San Bernardino Municipal Code Art. II City Heating Service

(A) Officials. The Board shall act as the governing body of the heating service, and the General Manager shall act as the chief administrative officer of the service.

(B) Assignment of organizational responsibilities. The General Manager may delegate or assign responsibilities for heating service functions and activities to such divisions and personnel as the General Manager may deem appropriate or necessary.

(C) Principal functions and activities. The principal functions and activities of the heating service shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) The exploration for and confirmation of geothermal resources and/or ground waters;

(2) The monitoring of geothermal and/or ground water reservoirs and the management of reservoir activities, so as to promote stable reservoir conditions and enhance reservoir productivity;

(3) The supplying, furnishing and selling of geothermal heat to city inhabitants;

(4) The supplying, furnishing and selling of any surplus geothermal heat over and above the heating needs of the city to persons outside the city, and for purposes deemed appropriate by the Board;

(5) The establishment and maintenance of a Geothermal Data Center, where local geothermal information and all geothermal records authorized or required by this chapter shall be kept and made available for public inspection and reproduction; a registry of local wells and geothermal facilities shall be established and maintained at the Geothermal Data Center;

(6) The sponsoring of and participation in the scientific study and demonstration of geothermal resources and technologies;

(7) Geothermal disposal drainage work as authorized by city; and

(8) All other acts and things which may be requisite, necessary or convenient in carrying out the purpose of this chapter and state law.

(Ord. MC-298, passed 8-17-1983)

(A) Establishment. The heating service boundary shall encompass all land within the corporate limits of the city, as now or hereafter constituted, excluding all railroad rights-of-way pursuant to state law, unless the owner of the railroad property expressly consents to its inclusion.

(B) Extension of service outside city boundary. Service shall normally be available only to users located within the city boundary. However, the Board may, by contract, extend service outside the boundary in cases where such extension is deemed in the best interests of the city, but only after determining that such service capability is based upon a surplus of geothermal heat existing over and above any and all demands of the users within the city boundary. Contracts for service outside the city boundary shall condition continued service upon the continuance of the surplus over city needs.

(Ord. MC-298, passed 8-17-1983)

(A) Operational financing. Heating service operations and maintenance, within or without the city boundary, may be financed by one or more, or any combination, of the following methods:

(1) Such rates, fees and charges as may be required by this chapter;

(2) Annual ad valorem taxation in an amount which shall not exceed the true cash value of all taxable property within the city;

(3) General obligation bonds, upon authorization of the city’s voters, in an amount which shall not exceed in the aggregate 10% of the true cash value of all taxable property within the city; such general obligation bonds may be additionally secured, by resolution of the Board, by pledging all or any part of the net revenue of the city’s heating service;

(4) Refunding bonds, of the same character and tenor as those general obligation bonds replaced thereby, by resolution of the Board;

(5) Revenue bonds pledging the gross revenues of the city’s heating service, if approved by the Council;

(6) Federal and state grants-in-aid, and private endowments; and

(7) All other legal means.

(B) Improvement financing. Heating service improvements, within or without the city boundary, and including, but not limited to, the purchase, lease or acquisition of real estate or equipment, and the planning, design, construction, reconstruction, extension, enlargement, purchase, lease or acquisition of geothermal facilities, may be financed by one or more, or any combination, of the following methods:

(1) Such rates, fees and charges as may be required by this chapter;

(2) Annual ad valorem taxation, as specified in division (A)(2) above;

(3) General obligation bonds, as specified in division (A)(3) above;

(4) Revenue bonds secured by all or any part of the heating service’s gross revenues subject to approval of the Council; such revenue bonds shall not be subject to the percentage limitations applicable to general obligation bonds, but shall be payable solely from such part of the revenues of the heating service;

(5) Refunding bonds, of the same character and tenor as those revenue bonds replaced thereby, by resolution of the Council;

(6) Special assessments, pursuant to laws of the state, and city procedures for local improvement districts;

(7) Federal and state grants-in-aid, and private endowments; and

(8) All other legal means.

(C) Special bond retirement financing. The city may, by Council resolution, annually tax all taxable property within the city, in an amount sufficient to pay the annual interest on general obligation bonds theretofore issued by the city and then outstanding, together with any portion of the principal of such bonds maturing within the year.

(D) Refund of certain heating pipeline extension costs. If any person is required by the Board, to advance to the Board, the cost of extending a geothermal heating pipeline adjacent to property other than his or her own so that geothermal heating service is provided for such other property without further extension of the geothermal heating pipeline, the Board shall require the owner of the other property, prior to providing geothermal heating service to that property, to pay to the Department a pro rata portion of the cost of the extension, from which the Board may refund all or a portion of such funds so advanced. The right to require shall not continue for more than ten years after the date of installation of the extension of the geothermal heating pipeline. The amount to be refunded shall be determined by Board resolution.

