Chapter 13.16
WATER SERVICES
Sections:
13.16.010 Utility rates, fees and charges.
13.16.020 Additional conditions of service.
13.16.030 Multiple water accounts for a single structure.
13.16.040 Bulk and temporary water sales.
13.16.010 Utility rates, fees and charges.
A. Rates for the installation of water meters, connection fees and monthly user charges are set forth in Chapter 13.24 NPMC.
B. The customer or other party approved by the City provides and pays for all expenses required to install the necessary water pipe, valves, and fittings to connect the property to the North Pole Utility water distribution system. The Director of City Services or their designated representative determines the point of connection to the water main. Water meters shall be installed by a mechanical administrator or plumber licensed in the State of Alaska and the installation shall be inspected by the Director of City Services or their designee.
C. 2017 Sulfolane Legal Settlement Credits.
1. Credits. Properties identified by the 2017 Sulfolane Legal Settlement Agreement are eligible to receive the following customer credits:
a. Credit for the first $2,000 (two thousand dollars) of water usage charges;
b. Credit for utility deposit charge;
c. Credit for utility tie-in fee;
d. Waiving of facility repair and replacement charge through December 31, 2022.
2. Appeal of Eligibility for 2017 Sulfolane Legal Settlement Credits. Property owners who think they have improperly been excluded from eligibility for 2017 Sulfolane Legal Settlement Agreement credits must submit a written appeal to the North Pole Utility. The appeal will be assessed by a committee composed of the parties to the settlement agreement. The written appeal must provide the following:
a. Name of all parties who have an ownership interest in the property;
b. Legal address of property requesting to be tied in to the North Pole Utility and receive credits;
c. Property lot and block identification;
d. Property owner contact telephone number;
e. Date improvements were first constructed on property;
f. Proof of value of improvements on property as of January 1, 2017, according to Fairbanks North Star Borough Assessor’s Office. (Ord. 18-30 § 2, 2018; Ord. 16-16 § 2, 2016; Ord. 12-03 § 2, 2012; Ord. 82-8 § 3.A, 1982)
13.16.020 Additional conditions of service.
A. All residential, commercial, educational, industrial, institutional and governmental users shall be metered. Water meters may be installed at any time deemed necessary by the North Pole Utility in accordance with the requirements of the North Pole Utility. Installation must conform to the Utility service line requirements and the Utility standards of construction.
B. The City may refuse to permit any person to connect to a water main or to be served directly or indirectly by water from North Pole Utility, and may refuse to accept a water main for operation and maintenance purposes unless the main was constructed and installed pursuant to a written agreement with the City or the City can otherwise assure itself that the main was constructed and installed in compliance with the applicable requirements and specifications of the North Pole Utility.
C. The North Pole Utility will maintain and repair all mains that have been accepted for maintenance and operation by the North Pole Utility but will not be responsible for maintaining the customer’s service connection or for damage to the service connection caused by freezing that results from negligence or a willful act on the part of the customer.
D. The customer’s service from point of connection to the City main or the customer’s building shall be kept in repair by the owner or occupant of the premises, who shall be responsible for all breaks in the line and for any damages resulting incidentally therefrom, other than those caused by acts of the North Pole Utility. The City shall not be responsible for damages in service lines freezing resulting from the shutoff of a customer’s service for a delinquent account. In the case of a frozen water service, the customer shall be responsible for thawing the service line from the main to the building unless the freezing condition can subsequently be demonstrated to have been the result of a malfunction of the City’s utility system beyond the control of the customer.
1. Exposing a Customer Service Line Break and/or Disconnecting Service in the Event of a Service Line Break. In the event of a customer service line break resulting from freezing or other causes, the North Pole Utility shall disconnect as quickly as feasible to protect public health and safety, limit damage to public and private property and reduce water wasted.
E. All persons, prior to receiving service from the North Pole Utility, shall provide a separate shutoff valve inside the building or structure for which service is being requested. The valve shall be located on the service line entering the building, ahead of any branch lines, where it is readily accessible in the event of emergency.
