Chapter 13.92 — OAKHURST SEWER

This chapter shall regulate the use of those sewers installed by the county located within the boundaries of Zone "A" of Madera County Maintenance District No. 22, hereinafter referred to as "Oakhurst sewer." This

chapter shall also apply to the installation and connection of private sewer lines to the Oakhurst sewer and the discharge of waters and wastes into said Oakhurst sewer by such private lines. This chapter shall also apply to the allocation, acquisition, and transfer of sewer units for use of the Oakhurst sewer. The provisions of this chapter shall apply to the extension of the Oakhurst sewer for connection thereto by new private sewer lines.

(Ord. 495D §2, 2004: Ord. 495 §1(part), 1986).

The work to be done and performed pursuant to this chapter shall be in compliance with federal and state law and county rules and regulations.

(Ord. 495 §1(part), 1986).

The installation of sewer lines upon private property which are connected to the Oakhurst sewer shall be installed at the owner's expense and according to plans and specifications approved by the county engineer, and such installation shall be done only after all necessary permits and authorizations issued pursuant to the rules and regulations of the federal, state and local governments have first been obtained.

(Ord. 495D §3, 2004: Ord. 495 §1(part), 1986).

No permit to connect to the Oakhurst sewer shall be issued which permits the discharge into the Oakhurst sewer of any wastes other than normal domestic or commercial sanitary wastes. The county engineer shall determine what wastes shall constitute normal domestic or commercial sanitary wastes.

(Ord. 495 §1(part), 1986).

No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged into the Oakhurst sewer any of the following described waters or wastes:

A.

Any waste for which a connection permit has not been granted by the county engineer;

B.

Flammable, toxic, or explosive substances;

C.

Toxic or poisonous substances;

D.

Strong acids or alkaline solutions;

E.

Solid or viscous substances;

F.

Substances having a temperature greater than one hundred eighty degrees Fahrenheit;

G.

Fats, wastes, greases, or oils, other than household wastes;

H.

Heavy metals;

I.

Phenols or odor/taste-producing substances;

J.

Radioactive wastes;

K.

Any wastes not susceptible to the type of treatment provided;

L.

Any industrial wastes.

(Ord. 495 §1(part), 1986).

Pumpings from septic tanks, cesspools, leach pits, holding tanks, and chemical toilets except those discharged from recreational vehicles, shall be discharged only at designated points operated and maintained by the district, and shall be discharged in conformance with such regulations and charges as may be established by the district.

(Ord. 495 §1(part), 1986).

A.

No commercial septic hauler shall deposit or deliver sewage or wastewater to the Oakhurst sewer treatment plant without paying a tipping fee to the county.

B.

The tipping fee for hauling and delivery of any sewage or wastewater to the Oakhurst sewer treatment facility for treatment and disposal shall be:

For sewage or wastewater produced within Madera County, nine cents per gallon;

For sewage or wastewater produced outside of Madera County, fifteen cents per gallon.

C.

For purposes of this chapter, "commercial septic hauler" shall mean any person, as defined in Section 13.54.030 of this code, who collects and transports sewage and/or wastewater from any other person in return for money or other compensation.

(Ord. 495E §2, 2006).

No person shall uncover, make any connection with or opening into, use, alter, or otherwise disturb any portion of the Oakhurst sewer lines, its facilities or appurtenances without first obtaining a permit from the county engineer. In the case of an emergency requiring the uncovering of such sewer lines, the party responsible must obtain a permit and have the affected lines inspected by the county within forty-eight hours of such uncovering of sewer lines and before such lines are recovered.

(Ord. 495 § 1(part), 1986).

No sewer connection, sewer lines upon the private property, or facilities in connection therewith, shall be used until written approval is obtained from the building inspector under the supervision of the county engineer.

(Ord. 495 § 1(part), 1986).

Any extension to or expansion of the Oakhurst sewer shall be made in accordance with plans and specifications approved by the county engineer and adopted by the district. The construction, installation and maintenance of such extensions or expansions shall be made in conformance with applicable federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations.

(Ord. 495 § 1(part), 1986).