(Ord. MC-298, passed 8-17-1983)

(A) Authorized facilities. In performance of the functions and activities specified in § 13.20.280(C), the Board may plan, design, construct, acquire, lease, operate, maintain and improve a system of geothermal facilities, which may include, but need not be limited to, wells; heat exchangers; pumps for fluid extraction, circulation and injection; pipelines for conveying fluids; disposal facilities; tanks for storing fluids; fluid or heat metering devices; and various testing instruments and system control devices.

(B) Other heat sources. The Board may authorize, by contract, the Department’s purchase and distribution of heat generated by sources other than the city’s wells, in order to supplement the city’s geothermal heat.

(Ord. MC-298, passed 8-17-1983)

(A) Authority to initiate improvement projects. Improvement projects for the heating service shall be initiated by the Board, upon its own motion or upon the written petition of the owners of one-half of the property that benefits specifically by the proposed improvement. A study will be initiated by the Board to assess economic feasibility.

(B) Compliance with state siting requirements. All contemplated improvements shall comply with applicable statutes and regulations of the state.

(C) Procedures for special assessments. Whenever any heating service improvement is to be paid for in whole or in part by special assessments according to benefits, the Board shall administer such assessment procedure in accordance with state law and this code, and such other Board procedures applicable to local improvement districts. Such assessments as are approved by the Board shall be subject to confirmation by the Council.

(D) Means of improvements. The construction work for improvements will be done in whole, or in part, by the Board, by a contract or by any other governmental agency, or by any combination thereof, as authorized by the Board.

(E) Acquisition of private wells and geothermal facilities. As provided for in § 13.20.300(B), the Board may purchase, lease or receive as a gift, any privately owned wells and/or geothermal facilities within or without the city boundary, for purposes of improving the heating services principal functions and activities.

(Ord. MC-298, passed 8-17-1983)

(A) Application procedure. Any person desiring to connect a user pipeline to the city’s heating distribution pipeline, or to connect a secondary use to a user’s discharge pipeline, may apply for such service connection with the Department on forms provided for that purpose. The Department shall approve or deny said application, in writing, within 14 days of its filing.

(B) Service connection fees. Upon approval of a service connection application, the applicant shall remit a connection fee to the Department in an amount to be established by resolution of the Board.

(C) Voiding. Failure to remit the fee in full, or otherwise comply with fee requirements, within 14 days of the date of application approval, shall render said approval void. The applicant shall be given written notice of such voiding by certified mail.

(D) Service connection standards and inspections. All user service pipeline connections to the heating service system, including secondary use connections, shall be completed under procedures promulgated by the Department. All completed and approved user service pipeline connections shall remain inoperable, by Department deactivation of the city heat meter, until such time as a service account is activated by the Department. All completed and approved service connections shall be used only for the purpose expressly cited in the connection permit; service users shall not, in any manner, otherwise connect or divert the heat or fluid provided by the service connection. The city shall not be liable for the materials, workmanship, operation or maintenance, relating to the user service pipeline or to private heating or cooling equipment installed beyond the city’s service connection.

(Ord. MC-298, passed 8-17-1983)

The Board shall establish application procedures, required service deposits, billing procedures, service charges and procedures for delinquent accounts.

(Ord. MC-298, passed 8-17-1983)

All heating services provided by the city shall be subject to the following terms and conditions.

(A) Service accounts with all users outside the city boundary shall be subject to immediate cancellation of service whenever there exists no surplus supply, of heat over and above any and all demands of users within the city boundary.

(B) The Board reserves the right to cease operation of the heating system, or any part thereof, and cancel such services as may be provided by the system, for reasons of emergency maintenance or repairs as authorized by the General Manager. The General Manager shall diligently endeavor to provide user and public notice prior to such emergency actions at the earliest time and most comprehensive extent.

(C) The city may, by Board resolution, establish regular seasonal periods of heating service operation and non-operation.

(D) The city shall assume no liability whatsoever, direct or implied, for any user damages or injuries incurred as a result of heating service interruption or cancellation, when such interruption or cancellation is due to circumstances beyond the control of the city, or due to operational actions authorized by this chapter.

(E) The city shall not warrant or guarantee the temperature or chemical quality of the fluid delivered to users, but shall advise of the temperature or chemical quality of the fluid delivered to the users as they occur. The city shall not assume any liability whatsoever, direct or implied, for corrosion, scaling or similar physical degradation of user pipelines or private heating or cooling equipment utilized beyond each service connection.

(F) Force majeure: natural catastrophe, or other causes beyond the reasonable control of the parties, which prevent the Board from providing, or the user from accepting, any of the Board’s services covered by this chapter, shall operate to suspend the obligations of the user and the Board during the period required to remove such cause; provided it is immediately reported in writing within 48 hours of specific cause.

(Ord. MC-298, passed 8-17-1983)