F. Where the customer’s service line is in excess of fifty feet, the customer shall have installed an approved circulation pump. A circulation pump may also be required in any event where freeze-up has occurred, regardless of the service line length.
G. Installation of Water Connection and Water Supply Line.
1. All excavations on City property or North Pole Utility infrastructure may only be performed by a contractor licensed by the State of Alaska. All water connections shall be installed and mains tapped by a mechanical contractor or plumber licensed by the State of Alaska. All work must conform to the North Pole Utility service line standards and the version of the Uniform Plumbing Code adopted by the City Council. In the event that a conflict exists between the utility service line requirements service line standards and the Uniform Plumbing Code, the most stringent provision shall apply.
2. As a prerequisite to commencing any work on any facility of the North Pole Utility, the contractor shall obtain a permit from the North Pole Utility, furnishing the following items with the permit application:
a. State of Alaska professional license numbers as a contractor, mechanical contractor; plumber journeyman certificate of fitness or plumber utility certificate of fitness;
b. Alaska business license number;
c. City of North Pole business license number if work is performed within the City of North Pole City limits;
d. The contractor shall provide proof of commercial general liability insurance for all operations performed by the contractor on an occurrence basis against claims for personal injury; bodily injury; death and property damage, including loss of use;
e. Proof of workman’s compensation insurance, if required by law;
f. City of North Pole excavation permit if excavation will occur in a City road right-of-way or on City property;
g. A work plan including a work schedule;
h. City of North Pole Utility tie-in permit, if tie-in will occur (NPMC 13.08.090(B));
i. Payment of any outstanding charges owed to the City by the property owner or contractor;
j. Should the work be in or directly affect a State of Alaska road right-of-way, proof of authorization to work in the State right-of-way;
k. Should the work be in or directly affect Fairbanks North Star Borough property or road right-of-way, proof of authorization to work in Borough property;
l. Should the work be in or directly affect private property, other than the property owner making the utility connection, proof of authorization to work in the other property owner’s private property;
m. Should the work or utility connection require an easement or vacation of an easement, proof that the easement or vacation has been obtained;
n. Other proof of capability to perform such work as required by the North Pole Utility.
3. Commencing work without a permit from the North Pole Utility shall be subject to fines as specified in NPMC 13.12.150, Prohibited acts.
4. All work must be inspected by the North Pole Utility.
a. A minimum of forty-eight hours’ notification is required to schedule an inspection by the North Pole Utility.
b. The North Pole Utility or their authorized representative must be present to observe and inspect the physical tapping of the water main. Before water is returned to the main and the work is covered, the work must be inspected by the North Pole Utility or their authorized representative. Work not inspected by the North Pole Utility or their authorized representative before it is covered shall be re-excavated at the owner’s expense for inspection.
5. Installation of Water Meter.
a. Water Meter Installation at Time of Tie-In. If the tie-in is providing water service to a structure, even if the structure is under construction, the North Pole Utility or their authorized representative must inspect and approve the plumbing within the structure directly related to the tie-in to assure compliance with the North Pole Utility’s service line requirements. A water meter shall be installed at this time and a utility account created.
b. Water Meter Installation Not at Time of Tie-In.
i. If not providing water to a structure at the time of the connection, the property owner must provide adequate protection to prevent damage to and/or freezing of the service line connections.
ii. When the service line is eventually connected to the structure, the property owner shall notify the North Pole Utility forty-eight hours before the service is to be extended to the structure. The North Pole Utility or their authorized representative must inspect and approve the plumbing within the structure directly related to the tie-in to assure compliance with the North Pole Utility service line requirements. A water meter shall be installed at this time and a utility account created.
6. Single Permit for Installation of Multiple Water Connections. If a developer will be installing multiple identical water connections as part of a single development and all installations will occur during the same year, the developer may request to submit a single application. Authorization to submit a single permit application for multiple installations is at the sole discretion of the Mayor or the Mayor’s designee. Authorization to submit a single water installation permit does not lessen the service-specific information that must be provided as part of the application for each service connection. The same inspection requirements apply to each individual tie-in regardless of the number of tie-ins covered by the multiple service tie-in application. Calculation of the permit fees shall not be reduced when a developer is allowed to submit a single application for multiple installations.
