Burbank Municipal Code Art. 1 WATER1

As used in this article, unless the context otherwise clearly indicates, the following terms shall mean:

BATTERY: A metering installation consisting of two (2) or more meters installed at the same service location and operating in parallel as a substitute for a single larger meter.

CONSUMER OR CUSTOMER: The person in whose name service is rendered as evidenced by the signature on the application, contract, or agreement for such service, or, in the absence of a signed instrument, by the receipt and payment of bills regularly issued in the name of such person regardless of the identity of the actual user of the service.

DEPARTMENT: The Public Service Department of the City.

GENERAL MANAGER: The General Manager of the Public Service Department.

PREMISES: All real property, buildings and appurtenances occupied by an owner, lessee or tenant as a dwelling or a business, commercial or industrial enterprise upon an integral parcel of land undivided by a street.

SERVICE CONNECTION: The pipeline extending from the Department’s water main, whether located in a public thoroughfare or private right of way, to the curb line or property line of the consumer’s premises, together with the valves, meter and fittings necessary to connect to the consumer’s private pipeline. [Formerly numbered Section 30-1; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/27/87.]

All fees, penalties, refunds, reimbursements, and charges of any kind collected by the City pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be specified in the Utility Rate Resolution, as amended by the council from time to time. Whenever applicable throughout this article, reference shall be made to the Utility Rate Resolution in lieu of any reference to specific fee amounts. [Formerly numbered Section 30-2; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87; 2913.]

The General Manager may prescribe, from time to time as they deem necessary or desirable, rules and regulations, not in conflict with this article, relating to conditions of service and application, administration, and interpretation of rates in the Utility Rate Resolution and the provisions set forth in this article. Upon any failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the General Manager, or to pay rates, or to pay any fee, charge, or penalty prescribed by this article or as may be provided in the Utility Rate Resolution, water service may be turned off until the rules and regulations have been complied with and all appropriate fees, charges, or penalties have been paid. [Formerly numbered Section 30-3; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/27/87; 2913, 2460, 2274.]

The General Manager may establish and enforce charges for furnishing and supplying water service to any installation of a character not adequately provided for in this article, provided that such charges shall be consistent with rates and charges prescribed in the Utility Rate Resolution. [Formerly numbered Section 30-4; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87; 2913.]

For the purpose of computing charges, each meter upon the customer’s premises will be considered separately, and readings of two (2) or more meters will not be combined as equivalent to measurement through one meter except in those instances in which the Department, for its operating convenience, substitutes two (2) or more meters of a smaller size in battery for a single larger meter. [Formerly numbered Section 30-5; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

A. Time and Manner Of Paying Bills: Bills, except as may otherwise be provided for in the Utility Rate Resolution, are due and payable on presentation and become delinquent fifteen (15) days after presentation. After a bill is delinquent the General Manager may discontinue water service and turn off the water at any time without further notice.

B. Unpaid Bills: In the event any bill for water service is not paid in accordance with the provisions of this article, the Utility Rate Resolution, or the rules and regulations of the General Manager, the amount of such unpaid bill may become a lien upon the property and be collected at the same time and in the same manner as all taxes on real property in the City. [Formerly numbered Section 30-6; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/27/87; 2913.]

The rates to be charged and collected by the General Manager for water supplied in any one month for domestic, commercial, or industrial service, within the City, shall be as set forth in the Utility Rate Resolution. [Formerly numbered Section 30-9; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87; 2913, 2460, 2274.]

The rates to be charged and collected by the General Manager for temporary water service shall be as set forth in the Utility Rate Resolution. [Formerly numbered Section 30-10; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87; 2913, 2460, 2274.]

The rates to be charged and collected by the General Manager for supplying water and service for private fire services shall be as set forth in the Utility Rate Resolution. [Formerly numbered Section 30-11; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87; 2913, 2460, 2274.]

A. General Service: For each lot which requires a new service connection or revised service connection, the customer shall pay to the City all charges required pursuant to Sections 8-2-111 and 8-2-112 of this article and a charge for the cost of the service installation or revision equal to the cost of labor, material, equipment, and overhead for such installation or revision. The General Manager will furnish and install, and thereafter maintain, all equipment and materials for service and meter installations. Ownership and title to all such equipment and materials shall remain in the City.

B. Fire Service: For each lot which requires private fire line protection services, the customer shall pay to the City all charges for the cost of such services, including, at a minimum, a bypass meter, single check valve, and housing. A double detector check valve assembly may be required at the discretion of the General Manager, after consulting with the Health Officer. The single check valve and the double detector check valve assemblies shall be installed, whenever practical, on the property of the customer and above ground in an accessible location for meter reading. The bypass meter will be provided by the City and installed by the customer. All single check valve assemblies shall be maintained by the General Manager. The customer shall maintain all double detector check valve assemblies and administer all tests required by the Health Officer. [Formerly numbered Section 30-12; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87; 2913, 2460, 2274.]

