§ 31-113. Connections—Plats required; certain materials to be supplied by city; quality of materials; materials owned by city; service easement in city for service connections; ninety-day mandatory connection when services are available.

(a)

No person shall make any connection with or any opening into any waterline of the city without a plumbing permit from the city. Before the city may issue a plumbing permit for any connection or connections, all the property to be served shall first be annexed, except as permitted under section 31-3(a) and (b) herein, duly platted and recorded at the county clerk's office by the record owner. In the event of divided ownership of a lot or lots, the lot or lots in question shall be annexed, duly platted and recorded before any connection is approved. If a record owner of a lot requests more than one (1) water tap, a written assurance shall be filed with the city secretary by the record owner certifying ownership to the entire lot or lots in question, and certifying further that there is no divided ownership nor will there be divided ownership of the lot or lots in question unless there is full compliance with all state and city platting requirements. Under no circumstances shall unplatted property be served or connected unless that property includes at least ten (10) acres in use for agricultural purposes. Any applicant requesting more than one (1) tap for the same lot shall certify in writing that he owns the entire lot and will not sell any part thereof without first complying with state and city platting requirements. Applications for permits shall be made in writing at the city's water utilities office, on forms prescribed and furnished by the city, by the property owner or his authorized agent; and such application shall give the exact location of the property, the name of the owner, the service charge classification of the premises to be served, the name of the person, firm or corporation employed to do the work of making such connection, and such other information as the city shall prescribe. No connection or connections shall be made upon any property by the city's water utilities department unless there has been full compliance with all plumbing code requirements and all fees have been fully paid pursuant to the schedule approved by the city. Each applicant for water service shall sign an application and agree to the following:

(1)

Affirm to the city full compliance with all of the requirements of the city; and

(2)

Indicate the lot, block and subdivision to be served; and

(3)

Provide such other information that may be required.

(b)

The city's water utilities department shall furnish each property owner ordered to make replacements of service pipe connections, on streets and avenues to be paved, free of cost, corporation and curb stops and curb box, and tap the main, and will make charges only to the property owners, at actual cost for the pipe and other connections, including labor employed to make such connections; and where replacements have to be made at a greater distance than the width of the street or avenue, the water utilities department shall furnish free of charge to the consumer the pipes used therefor for the whole distance in excess of twenty-five (25) feet; in other words, the consumer shall pay for no more than twenty-five (25) feet for any one (1) replacement connection.

(c)

All materials, including piping, valves, fittings, meters and meter boxes, used in making a service connection shall be and remain at all times the property of the city; and on application for any connection and on the making of such connection, the applicant shall be deemed to have granted an easement to the city for the purposes of connecting, disconnecting, repairing, controlling and for removing any such connection in the event of misuse or nonpayment of service charges and fees.

(d)

All owners or occupants of buildings, or agents for the owners, situated in any section of the city's corporate limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), the owners or occupants of which require water services for their ordinary and customary use, where water services for the city now exist, or where they may hereafter exist, and where the property line of the land on which any such building is situated approaches or extends to within two hundred (200) feet of any such waterline, such that water services may be reasonably provided therefrom, shall connect to the said waterline unless it is provided otherwise in writing by the city. Connections will be made under the supervision of the water utilities department of the city and the plumbing inspector, in exact accord with the plans and specifications contained in the code of the city providing rules and regulations governing plumbers. It shall be the duty of all such property owners to keep and maintain such connections thereof in perfect condition and free from any obstruction.

(e)

It shall be the duty of the water utilities department of the city to notify the owner or occupant of every building so situated to make mandatory connections with the city water services and any such owner or occupant of any building so situated, who shall fail to make a connection with the city water service within ninety (90) days after receipt of such notice, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to punishment as provided in section 1-6 of this Code and each day that shall expire after the expiration of such ninety (90) days' notice given by the water utilities department before such connections, as herein provided for, shall be arranged and connected with the city's water service, shall be deemed a separate offense, and shall be likewise punished.

(Ord. of 8-1-22, § 1; Ord. No. 83-112, § 2, 11-1-83; Ord. No. 85-211, § 3, 12-2-85; Ord. No. 86-187, § 1, 10-20-86; Ord. No. 2000-O-049, § 2, 2-28-00; Ord. No. 2018-O-069 , § 1, 5-21-18)