CHAPTER 12
STORM SEWER UTILITY
Sections:
4-12-103 STORM SEWER UTILITY CREATED.
4-12-104 OWNERSHIP OF CITY STORM SEWER FACILITIES AND ASSETS.
4-12-105 UTILITY ADMINISTRATION.
4-12-106 SERVICE RATES AND FEES IMPOSED.
4-12-107 SYSTEM OF RATES AND FEES.
4-12-108 BILLING AND COLLECTION.
4-12-110 NO POLLUTED WATERS DISCHARGED TO STORM SEWERS.
4-12-114 ANNUAL REPORT TO STORM SEWER UTILITY CUSTOMERS.
4-12-101 PURPOSE.
The City finds and declares that absent effective maintenance, operation, regulation, and control, existing storm water drainage conditions in all areas within the City constitute a potential hazard to the health, safety and general welfare of the City. The City Council further finds that natural and manmade storm sewer facilities and conveyances constitute a storm sewer system and that effective improvement, regulation, and control of storm water through formation, by the City, of a Storm Sewer Utility requires the transfer to the Utility of all storm sewer facilities and conveyances and related rights belonging to the City.
4-12-102 DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this Chapter, the following terms, phrases and words shall mean:
(1) “City” means Springville City, a municipal corporation of the State of Utah.
(2) “City Administrator” means the current or acting City Administrator, or his designee, employed by Springville City.
(3) “County” means Utah County.
(4) “Council” means Springville City Council.
(5) “Customer” or “person” means any individual; public or private corporation and its officers; partnership; association; firm; trustee; executor of an estate; the State or its departments, institutions, bureaus, agencies; county; city; political subdivision; or any other governmental or legal entity recognized by law.
(6) “Director” means the City’s Public Works Director or designee.
(7) Equivalent Residential Connection (ERC). An ERC is equal to three thousand eight hundred (3,800) square feet of impervious surface area. This is based on an average single-family residential parcel, which has an impervious surface area of three thousand eight hundred (3,800) square feet.
(8) Gravel Surfaces. See “Impervious surface.”
(9) Hard Surfaces. See “Impervious surface.”
(10) “Impervious surface” means a parcel’s hard surface area that causes water to run off its surface in quantities or speeds greater than under natural conditions. Some examples of impervious surfaces are:
(a) Hard Surfaces. “Hard surfaces” means rooftops, concrete or asphalt paving, walkways, patios, driveways, parking lots or storage areas; and
(b) Gravel Surfaces. “Gravel surfaces” means driveways, parking lots or storage areas that have been subject to surface traffic, including natural soil and/or compacted gravel surfaces.
(11) “Mitigation” means on-site facilities or practices which reduce storm water quantity and improve storm water quality.
(12) “Parcel” means the smallest, separately segregated unit of land having an owner. A parcel has boundaries and surface area, and is documented with a property number by the County.
(13) “Developed parcel” means any parcel whose surface has been altered by grading, filling, or construction of any improvement.
(14) “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Storm Water Regulations” means the provisions of the Federal Clean Water Act establishing specific permit requirements for the control of storm water discharge.
(15) “Single-family residential parcel” means any parcel of land containing a single-family or duplex dwelling unit.
(16) “Storm water” means water produced by storms, surface drainage, snow and ice melt, and other water handled by the storm water system.
(17) “Storm sewer facilities” means any facility, improvement, development or property made for controlling storm water quantity and quality.
(18) “Storm sewer system” means all manmade storm sewer facilities and conveyances, and natural storm water systems including designated open spaces owned or maintained by the City that store, control, treat, and/or convey storm water.
(19) “Storm sewer utility” or “utility” means the utility created by this chapter, which operates, maintains, regulates and improves storm sewer facilities, the storm sewer system and other related programs within Springville City.
(20) “Undeveloped parcel” means any parcel that has not been altered by grading, filling, or construction.
(Ord. No. 13-2021 § 1, 06/15/2021; Ord. No. 09-2022 § 1, 06/07/2022)
4-12-103 STORM SEWER UTILITY CREATED.
There is hereby created and established a Storm Sewer Utility and service charge rate structure. The Utility will have regulatory authority and responsibility for planning, design, construction, maintenance, administration and operation of all City storm sewer conveyances and facilities.