H. Cross-Connection Control.
1. Purpose and Scope. The purpose of this section is to protect the public health by controlling or eliminating actual or potential installation of cross-connections. The control or elimination of cross-connections shall be in accordance with this code, the North Pole Utility’s cross-connection control program and the edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code adopted by the City Council. In the event that a conflict exists between the cross-connection control program adopted herein and the Uniform Plumbing Code, the most stringent provision shall apply.
2. Unsafe Facilities. The City may refuse to furnish water and may discontinue services to any premises where plumbing facilities, appliances, or equipment using water are dangerous, unsafe, or not in conformity with this code. No potable water service connection to any premises shall be installed or continued in use by a customer unless the potable water supply is protected by all necessary backflow prevention devices and assemblies. The installation or maintenance of a cross-connection, which will endanger the quality of the customer’s water supply, shall be unlawful and is prohibited.
3. Cross-Connection Inspection. No water service shall be provided until it has been inspected by the North Pole Utility for possible cross-connections and been approved as being protected from such cross-connections.
4. Inspections will be made periodically of all potentially hazardous buildings, structures, or improvements of any nature now receiving water from the North Pole Utility, for the purpose of determining whether cross-connections exist. Such inspections shall be made by the North Pole Utility or their designated representative. Any building modification requiring a plumbing or mechanical permit may require a cross-connection inspection and compliance.
5. Possible Cross-Connections. All water services shall be constructed with backflow assemblies or devices. The minimum requirements shall be a double check valve assembly (nontestable). Enhanced levels of backflow prevention assemblies and devices shall be installed in any premises where, in the judgment of the North Pole Utility, the nature and extent of activities, or the materials used or stored on the premises, could present a hazard to the potable water supply in the event a cross-connection were to be made; even though such cross-connection has not been made. Such circumstances include, but are not limited to:
a. Premises having an auxiliary water supply.
b. Premises having intricate plumbing arrangements which make it impractical to ascertain whether or not cross-connections in fact exist.
c. Premises where entry is restricted so that inspection for cross-connections cannot be made with sufficient frequency or at sufficiently short notice to assure that cross-connections do not exist.
d. Premises having a repeated history of cross-connections being established or reestablished.
e. Premises on which any substance is handled under pressure, so as to permit entry into the water supply. This shall include the handling of process waters and cooling waters.
f. Premises where materials of a toxic or hazardous nature are handled in such a way that if back siphonage should occur, a health hazard might result.
g. The following facilities, when connected to a potable water supply, require backflow prevention assemblies or devices unless the North Pole Utility determines that no hazard exists:
i. Bulk water fill stations;
ii. Car wash facilities;
iii. Chemical plants;
iv. Fire sprinkler systems;
v. Food or beverage processing plants;
vi. Greenhouses;
vii. High rise or other buildings above system pressure reactors, which require booster pumps;
viii. Hospitals, mortuaries, and clinics, including veterinary clinics;
ix. Irrigation systems;
x. Laboratories;
xi. Laundries and dry cleaners;
xii. Manufacturing facilities;
xiii. Medical and dental facilities;
xiv. Metal plating industries;
xv. Petroleum processing or storage plants;
xvi. Piers and docks;
xvii. Radioactive material processing plants, nuclear or other facilities where radioactive materials may be utilized;
xviii. Sand, gravel and concrete plants or other material processing plants;
xix. Sewage treatment plants;
xx. Water systems not within the definition of potable water supply;
xxi. Waterfront facilities. (Ord. 18-30 § 2, 2018; Ord. 16-16 § 2, 2016; Ord. 12-03 § 2, 2012; Ord. 08-25 § 2, 2008; Ord. 04-08 § 2, 2004; Ord. 01-13 § 2, 2001; Ord. 00-16 § 2, 2000; Ord. 85-4 § 1, 1985; Ord. 82-8 § 3.B, 1982)
13.16.030 Multiple water accounts for a single structure.
A. Definition of service connection and service line as according to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC):
1. According to 18 AAC 80.1990(133) “service connection” means a single building or structure that receives water for human consumption from a public water system; “service connection” includes a residence, school, hospital, clinic, office, restaurant, gas station, hotel, motel, washeteria, or watering point; “service connection” does not include mobile facilities; for purposes of this subsection, “mobile facilities” includes planes, boats, recreational vehicles, and tents.