The board of supervisors, as directors of the maintenance district, shall determine the cost of the extension or expansion to be paid by the person or persons desiring or to be benefited by such extension or expansion. The board may further determine the manner in which said extension or expansion shall be paid by such person or persons. It may consider, but shall not be limited to, requiring payment in cash, the construction of the sewer by a developer or by the owner of the land desiring to be benefited by the extension, or by the institution of proceedings for the levying of an assessment upon the properties to be benefited by such extensions or expansion pursuant to an improvement act.

(Ord. 495 § 1(part), 1986).

A sewer charge shall be established by the board of directors for each sewer unit, as defined elsewhere in this chapter.

(Ord. No. 667, § 3, 10-8-13; Ord. 495D § 4, 2004: Ord. 495C § 1, 2002: Ord. 495 § 1(part), 1986).

Billing shall be in accordance with and pursuant to a method and schedule adopted by the board of supervisors by ordinance or resolution and placed on file with the clerk of the board, county auditor and county engineer.

(Ord. No. 667, § 3, 10-8-13; Ord. 495 § 1(part), 1986).

Each parcel of property, residence, building or facility delivering sewage into the Oakhurst sewer shall not be connected to such sewer facilities until a connection permit has been issued by the engineering department of the county. Such permit shall be issued only upon the following conditions:

A.

That a connection permit application has been obtained from the county engineer and submitted to the engineering department for the county;

B.

That all required fees and connection charges as established by the board of supervisors by ordinance or resolution have been paid to the county;

C.

That all rights-of-way have been obtained for the proposed facilities;

D.

That all federal, state and county laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to such connections have been complied with;

E.

That all agreements between Maintenance District No. 22 and the persons requesting the connection have been complied with as determined by the board of supervisors;

F.

That the connection permit application has been signed by the last owner of record of the property.

(Ord. 495 § 1(part), 1986).

Upon acceptance of the system by the board of supervisors, it shall be unlawful for any person to connect to, construct, or install, provide, maintain, or use any other means of sewage disposal from any building in the area served by the Oakhurst sewer system except by connection to the sewer system in the manner prescribed.

Any person violating any provision of this chapter, or any rule or regulation established by the county or Maintenance District No. 22 pertaining to the operation of the Oakhurst sewer system, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. In addition thereto, each person in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be liable in damages to the district in a sum determined by a court of competent jurisdiction and, if the violation continues, it shall be deemed a new violation for each day that such violation continues. The county and Maintenance District No. 22 shall have the authority to commence an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to enforce any of the provisions of this chapter by writ of mandate or otherwise.

(Ord. 495 § 1(part), 1986).

The county engineer may require the filing of maps, plats or specifications for a sewer system upon any premises that is to be connected, or is connected to the Oakhurst sewer. With the consent of the owner of the premises or the person in possession thereof, the county engineer or his designated representative may enter upon any private premises for the purpose of inspection, reinspection, observation, measurements, sampling, testing, or otherwise performing such duties as may be necessary in the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations established for its implementation. In the event the owner of the premises or the person in possession of the premises fails or refuses to file the maps, plats, specifications of the sewer system on the private property, or fails to permit inspection thereof, the district may refuse to connect the service or may discontinue the service until the maps, plats or specifications are filed and so inspected.

(Ord. 495 § 1(part), 1986).

A.

"Sewer units" are defined as the units provided for each parcel as its rightful share in and to the capacity of the sewage plant facilities. One sewer unit shall equal to a maximum monthly average of two hundred fifty

gallons per day.

B.

"Transfer," as used in this chapter, shall include, but not be limited to, delivery by purchase (by money or other consideration), gift, loan, bequest, inheritance, or any other means whereby one or more sewer units or a fraction of a sewer unit is removed from possession or control by the owner of one parcel for use on that particular parcel, and comes into the possession or control by the owner of another parcel for use on the recipient parcel.

C.

"Assessment engineer" shall refer to the engineer who prepares the engineer's report required by Article XIIID, Section 4(b) of the California Constitution as a prerequisite of conducting any election to increase assessments.

D.