No person shall connect any lot to the City water system unless the applicable charges designated in the Utility Rate Resolution have been paid.

A. Existing Mains:

(1) A water main charge shall be required for all lots sought to be connected to the City water system. The charge shall be either the minimum charge per lot, or the applicable rate per gross or net acre, as designated in the Utility Rate Resolution, whichever is greater.

(2) Water main charges payable by any department of the City shall be only one-half (1/2) of such specified charges. Any such charges to a department of the City may be cancelled, wholly or in part, by the General Manager with the approval of the City Manager, when such charges are related to any City improvement, including improvements required under contract with other governmental agencies, and the collection thereof is determined by them to be an inequitable charge to such improvement.

(3) Property which has wholly or proportionately paid the water main charges, when such fact has been or can be established to the satisfaction of the General Manager, need pay only the water main charges applicable to the portion of the property for which the charges have not been paid.

(4) Areas dedicated or condemned for public street and alley purposes shall be excluded in computing water main charges.

(5) Where, in the opinion of the General Manager, the property abutting the water main extension is of a character such that it is not probable that water service will ever be rendered thereto, such frontage may be excluded for purposes of computing water main charges.

B. Water Main Extension And Construction Of Improvements:

(1) Except as hereinafter provided, all lots shall be served with water from a water main approved by the General Manager. In the event there is no such main, or such main is, in the opinion of the General Manager, inadequate or substandard, an extension of a water main approved by the General Manager shall be required as a condition of receiving service. Such extension shall be made at the expense of the person applying for service.

(2) Water main extensions shall extend from the nearest water main or mains in place to and for the length of that portion of the street or right of way on which the property to be served fronts, or to which it is contiguous. In the event the General Manager finds the strict application of this section inequitable as to any particular property, they are authorized to modify this requirement so as to make it equitable in its application. Such extension shall be of such design, material, and capacity to meet the requirements for a distribution main in the territory to be immediately or ultimately served thereby, as determined by the General Manager in accordance with efficient operating requirements of the water system.

(3) Where the installation of a water main extension becomes necessary or desirable in substantially underdeveloped areas not subject to new subdivisions or resubdivisions or where said areas are not properly served by water mains installed in existing developed streets, the General Manager may determine that close adherence to the provisions of this section is not practicable and may then proceed to make equitable distribution of main extension charges among the various property owners to be served by such main as each property is developed. The General Manager is hereby authorized to adjust any inequity that may arise under the foregoing conditions by calculating the cost of installing mains, valves, hydrants, and fittings adequate to serve all the prospective customers that would benefit from such a complete main extension and to prorate this cost to the property owners of the lots so benefited on the basis of the front footage or total square footage of the lot or parcel of land to be served. Construction of the main extension would be performed as required and the charges therefore allocated to the property owners at the time applications for service connection are received.

C. Exception: The provisions of this section do not apply to any division of land processed pursuant to the provisions of Title 11, Chapter 1 of this code. [Formerly numbered Section 30-13; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87; 2913, 2274.]

A. Requirements: When water service is required for property at an elevation above sea level of eight hundred ninety feet (890') or higher, payment of a special facilities charge shall be required in addition to all other charges set forth in Section 8-2-111 of this article before application for water service to the said property can be accepted by the Department, except when the special facilities charge has been paid by a previous owner of and for the same parcel of land, or when water service can be obtained from an existing water main for which there is no special facilities charge outstanding.

B. Contents: Special facilities charge shall include the entire cost of the facilities required, including, but not limited to:

(1) Cost of land for reservoir, booster pumping plant, water main extension from existing water main to the reservoir site, and access roadway to the reservoir site, cost of the reservoir, booster pumping plant, water mains except those portions subject to the water main and fire hydrant charge, necessary equipment appurtenant thereto, and the cost of installation thereof; grading, paving, retaining walls, curbs, drainage work and structures; and other necessary works to make said water plant facilities a permanent operating water installation integrated with the water system of the City.

(2) Location, size, capacity, and other specifications for the aforesaid water plant facilities shall be prescribed by the General Manager.

(3) All of the aforesaid land acquisitions, water plant and installations, facilities and equipment, shall be owned solely by the City and integrated as part of the water system of the City.

