit the discharge of sewage into the POTW.

(1)

The user charge shall reflect at least the cost of debt service, operation and maintenance (including replacement) of the POTW.

(2)

Each user shall pay its proportionate cost based on volume of flow.

(3)

The city manager shall review annually the sewage contributions of users, the total costs of debt service, operation and maintenance of the POTW and will make recommendations to the city council for adjustments in the schedule of charges and fees as necessary.

(4)

Charges for flow to the POTW not directly attributable to the users shall be distributed among all users of the POTW based upon the volume of flow of the users.

(5)

For the purpose of defraying a portion of the expense of maintaining and operating the public sewer system, there shall be a sewer service charge levied and collected monthly in respect to all property in which there is a sewer connection with the public sewer system. The rate for water and/or sewer service is set forth by a rate schedule adopted by city council. The occupants of the premises shall be liable for the payment thereof as in case of the water charge. Such charge shall be added to each water bill monthly and shall be payable at the time that the water bill is payable. The penalty for failure to pay such charge shall be the same as in case of failure to pay the water bill.

(6)

Water used for watering lawns, manufacture of ice, mixing concrete and other uses in which no portion is returned to the sanitary sewer system may be metered separately. A sanitary sewer service charge will not be billed on water used in these types of operations provided meters are installed by the city at the expense of the owner to measure only the water not required to be returned to the sanitary sewer or the director of public services may determine actual quantity of water used for bulk uses and cost of labor and materials for billing purposes.

(7)

Where a well is used by any person and water from such well is put into the sanitary sewer system of the city, then such person shall install, at his own expense, the necessary meter or meters, obtained from the city, to register the amount of water used from such well which goes into the sanitary sewer system and the sewer service charge thereon shall be the same as the herein above given. This installation will be required it if is determined by the director of public services to be in the best interest of the city.

(8)

In cases where the city determines not to require the installation of a meter, a flat rate shall be applied, as outlined in a rate schedule adopted by city council. These rates may apply where the water consumption of the residence or other approved user is generally no more than that of a one-family residence. The director of public services shall determine whether the customer will be on the minimum or higher flat rate or whether a meter is to be installed to determine the sewer service charge and he shall set the amount of the charge based on estimated consumption. Metering may be required where water is used for industrial purposes or where monthly or yearly discharge of waste water to the sanitary sewer system fluctuates over a wide range. A flat rate shall not be used where the water supply is from a state approved public water supply.

(c)

Surcharges. All industrial users of the POTW are subject to industrial waste surcharges on discharges which exceed the following levels:

BOD = 300 mg/l

TSS = 250 mg/l

The amount of surcharge will be based upon the mass emission rate (in pounds per day) discharged above the levels listed above. The amount charged per pound of excess will be set forth in the schedule of charges and fees.

(1)

In order that all sewer users bear their equitable share of costs for the collection and treatment of sewage, a monthly surcharge shall be imposed where the concentration of BOD or TSS exceeds the limits as hereinbefore prescribed. The amount of the monthly surcharge will be determined by calculating the excess BOD and TSS concentration above the permissible limits of 300 mg/l BOD, and 250 mg/l TSS, according to the following formulate:

a.

The number of hundreds of pounds of constituent (BOD or TSS) subject to the surcharge will be determined by:

P =	U × C × 0.006238
	100

 

where:

P = pounds of constituent (BOD or TSS) in hundreds

U = units of wastewater discharged (1 unit = 100 cu. ft.)

C = strength of constituent in wastewater in mg/l in excess of 300 for BOD, or 250 for TSS

0.006238 = weight of wastewater (million pounds per unit)

b.

The amount of the surcharge will be calculated by:

S = (R1 × P1 ) + (R2 × P2 )

where:

S = total surcharge

R1 = surcharge rate per CWT BOD

R2 = surcharge rate per CWT TSS

P1 = pounds of BOD in hundreds

P2 = pounds of TSS in hundreds

R1 and R2 are determined by a system of user charges and are set forth in a rate schedule adopted by city council.

(2)

The city council, in a meeting with the city manager and the director, will annually review the actual cost of operation and maintenance of the pollution control plants and adjust the surcharge rate to reflect the true cost of constituent treatment.

(3)

The volume of flow used in calculating the amount of surcharge will be based upon the metered water consumption as shown in the records of meter readings maintained by the city. Where satisfactory evidence can be produced that more than 10 percent of the total annual volume of water consumed does not return to the public sewer, such water may be metered separately, subject to the approval of the director, and excluded from the surcharge computation.

(d)

Pretreatment program administration charges. The schedule of charges and fees adopted by the city may include charges and fees for:

(1)

Reimbursement of costs of setting up and operating the pretreatment program;

(2)

Monitoring, inspections and surveillance procedures;

(3)

Reviewing slug control plans, including accidental and/or slug load discharge procedures and construction plans and specifications;

(4)

Permitting;

(5)

Other fees as the city may deem necessary to carry out the requirements of the pretreatment program.

(e)

Sampling and testing procedures.

(1)

Each person discharging liquid wastes into the public sewer shall be subject to periodic inspections to determine the character and concentration of such wastes. The frequency of sampling shall be as determined by the director. Sampling and inspections will be both scheduled and unscheduled.

(2)

Samples from monitoring facilities may be grab and/or composite according to flow. All other sampling will be conducted in a manner prescribed by the director.

(3)

Each person subject to sampling and analytical services will be charged the cost of such services. All costs incident to the supervision, inspection, sampling and analyses will be billed to the user in accordance with a fee schedule adopted by city council. The city council, in a meeting with the city manager and the director, will annually review the actual cost of supervision, inspection, sampling and analyses required for monitoring industrial discharges and adjust fees to reflect the true cost of the pretreatment program. Any analyses performed by contract laboratory services on behalf of the city will be billed directly to the user by the contract laboratory.

(4)

The city, upon request by the industry concerned, shall make available a split sample collected. If the industry feels the results are not representative of their wastes, the city will resample at a cost in accordance with the fee schedule referred to in subsection 8-2-55(b)(3). The values determined from any re-sampling shall be used for future billings (or until the results of the next sampling are made) but will not be retroactive for any prior billing.

(Ord. No. 6486/07-81, § 1, 9-20-07; Ord. No. 6965/12-81, 12-17-12)