§ 97.10

No person shall drill, redrill or operate any oil well unless he has obtained a current Operating Permit from the City Manager therefor.

(Amended by O-2164; O-2177; O-2504)

a) The City Manager shall inspect every oil well site in the City for compliance with the provisions of this Code. One such inspection shall be made prior to May 1st each year. He shall issue an Operating Permit effective July 1st each year for an oil well if he finds after such inspection that such well and the oil well site of which it is a part are operated and maintained in compliance with the provisions of this Code.

b) Every tank used, operated or maintained for the storage of crude petroleum will be inspected at least once every five (5) years to ensure it complies with all standards set forth in this Code. Each tank will be inspected for structural and metallurgical safety by a qualified structural and metallurgical engineer.

1. The City will conduct the structural and metallurgical safety inspection with permission of the owner or lessee of any tank; however, any such person authorizing such inspection must agree to permit the inspecting engineer to remove any paint, corrosion or obstructing substance necessary to conduct tests and to hold the City free and harmless from any liability for any damage to the storage tank or its contents as a result of normal testing procedures or for any damage to surrounding property should a tank be breached as a result of a test because of a weakness in the tank structure.

2. Any person owning, using, operating, maintaining a storage tank for the storage of crude petroleum, may, in lieu of a structural and metallurgical safety test being performed by the City, engage a private engineer to conduct said tests. Any such engineer shall have sufficient education and experience to qualify him to conduct such tests. Should a private engineer conduct the necessary structural and metallurgical tests, he shall submit an affidavit on forms provided by the City setting forth his qualifications, his observations, the electronic and laboratory tests performed and the results thereof and certifying that the oil storage tank meets all the provisions of this Code as to structural and metallurgical safety.

3. There will be no fee for inspection by the City of any storage tank for structural and metallurgical safety before February 1, 1971. After that date there will be a fee for such inspection of One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150.00)

c) In the event that the City Manager, as a result of such inspection shall find that any such tank is in danger of becoming structurally inadequate within the succeeding five (5) year period, it shall be tested annually after such determination.

b) Any such tank that is moved shall be reinspected before it is placed in use.

(Amended by O-2164; O-2177)

Except as provided in Section 97.10.2., 97.10.5. and 97.10.6. no fee shall be charged for the issuance of such permit.

In the event that the City Manager finds, as a result of his annual inspection, that an oil well or the oil well site of which it is a part is not being operated or maintained in compliance with the provisions of this Code, he shall send a written notice of the deficiencies to the licensee of the well. In the notice he shall direct the licensee to correct the deficiencies within a reasonable time, not to exceed thirty (30) days.

(Amended by O-3267)

The City Manager shall reinspect the well or site for which the deficiency notice is sent after the expiration of the time period for the correction of the deficiency as stated in the notice. If the deficiencies have been corrected, and if no other deficiencies are found at the time of the reinspection, he shall issue the operating permit for such well, upon the payment of the reinspection fee to be set by resolution of the City Council from time to time.

(Amended by O-3267)

a) If all the deficiencies have not been corrected, the City Manager shall send another deficiency notice and again reinspect the well pursuant to the foregoing procedure, which procedure shall be repeated until all the deficiencies have been corrected.

b) The fee for the issuance of the operating permit shall be set by resolution of the City Council from time to time.

The City Manager may delegate to any employee of the City under his direction and control any powers and duties conferred on him by the provisions of this Article.

(Added by O-2013)

The City Manager may grant a waiver of the fees required by Section 97.10.6. for any oil well site which meets all of the following conditions:

a) A good and sufficient reason for non-compliance has been submitted in writing by the oil operator, licensee or permittee prior to June 1st of the year of said inspections, or good cause is shown why such writing was not submitted.

b) A reasonable time limit has been set for compliance with the requirements of this Chapter by the oil operator, licensee or permittee.

c) No undue hardship would thereby be placed upon the property of other persons in the vicinity.

97.10.9 RIGHT OF APPEAL.

(Amended by O-2013; O-2822)

The decision of the City Manager may be appealed to the City Council pursuant to the provisions of Article 5, Chapter 1, Division 1 of this Code, commencing at Section 11.5.1.