2. According to 18 AAC 80.1990(134) “service line” means the pipe works that extend from a water distribution main line to a single service connection.
3. A single customer connection serving multiple separate properties is classified as a water main and is regulated by the ADEC and is considered a water main extension by the North Pole Utility. ADEC requires a permit application; conducts a plan review before issuing an approval to construct such a facility. The North Pole Utility requires a written agreement approved by the City Council to construct such an extension to the utility system. While ADEC approval is required, approval by ADEC does not guarantee or constitute any approval of the City Council or North Pole Utility.
B. Buildings occupied by two or more independently billed water customers, other than multifamily residential dwellings, are classified as commercial water services and each service account billed as such. The water service to each customer must be individually metered and adequately valved to permit disconnection of any customer without interrupting service to the other customers in the building. Existing services that do not meet these requirements will be disconnected, unless the owner of the building has done one of the following:
1. The property owner shall have a mechanical administrator or plumber licensed by the State of Alaska modify the water service to meet the requirements described in subsections (B)(3)(a) through (h) of this section as necessary. These plumbing modifications require a utility tie-in permit from the Utility;
2. Has contracted to be the sole customer for the water service and has had a master water meter installed to meter all water used in the building; or
3. Has entered into an agreement with the North Pole Utility to guarantee payment of all water service into the building.
a. All commercial plumbing connections installed to provide multiple metering from a single master service line must comply with the City of North Pole Service Line Requirements for Water and Wastewater Commercial and Residential Structures and the provisions of the latest version of the Uniform Plumbing Code and amendments adopted by the City. Whenever there is a conflict between the City standards and Uniform Plumbing Code and City-adopted amendments, the most conservative requirements shall apply. Commercial water services require a double check valve assembly that is annually inspected and certified by a professional licensed by the State of Alaska. The periodic inspection is at the owner’s expense and the inspection report must be filed with the North Pole Utility.
b. The property owner must submit a scaled drawing with a scale of no less than one-half inch equals one foot in the drawing of the water meter installation with the utility tie-in application.
c. The property owner must install plumbing such that each dwelling unit receiving water services is plumbed separately.
d. For each individual customer service – residential and commercial – in multi-metered installations, an appropriate backflow prevention device must be installed after the water meter as indicated in the Service Line Requirements for Water and Wastewater Commercial and Residential Structures.
i. Individual customer services in multi-metered installations that serve residential customers typically only require a dual check valve after the water meter unless the Utility at its sole discretion determines that a different backflow prevention technology is necessary.
ii. Individual customer services in multi-metered installations that serve commercial, institutional or industrial customers require a double check valve assembly after the water meter that is annually inspected and certified by a professional licensed by the State of Alaska. The periodic inspection is at the owner’s expense and the inspection report must be filed with the North Pole Utility.
iii. The North Pole Utility shall review the utility tie-in and/or utility account application and at its sole discretion shall make the determination of the connection type and the required backflow prevention technology.
e. Adequate space must be provided between individual water meters such that they can be manually read by the North Pole Utility and there is adequate space to repair or replace a meter.
f. The water meters must be in a heated secure location readily accessible by the North Pole Utility.
g. The North Pole Utility shall inspect any multi-metered dwelling’s utility connections before authorizing the installation of water meters and before providing water service to the dwelling.
h. Tampering with water meters is a violation of North Pole Municipal Code and violation of these provisions may result in termination of individuals’ water service or termination of water service to the entire dwelling at the sole discretion of the North Pole Utility. See NPMC 13.08.070(A) and (B), 13.12.060, 13.12.150, and 13.16.060(A).
