Thousand Oaks Municipal Code Art. 8 Main Line Extension and Oversizing Agreements and Local Shares

A developer or owner may request reimbursement for a portion of the cost associated with the installation of a water facility, typically a pipeline. Any reimbursement shall be by agreement and pursuant to the requirements outlined in this article.

The City may require, or a developer may elect to construct, an off-site water main which may, in the opinion of the Public Works Director, qualify for reimbursement subject to payback through a reimbursement agreement. Where a water main must be extended to serve a property, the main extension normally shall be constructed by the property owner requesting service. That portion of the project costs, as approved by the Public Works Director, which benefits other properties may be subject to payback through a reimbursement agreement. To qualify, there must be (1) benefiting properties which have agreed to participate or that can be required to participate through normal City procedures, and (2) improvements which provide a substantial benefit to those properties.

(Ord. 1516-NS, eff. June 5, 2009)

(a) General. Each reimbursement agreement shall state the total dollar amount which is subject to reimbursement and shall identify the water line(s) which are the subject of the agreement and the entire area benefitted by the extension or oversizing of such line(s). Preparation of and entering into a reimbursement agreement typically would occur at or near the conclusion of construction of the project so that costs can be compiled. Methods of determining the pro-rata shares may be: (1) by area of the benefiting properties; (2) by the number of benefiting properties if that is judged by the City to be more equitable; (3) by the number of single-family dwellings; or any other method approved by the Public Works Director. The methodology used to determine benefit and the selection of the properties that are considered to benefit shall be at the sole discretion of the City.

(b) Eligible and Ineligible Project costs. The eligible project costs may consists of the construction contract price, including all labor and material costs incurred for the construction of the water line(s), engineering design and surveying costs, bond issuance costs, fees paid to the City, such as for plan check, inspection, encroachment permits, easement documents, and other costs approved to be eligible. Ineligible costs shall include attorney fees, interest paid on construction loan financing, and contract administration costs in excess of ten (10) percent of the total construction costs. Only that portion of the project cost which benefits other properties, as approved by the Public Works Director, shall be subject to payback through a reimbursement agreement. The reimbursement agreement shall be based upon actual constructed costs, not estimates.

Documentation of costs shall be provided to the City in the form of signed, executed contracts, and certified payroll sheets showing the names of employees, their wages and all deductions for state and federal taxes, health benefits, workers' compensation, union dues (if applicable), social security and any other standard deductions. In a case where an applicant is personally involved in the construction of the improvements (such as operation of a backhoe or other equipment), the hourly charges for said person may not exceed the normally accepted union rate for operation of said piece of equipment and shall be approved by the Public Works Director.

(c) Reimbursement payments. Each reimbursement agreement shall include provision for the amount and timing of payments to the developer, its successors or assigns as received by the City from benefiting properties. The maximum duration of the agreement shall be ten (10) years commencing on the date of City Council acceptance of the mainline extension or the date of approval of the reimbursement agreement by City Council, whichever comes first. The applicant shall be responsible for providing a current mailing address to the City over the life of the reimbursement agreement. The City's responsibility for making reimbursement payments to the applicant shall be limited to mailing such reimbursements to the last known address provided by the applicant. Where reimbursement payments are returned to the City, the City will deposit said monies in a holding account, and will disburse said monies upon notification by the applicant, without benefit of paying accrued interest of such monies. In the event the City has retained any returned funds, those funds shall revert to the City six months after the expiration of said agreement, and the applicant shall have no recourse to said funds after this time period. Any direct collection of funds/monies by the applicant from participating owner(s) shall nullify and void the agreement.

(Ord. 1516-NS, eff. June 5, 2009)

Notwithstanding any other provisions to the contrary, the City, by written agreement, may provide for a method of reimbursement or other paybacks to developers or private parties for the actual costs for the design and construction of special facilities, such as transmission line(s) of twelve (12") inches or greater in diameter, pumping stations, and the like. No reimbursement or payback shall be made to a developer or private party until benefitted properties pay their pro-rata share of the cost of the water improvements to the City. Such reimbursement or payback agreement shall not extend for a term in excess of ten (10) years.

(Ord. 1516-NS, eff. June 5, 2009)