Ridgecrest Municipal Code § 16-47 Application; contents

An applicant for sanitation service or for a change in the amount or type of such service shall make request therefor on forms provided by the city and pay all required fees prior to obtaining a permit.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.1; Ord. No. 86-05, § 2)

Applicants for sanitation service shall provide the following information to the city on forms provided by the city:

(1) Location of property from which sewage will flow.

(2) Owner of property.

(3) Strength of sewage to be discharged.

(4) Duration of discharge.

(5) Quantity of discharge.

(6) Type of user (residential, commercial or industrial).

(7) Nature of business if commercial or industrial.

(8) Plumbing plans of the proposed facility, commercial or industrial.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.2; Ord. No. 86-05, § 2)

(a) The city engineer shall review all applications for sanitation service and determine which class of discharge applies to the applicant.

(b) Any nonresidential discharger or applicant who contends that the city engineer's determination of class does not accurately reflect the quantity or quality of water reaching the sewer may request the city engineer to review his determination by presenting evidence to support such contention. The city engineer may change the classification assigned to the discharger if the discharger can show that the sewage differs significantly and substantially from the sewage for the class.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.3; Ord. No. 86-05, § 2)

Whenever property served by a single water meter includes several discharge classes, the discharge classification shall be the class which the city determines best represents the quality and quantity of sewage discharge from the entire property served by the meter.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.4; Ord. No. 85-05, § 2)

Applicants for sanitation service shall pay the fees set forth in this division as a condition for obtaining sanitation service.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.5; Ord. No. 86-05, § 2)

Where sewage units are added to an existing lateral sewer which is already connected to the trunk sewer, directly or through a collector sewer, or otherwise, the customer shall pay a sewer connection fee, capacity fee and an off-site facilities charge, as set forth below, for the added units.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.6; Ord. No. 86-05, § 2; Ord. No. 93-11, § 3)

An applicant for service to property which does not fully front upon an existing trunk or collector sewer shall provide for the construction of the necessary collector or trunk, and pay a sewer connection fee, capacity fee and off-site facilities charge but shall not pay a sewer extension fee.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.7; Ord. No. 86-05, § 2; Ord. No. 93-11, § 4)

An applicant for service to an existing collector or trunk sewer shall pay the applicant's pro rata share of the cost of the trunk or collector sewer as a condition of service if a main extension refund agreement exists with respect to such trunk or collector sewer.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.8; Ord. No. 86-31, § 1)

Each applicant shall pay a sewer connection fee to offset the cost of construction and reconstruction of collector sewers, based upon the anticipated sewage flow to be contributed by the property in the amount established by resolution.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.9; Ord. No. 86-05, § 2; Ord. No. 93-11, § 5)

The applicant shall pay an off-site facilities charge for each connection made in all areas which were outside of the Ridgecrest Sanitation District boundaries on October 3, 1970, as such boundaries are shown on that certain map entitled "Ridgecrest Sanitation District" on file in the office of the city clerk. Such charges shall be paid concurrently with the sewage connection fee. Such charges shall be as established by resolution.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.10; Ord. No. 86-05, § 2)

Upon discovery of an unauthorized sewer connection by the city, the property owner shall pay a sewer extension fee, sewage connection fee, capacity fee and off-site facilities charge at the rates existing as of the date of the connection. Unless the property owner presents clear and convincing evidence as to the date of the unauthorized connection, it shall be presumed that the connection was made as of the date of discovery.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.11; Ord. No. 86-05, § 2; Ord. No. 93-11, § 6)

An applicant shall pay the following miscellaneous fees in addition to the foregoing. The amount of such fees shall be established from time-to-time by resolution.

(1) Permit fees for sewer service lateral installations.

(2) Plan check, inspection, and permit fees for construction of a trunk or collector sewer mains and appurtenances.

(3) Permit fees for abandonment of septic tanks.