i. The service line from the water main to the water meters is the sole responsibility of the property owner. (See NPMC 13.16.020(D).). (Ord. 20-02 § 2, 2020; Ord. 18-30 § 2, 2018; Ord. 17-15 § 2, 2017; Ord. 16-16 § 2, 2016; Ord. 12-03 § 2, 2012; Ord. 82-8 § 3.C, 1982)
13.16.040 Bulk and temporary water sales.
Bulk water sales shall be charged at the current bulk water per gallon water charge, including facilities repair and replacement charge, plus a service charge of ten percent of the transaction. Each discharge of water shall be considered an individual transaction and subject to a service charge. (Ord. 18-30 § 2, 2018; Ord. 16-16 § 2, 2016; Ord. 12-03 § 2, 2012; Ord. 00-16 § 2, 2000; Ord. 82-8 § 3.D, 1982)
13.16.050 Liability.
A. The North Pole Utility shall not be held liable for damage by fire, flooding, freezing, or other causes resulting from defective piping, fixtures or appliances on the customer’s premises supplied with water from the North Pole Utility.
B. Inspection of piping, fixtures and appliances shall not create any liability against the North Pole Utility or the employees thereof for damages to persons or property resulting from defective piping, fixtures or appliances on the premises. (Ord. 18-30 § 2, 2018; Ord. 16-16 § 2, 2016; Ord. 12-03 § 2, 2012; Ord. 00-16 § 2, 2000; Ord. 82-8 § 3.E, 1982)
13.16.060 Prohibited acts.
A. No person without first obtaining a permit from the City of North Pole shall be allowed to make a connection to any facility of the North Pole Utility or to make alterations in any conduit, pipe or other fitting connecting directly therewith, or to connect pipes where they have been disconnected, or to turn water service on or off in any premises. No person other than an authorized employee of the North Pole Utility may turn on or turn off any water main of the North Pole Utility system. Individuals committing such acts are subject to a fine as specified in NPMC 13.12.150(C).
B. No person other than an authorized employee of the North Pole Utility or a member of the Fire Department in connection with official duties may connect to, turn on, or turn off any fire hydrant located on the North Pole Utility system without first obtaining a contract from the City. Illicit connection to, turn-ons or turn-offs of any fire hydrant shall result in a fine as specified in NPMC 13.12.150(C) plus liability for the estimated value of any discharged water and liability for damage to all public or private property caused by the illicit connection to or turn-on or turn-off of a fire hydrant.
C. No person may allow a premises or facility which is served by the North Pole Utility to be connected to another water system, including a private well or other on-property facility, or to have service from another system readily available to the premises or facility in such a manner that the integrity of the North Pole Utility water service may be jeopardized. In such circumstances, the customer’s service may be subject to immediate termination. Notwithstanding the prohibitions of this section, standby service may be permitted by the North Pole Utility to customers, such as hospitals, clinics or government facilities, if it is determined that the failure of the water supply would be detrimental to the public health, welfare or security; provided, that such a customer must install at his own expense a backflow preventer of a type approved by the Director of City Services or their designated representative, prior to commencement of service.
D. In accordance with the North Pole Utility’s cross-connection restrictions (NPMC 13.16.020(H)) and the edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code adopted by the City Council, the North Pole Utility will not permit any cross-connection and will discontinue service to any persons or premises where a cross-connection exists. The property owner will be responsible for any expenses associated with disconnection and reconnection of utility service. Service will not be restored until the cross-connection is eliminated. Customers using water from one or more sources in addition to receiving water from the North Pole Utility at the same premises shall maintain separate systems for each.
E. Repealed by Ord. 12-03.
F. No person may furnish or provide water with or without charge to another premises. The service may be disconnected for any utility customer performing such acts.
G. No person may waste water supplied by the North Pole Utility. In the event that water wasting is found to jeopardize the functioning of the North Pole Utility, the North Pole Utility may disconnect the service where water is being wasted. (Ord. 18-30 § 2, 2018; Ord. 16-16 § 2, 2016; Ord. 12-03 § 2, 2012; Ord. 09-06 § 3, 2009; Ord. 08-25 § 2, 2008; Ord. 00-16 § 2, 2000; Ord. 82-8 § 3.F, 1982)