The engineering department shall keep all records and files pertaining to the number of sewer units assigned to each parcel, and shall maintain a record of each transfer of sewer units between parcels.

E.

Sewer units shall not be transferred or allocated except as provided in this chapter. No sewer unit or fraction of a sewer unit shall be transferred without written application to the county engineer and subsequent approval by resolution of the board of directors.

F.

No sewer unit shall be owned except as an incident of, and as assigned to, an existing parcel identified by assessor's parcel number within the Oakhurst sewer area. Sewer units shall not be owned as personal property or in conjunction with real property, except when assigned to a designated parcel.

G.

Designation of Sewer Units. All sewer units "shall be classified as "allocated," "unallocated assessed," or "unallocated unassessed."

Allocated sewer units are defined as those sewer units allocated to a particular parcel of land prior to December 9, 2003, according to the records of the county engineer.

Unallocated assessed sewer units are defined as those sewer units determined by the assessment engineer, in conjunction with the election of December 9, 2003, to have been in use as regards a particular parcel, and for which no allocation had previously been made according to the records of the county engineer. Such units are subject to assessment for sewer operation, maintenance, and improvement financing, and shall, ultimately, also be reclassified as allocated units.

Unallocated unassessed sewer units are defined as those sewer units owned by the district and not allocated to a particular parcel. Unallocated unassessed sewer units are not subject to assessment for sewer operation, maintenance, and improvement financing, until such time as they are allocated.

H.

Acquisition of Sewer Units.

Unallocated unassessed sewer units may be purchased from the maintenance district, subject to availability.

a.

The purchase price of unallocated unassessed sewer units shall be eight thousand dollars per unit, which shall be subject to an automatic annual increase based on the consumer price index, as published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for All Urban Consumers. If a fraction of a unit is purchased, the purchaser shall pay the sum of the whole sewer unit multiplied by the fraction.

b.

The purchaser of an unallocated unassessed sewer unit(s) shall designate in writing to the county engineer: (1) a proposed project for which the sewer unit(s) shall be used; and (2) the purchaser's ownership of an existing parcel upon which the proposed project is to be located or evidence the purchaser has the project location under contract to be purchased. The existing parcel may be owned by the purchaser or by the landowner for whom the purchaser acts as an agent.

c.

The purchaser of an unallocated unassessed sewer unit(s) shall place with the county engineer a nonrefundable deposit of ten percent of the purchase price of the unallocated unassessed sewer unit(s) within ninety days of filing the application for sewer units. The deposited sum shall be fully refundable for a period of two hundred seventy days from the date of the deposit. A two hundred seventy day extension shall be granted one time for the payment of one hundred dollars per unit. Said payment shall be non- refundable and apply to the purchase price should purchaser actually purchase the units. At the end of the two hundred seventy-day period, or five hundred forty-day period if one time extension is utilized, the purchaser shall either deposit the balance of the purchase price, or cancel the order and obtain a refund of the initial deposit, and forfeit the one hundred dollars per unit extension fee, if utilized, and said one hundred dollars per unit fee shall revert to the maintenance district.

d.

Full payment for units shall be paid prior to issuance of a building permit. When the sewer unit is paid in full, the purchaser shall have the right of possession of the sewer unit, but shall not take title to the sewer unit until a final certificate of occupancy is obtained from the county of Madera.

e.

Persons purchasing sewer units in connection with the preparation and filing of any parcel or subdivision map shall be exempt from the requirements of proposing a specific project and obtaining a building permit within a specific time period, and shall pay as provided in subsection J of this section. However, subdividers shall be subject to all requirements of purchase price and payment of indebtedness as provided in this section.

f.

The maintenance district shall reserve thirty-two percent of the unallocated unassessed sewer units for low-income housing, as provided by the regional housing needs allocation for the county of Madera.

Allocated sewer units may be transferred between persons as provided in this section.

a.

Upon approval by the board of directors of an application to the county engineer to transfer allocated sewer unit(s), whether whole or fractional, the transferor shall pay to the county, in cash or cash equivalent, the sum necessary to pay in full the bonded indebtedness of the transferred whole or fractional allocated sewer unit(s) for the proportional share of the Oakhurst sewer expansion assessment. The parcel that is the source of the sewer unit(s) shall be released from that portion of the bonded indebtedness, but shall remain burdened with the bonded indebtedness for those unit(s) remaining with it.

b.