(4) Septic tank waste dumping fees.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.12; Ord. No. 86-05, § 2)

Each applicant for sanitation service shall pay a capacity fee in the amount established by resolution to offset the cost of construction and reconstruction of sewage treatment and disposal facilities, based upon the anticipated sewage flow to be contributed by the property to the treatment plant.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.13; Ord. No. 93-11, § 7; Ord. No. 01-06, § 2; Ord. No. 01-12, § 2; Ord. No. 02-03, § 2; Ord. No. 02-05, § 2; Ord. No. 02-06, § 2)

(a) Sewer connection and capacity fees may be changed at any time in accordance with this Code and state law. An applicant shall pay the connection fees existent at time of issuance of building permit and capacity fees existent when service commences regardless of when the fees are deposited. As used herein, the term "service commences" for a new or additional ERU when the applicant's primary structure can be connected to the trunk or collector sewer and payment of sewage service charges commences.

(b) Sewage connection fees, capacity fees and off-site facilities charges shall be deposited in three separate accounts, entitled "sewage connection fee account," "capacity fee account" and "off-site facilities charge account" to avoid commingling with each other or with other revenues or funds of the city, except for temporary investments. Sewer connection fees shall be expended solely for the purpose of planning, designing and constructing the collector sewers described in the sanitation system improvement plan for the city. Capacity fees shall be expended solely for the purpose of planning, designing and constructing sewage treatment and disposal facilities described in the city's sanitation system improvement plan. Off-site facilities charges shall be expended solely for the purpose of recovering the cost of sanitation facilities existing as of October 3, 1970. Money shall be transferred from the sewer connection account, capacity fees account and off-site facilities charges account to the appropriate account when funds are appropriated to perform the work, when the work is performed, when a certificate of occupancy is issued or on the date of final inspection, whichever occurs first.

(c) An applicant who is not required to make a cash payment of the foregoing fees shall enter into a deposit agreement. The city engineer shall present a form of the deposit agreement to the council for approval. The deposit agreement shall be recorded and the debt evidenced by the deposit agreement shall constitute a lien against the property for which service is sought.

(d) On or before September 1 of each year, the city shall make available to the public the beginning and ending balance for the prior fiscal year, of the fee, interest and other income, the amount of expenditure and the amount of refunds. The council shall review this information at the next regularly scheduled public meeting not less than 15 days after the information is made available.

(e) The council shall make findings at least once each fiscal year with respect to any portion of the fee remaining unexpended or uncommitted in the separate accounts five or more years after deposit of the fee to identify the purpose to which the fee is to be put and to demonstrate a reasonable relationship between the fee and the purpose for which it was charged. The findings required by this subsection shall only be made for monies in the possession of the city and need not be made with respect to deposit agreements taken to secure payment of the fee at a future date.

(f) The city shall refund to the then current record owners of lots or units of the development project on a pro rata basis the unexpended or uncommitted portion of the fee and any interest accrued thereon, for which a need cannot be demonstrated pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, provided, if the administrative costs of refunding exceed the amount to be refunded, the city may determine that the revenues shall be allocated for some other purpose which serves the projects on which the fee was originally imposed. If the fees are not refunded to the record owner, the council shall conduct a duly noticed public hearing before expending the fees for another purpose which serves the projects.

(g) The fees described herein shall be deposited prior to the date of final inspection or the date the certificate of occupancy is issued, whichever occurs first. The fees shall be deposited prior to issuance of a permit by the city, if an account has been established, funds appropriated and a construction plan has been adopted for the facility or if the fees are to reimburse the city for expenditures previously made. As used herein, the term "appropriated" means authorization by the council to make expenditures and incur obligations for specific purposes. If the council makes either of these findings, the fees shall be deposited on demand. If the council does not make either of these findings, the fees shall be deposited on a lump basis for each dwelling in a residential development which contains more than one dwelling when the first dwelling in the development receives its final inspection or certificate of occupancy, whichever occurs first. If the fee is not fully deposited prior to issuance of a building permit for construction of any portion of the residential development encumbered thereby, the applicant shall execute a deposit agreement before the issuance of the building permit to deposit the fee as set forth herein. The contract shall be recorded and constitute a lien for payment of the fee and shall require payment from the sale proceeds in escrow prior to disbursing proceeds to the seller.

(h) If the applicant abandons the construction of the improvements, or the recording of a subdivision, for which fees and charges were paid, the fees and charges shall be refunded, with interest, to the applicant upon the applicant's written request, provided, if the facilities necessary to serve the applicant's property have been installed or direct expenses incurred by the city toward such service installation, the refund permitted under this section shall be reduced by the amount of such expenditure.

(Code 1980, § 12-6.14; Ord. No. 93-11, § 8)