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HomeMy WebLinkAboutO-1993-1896 . . ORDINANCE NO. 93-1896 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 26, ARTICLE II, "WATER, SEWERS AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL," OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF LA PORTE; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; FINDING COMPLIANCE WITH THE OPEN MEETINGS LAW; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE HEREOF. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LA PORTE: Section 1. All references in Chapter 26 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of La Porte to the "director of public works" shall be changed to read "director of finance". Section 2. ,A new section of the Code of Ordinance of the City of La Porte, Sec. 26-12.2, of Article II, Chapter 26, of said Code shall be added, to hereafter read as follows, to-wit: "Sec. 26-12.2 Fee established for certain services: collection of fee "(a) There shall be charged, assessed and collected from a consumer (as described in Sec. 26-11), pursuant to said consumer's request for service connection with the city, a fee for the connection of said service connection. "(b) There shall be charged, assessed and collected from a consumer (as described in Sec. 26-11), pursuant to said consumer's request for transfer of service from one location within the city to another location located within the city, a fee for the transfer of said service connection. "(c) There shall be charged, assessed and collected from a consumer (as described in Sec. 26-11), pursuant to said consumer's request for the replacement of a currently installed meter with a new meter, a fee for the installation of said service connection. This fee shall only be charged if the director of finance, or his designee, determines that the meter requested to be replaced does not meet the city's criteria for replacement and that the replacement of the meter is being performed at the sole request of the consumer. "(d) There shall be charged, assessed and collected from a consumer (as described in Sec. 26-11), pursuant to said consumer's request for the performance of a water line pressure test to be performed by city personnel, a fee for the performance of said pressure test. Provided however, that each consumer will be allowed one pressure test, free of charge, during a twelve month period and, if the first test fails, a re- test after the consumer provides proof that the service system has been analyzed and/or repaired to determine the cause of the previous failure of the pressure test. . e Ordinance No. 93-1896, page 2 Said pressure test is to be performed after the consumer has been notified that the test is designed to determine the ability of the consumer's system to hold and maintain a level amount of pressure in the lines and that failure of said pressure test could be caused by many factors, only one of which could be a leak in their service lines. "(e) There shall be charged, assessed and collected from a consumer (as described in Sec. 26-11), pursuant to said consumer's request for the performance of an extra reading (re-read) of their meter to confirm the accuracy of a reading previously reported to them by the city, a fee for the performance of said additional meter reading. This fee shall only be charged if the director of finance, or his designee, determine that, based on the additional meter reading, the previously reported reading was correct. Provided however, that each consumer will be allowed one additional reading, free of charge, during a twelve month period. "The fees mandated by this section shall be set by the City Council from time to time upon recommendation from the director of finance." Section 3. Sec. 26-13 of Article II, Chapter 26, of the Code of ordinances of the City of La Porte is hereby amended, to hereafter read as follows, to-wit: "Sec. 26-13. Termination of water service for failure to pay. "(c) In cases where the water meter has been disconnected or service has otherwise been terminated by the city for nonpayment of charges for water, sanitary sewer, and garbage services, and the consumer has complied with the requirements of the city, service will be restored on a same day basis is the request is made by the consumer between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding city holidays. The charge for restoration of service will approved by the City Council. If the request for restoration of service is made by the consumer and complied with by the city at any time other than stated above, an additional fee set by the City Council will be charged. In cases where the water meter has been disconnected or otherwise terminated by the city water department for nonpayment of charges for water, sanitary sewer, and garbage services, and the consumer has developed a pattern of habitually failing to pay for the services that have been received, the amount of the service restoration fee will be doubled, and the consumer will be required to have placed on deposit an amount that is double the amount required in Sec. 26-14, "Water deposits and refunds". For the purposes of determining this fee, the consumer will be allowed three service terminations in a (12) twelve month period at the normal rate and all others will be assessed at the increased rate. . . Ordinance No. 93-1896, page 3 "(e) In cases where the water meter has been disconnected or otherwise terminated by the city water department for nonp~yment of charges for water, sanitary sewer, and garbage services, and service is restored to the consumer (by someone other than authorized city personnel) before all delinquent charges have been fully paid and satisfied, or satisfactory arrangements have been made with the water department to pay such delinquent bill, the city shall immediately proceed to disconnect and discontinue any further service to the consumer and provide a locking mechanism to deny further service to the consumer until the outstanding amount is resolved in compliance with subsection (b) of this section. If a locking mechanism is used, an additional fee will be assessed and, said fee will be set by the city council, upon recommendation of the director of finance, from time to time. If said locking mechanism is removed by someone other than city personnel and allows the consumer to obtain service before the outstanding amount is resolved in compliance with subsection (b) of this section; the service meter will be physically removed to deny any further service and an additional fee will be assessed and said fee will be set by the City Council, upon recommendation of the director of finance, from time to time. "(f) In cases where the water meter has been disconnected or other means taken to terminate service at the location, and the consumer has had service made available through an unauthorized tap or hook-up which was not installed by City personnel, the unauthorized tap or hook-up will be physically removed by city personnel and an administrative penalty will be assessed and said penalty will be set by the City Council, upon recommendation of the director of finance, from time to time. "(g) In cases where the water meter has been disconnected or otherwise terminated by the city water department for nonpayment of charges for water, sanitary sewer, and garbage services, and the consumer has failed to comply with the requirements of the city, the amounts due the city will be transferred to any other service accounts that the consumer has with the city. Section 4. A new section of the Code of Ordinance of the City of La Porte, Sec. 26-12.2, of Article II, Chapter 26, of said Code shall be added, to hereafter read as follows, to-wit: "Sec. 26-12.3 Refusal of service "The city shall refuse service to a consumer as long as any of the following conditions exist. . . Ordinance No. 93-1896, page 4 "(a) The consumer fails to provide a valid identification number, which consists of a social security number, Texas drivers license number, a Texas or federal identification number, or other information as determined by the director of finance. "(b) The consumer has been a previous consumer with the city and has an outstanding amount due for services previously provided. If the consumer corrects the outstanding amount due for services previously provided, the consumer may obtain service after they have placed on deposit an amount that is double the amount required in Sec. 26-14. Water deposits and refunds. "(c) The consumer is requesting service at a rental unit, and upon examination of a written rental or lease agreement, it is determined that the record owner of the property, as shown by the Harris County Appraisal District, is also a previous consumer of the property and the said record owner has an outstanding amount due for services previously provided at the property. Section 5. If any section, sentence, phrase, clause, or any part of any section, sentence, phrase, or clause, of this Ordinance shall, for any reason, be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the remaining portions of this Ordinance, and it is hereby declared to be the intention of this City Council to have passed each section, sentence, phrase, or clause, or part thereof, irrespective of the fact that any other section, sentence, phrase, or clause, or part thereof, may be declared invalid. Section 6. The City Council officially finds, determines, recites and declares that a sufficient written notice of the date, hour, place and subject of this meeting of the City Council was posted at a place convenient to the public at the City Hall of the City for the time required by law preceding this meeting, as required by the Open Meetings Law, Article 6252-17, Texas Revised Civil Statutes Annotated; and that this meeting has been open to the public as required by law at all times during which this ordinance and the subject matter thereof has been discussed, considered and formally acted upon. The City Council further ratifies, approves and confirms such written notice and the contents and posting thereof. Section 7. This Ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval. PASSED AND APPROVED this the 26th day of April, 1993. A~~ City Secretary , - Cooper, Mayor Pro em ........ / , AWrd~ ~ City Attorney