C. Refunds: When said special facilities water main extension is to be utilized to serve properties additional to that of the original applicant for whom installed, the Department shall collect a special facilities charge from the owner of said additional property to be served, as a condition precedent to acceptance of the application and furnishing water service from said water main extension, and the amount so collected by the Department shall be refunded to such original applicant. Collection of the special facilities charge for the purpose of making a refund to the original applicant shall be on a pro rata basis, which shall be the ratio that the frontage or area paralleling the water main for that lot or parcel of land bears to the total frontage of area of all lots or parcels of land paralleling the same water main extension as aforesaid between elevation eight hundred ninety feet (890') and one hundred feet (100') below the bottom of the reservoir(s). To ascertain frontage, when said water main extension is entirely in, on, or over a lot or parcel of land owned by an applicant for such water service, so that no other land ownership fronts on such water main extension, the frontage shall be double the length of said water main extension.

Refunds shall be made only if, as, and when special facilities charges are collected from other consumers requiring service from this water main extension within fifteen (15) years of date of payment, and not otherwise. Any charges collected subsequent to said fifteen (15) year period shall become the property of the Department.

D. Exception: The provisions of this section do not apply to any division of land processed pursuant to the provisions of Title 11, Chapter 1 of this code. [Formerly numbered Section 30-14; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87; 2913, 2274.]

A. The customer shall, at their own risk and expense, furnish, install, and keep in good and safe condition all water pipes, machinery, and apparatus which may be required for receiving water from the City at the point of delivery and for applying and utilizing such water. The City shall not be responsible for any loss or damage occasioned or caused by negligence or want of care on the part of the customer in installing, maintaining, using, or operating such water pipes, apparatus, appliances, or fixtures.

B. No alteration, addition, or disconnection in or about any water pipes or apparatus of the City water system shall be made without written permission granted by the General Manager.

C. No customer shall make, or allow any other person to make, any connection to or extension of such customer’s piping for the purpose of supplying any other person with water service, except by the express written consent of the General Manager. The General Manager is hereby authorized to act for and on behalf of the City for the purpose of this section. In addition to prosecution for violation of this section, violators shall be subject to discontinuance of water service until such connection has been disconnected, and the fee designated in the Utility Rate Resolution for restoration of service has been paid.

D. No person other than a duly authorized employee of the City shall connect any customer’s water pipes and apparatus with the City’s mains. No person other than a duly authorized employee of the City shall open or turn on any City water valve regulating the flow of water from the City water mains to any customer’s premises after such valve shall have been turned off by the General Manager for nonpayment of charges for water or at the request of the present customer or a previous customer, or for any other reason.

E. No owner, lessee, tenant or other person in possession of or having charge and control of any premises connected to the City water system shall use or permit to be used any water from such system through the customer’s water pipes connected with such system, unless prior to such use, water service to such premises shall have been granted by the General Manager pursuant to application made by such person or the person under whom they hold such possession or charge and control, and such water service has not been discontinued in any manner set forth in subsection D of this section.

F. A special charge in an amount designated in the Utility Rate Resolution shall be assessed against any person or persons violating any provision of this section. This special charge shall cover the expense to the City of checking such water main or connection and turning it off again after it has been turned on in violation of subsection D or E of this section. This charge shall be in addition to any other remedy, civil or penal, which may be available to the City to enforce the provisions hereof, and all such remedies shall be cumulative at the election of the City.

G. Any repair to or replacement of City property necessitated by a violation of this section, and the installation of any device necessary to prevent further violations of this section, shall be made at the expense of the customer, at the rate designated in the Utility Rate Resolution. [Added by Ord. No. 2913; formerly numbered Section 30-15; renumbered by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]

A. Policy Statements: The utility must remain self-supporting from a financial standpoint and requires rates sufficient to maintain its financial health. Because costs can change suddenly and materially, a regular review and report on rates is necessary. A regular review will provide the City with the information needed to maintain adequate rates.

The approach to rate review shall be to compare biennially revenue required to the revenue produced by current rates. Results of this comparison will be provided by the General Manager to the Public Service Board and the Council along with recommendations as to the need for rate changes, if any. The Council will then direct the City Manager to prepare revised rates if it deems them to be necessary.

B. Revenue Requirements: The General Manager will prepare an analysis to determine the Water Division’s revenue requirements utilizing a generally accepted regulatory approach. The revenue requirements will be based on the prior year’s audited financial data as to expenses plus return on rate base. The revenue requirements will include changes to the various expense categories known or expected to occur after the prior fiscal year. The total revenue requirement will be used to compute any change needed for the utility as a whole.

C. Report: The report will discuss the significance of differences between revenue requirements and the revenue generated by current rates. The report will be presented in terms of the adequacy of current rates. The report will be prepared at least biennially, commencing March 1, 1985, or more often if directed to do so by Council. The due date of the prepared report may be extended by resolution of the Council, but such report must be prepared, in any event, no later than sixty (60) days after its original due date. [Added by Ord. No. 2913. Amended by Ord. No. 3058, eff. 2/21/87.]