Upon approval by the board of directors of an application to the county engineer to transfer the bonded indebtedness associated with transferred sewer unit(s), to another parcel within the bond assessment boundaries, the transferor shall pay to the county, in cash or cash equivalent, the sum necessary to pay for all the cost associated with the amending bond assessment documents to transfer the bond indebtedness to the parcel receiving the bond indebtedness.

c.

As a condition of approval of the transfer of allocated sewer units, the transferor must first obtain the county engineer's written certification that the parcel from which the unit is being transferred will, after transfer, continue to have sufficient sewer units to adequately serve the parcel's needs, but in no case shall the transferor retain less than one entire allocated sewer unit on the parcel that is the source of the sewer unit(s).

All purchasers of sewer units of any type shall pay the quarterly sewer charge for operation and maintenance expenses as provided in Section 13.92.110 of this chapter.

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, allocated and unallocated assessed sewer units shall not be metered or otherwise monitored by the maintenance district or county engineer to determine actual usage and subsequent reassessment or allocation.

I.

To determine the number of sewer units to be purchased for a proposed project, use the Table 1 sewer unit allocation schedule to calculate projected waste flow generation. Divide the proposed daily waste flow (in gallons) by two hundred fifty gallons to determine the total number of sewer units needed, then subtract from that total number, the number of allocated sewer units currently held with the parcel to find the number of sewer units to be purchased, or:

(Daily waste flow of project/250) — Current = Number of sewer units to be purchased. allocated units

A text change to Table 1 modifying the allocation schedule may be granted if the applicant can provide reliable data, acceptable to the board of directors of the district, which the usage of any specific type of use varies significantly from the usage specified in Table 1.

Reliable data shall include but not limited to a combination of industry average from reliable sources, and historical water usage data for similar local uses.

The fee for this type of ordinance change shall be modified to cover actual staff time spent on the change, not to exceed the posted ordinance change fee in place at the time of application.

J.

Upon the determination of replacement costs and future expansion costs by the board of directors sewer trunkline charges shall be paid prior to the issuance of a building permit. Applicants for parcel and subdivision maps are required to pay all of the sewer unit charges and sewer trunkline charges prior to recording.

K.

Capacity charges for sewer service are set forth in Table 1, as set out in this chapter. The following charges in subsections (L)1 and (L)2 will apply upon completion of a master plan or charges will be determined through an associated rate study for the determination of replacement costs and/or future expansion costs requiring approval by the board of directors. The study shall supersede subsections L(1) and L(2).

L.

Capacity charges for trunk liens and lift stations.

Capacity charges for trunk lines are calculated on an individual basis and are based on the percentage of the capacity of trunk line used, multiplied by the cost of the trunk line in place, multiplied by the distance in feet from the point of hookup to the sewer plant.

Capacity charges for lift stations are based on the percentage of the capacity of the lift station used multiplied by the cost of the lift station.

If trunkline capacity is increased on orders of the district, and that increase is not associated with a specific project, a zone of benefit shall be created, subject to Proposition 218 restrictions, and the increased costs for installing the larger trunkline shall be paid back by sewer unit owners within the zone of benefit with adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index, as published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for all Urban Consumers.

TABLE 1 COUNTY OF MADERA SPECIAL DISTRICT SEWER SYSTEMS OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE CHARGE

(Ord. No. 495G, § 1, 2-28-12; Ord. No. 495F, § 1, 3-16-10; Ord. 495D § 5, 2004: Ord. 495C § 2(Exh. A), 2002; Ord. 495B § 1(Exh. A), 1997; Ord. 495A § 2(Exh. A), 1990; Ord. 495 § 1(part), 1986).

This chapter shall supersede all conflicting provisions of this code, including the zoning ordinance (Title 18) and the subdivision and parcel map ordinances (Title 17).

(Ord. 495D § 6, 2004).