4-12-104 OWNERSHIP OF CITY STORM SEWER FACILITIES AND ASSETS.
The City shall determine which of the City’s storm sewer assets will be transferred to the Utility. Until such transfer, the Utility shall operate, maintain and improve all existing City storm sewer facilities used for the conveyance of storm waters, through, under or over lands or watercourses, beginning at a point where the storm waters first enter the storm sewer system of the City and ending in each instance at a point where the storm waters exit from the system. Storm sewer facilities do not include government-owned streets or those storm sewer facilities operated and maintained by, or for, the Utility, the County or the State of Utah.
4-12-105 UTILITY ADMINISTRATION.
The Storm Sewer Utility shall be administered by the City’s Public Works Director.
4-12-106 SERVICE RATES AND FEES IMPOSED.
(1) The City Council shall, from time to time by resolution, establish such rates and fees as it deems proper for the storm sewer utility services provided by the City and the uses made thereof.
(2) Storm water utility fees shall be determined based on a lot or parcel’s impervious surfaces. Fees for hard surfaces shall be one hundred percent (100%) of the fee for impervious surfaces, and fees for gravel surfaces shall be seventy-five percent (75%) of the fee for impervious surfaces.
(3) It shall be unlawful for any person, after any utility has been turned off from his or her premises on account of nonpayment of service fees or other violation of the rules, regulations, or ordinances pertaining to the storm sewer services, to turn on or allow the utility to be turned on or used, without authorization from the City Treasurer and the Director.
(Ord. No. 13-2021 § 1, 06/15/2021)
4-12-107 SYSTEM OF RATES AND FEES
(1) Service fees imposed. The City will impose storm sewer fee rates and fees on each parcel of real property within the City except governmentally-owned streets and storm sewer facilities operated and maintained by, or for, the Storm Sewer Utility, the County or the State of Utah. The fees shall fund the administration, planning, design, construction, water quality programming, operation, maintenance and repair of the existing and future storm sewer system.
(2) Methods of determining contribution of storm water.
(a) Contributions of storm water from non-residential parcels and residential parcels larger than duplexes have been ascertained through aerial photography by evaluating land surface and measuring the amount of impervious surface.
(b) Contributions of storm water from residential parcels have been established by estimating residential impervious areas.
(3) Method of determining service fee rates: Storm sewer service fees shall be applied to each parcel of real property within the City (including City-owned properties), except government-owned streets and State or County storm water facilities. Service fees shall be established as provided for in title 4-10-106 of this Code and may be differentiated according to the following classifications:
(a) Residential parcels: Single-family residential and duplex parcels shall constitute one ERC per month.
(b) Undeveloped parcels: Undeveloped parcels shall have no charges applied.
(c) Other parcels: Charges for all other parcels shall be computed by multiplying the total ERCs for a parcel by the monthly rate. Total ERCs are calculated by dividing total square feet of impervious surface by 3,800 (one ERC).
(d) Credit for on-site mitigation: A service charge credit shall be available for those non-single family residential customers that exceed the City’s storm water development standards and/or reduce the City’s downstream costs in providing storm water capacity, provided that, if the City’s standards are increased in the future, then only those customers who currently exceed the existing standards will continue to be eligible for a service charge credit. If a request for mitigation credit is granted, the credit shall be applied to all charges from the time of the credit request being accepted by the City, and will be reflected on the next billing thirty days after appeal is granted.
Storm water control facilities located on a parcel may either hold runoff for a period of time and release it at a controlled rate to the storm sewer system (detention), or hold water until it evaporates or infiltrates into the ground (retention).
Credit for improving quality of storm water runoff will be based on implementation of source or treatment controls which reduce or eliminate pollutants from its storm water runoff before it enters the City storm sewer system.
Customers who believe their site conditions warrant a service charge credit may make application to the City by requesting an application package from the Public Works Director or his designee, provided that no credit shall exceed a 35% reduction of the original service charge amount.
4-12-108 BILLING AND COLLECTION.
(1) Utility Enterprise Fund – This ordinance creates the Storm Sewer Utility Fund. All revenues received from storm sewer user fees shall be placed in the enterprise fund as a designated fund, to be left separate and apart from all other City funds. The collection, accounting, and expenditure of all Storm Sewer Utility funds shall be in accordance with the Utah Uniform Fiscal Procedures Act.
(Ord. No. 22-2017 § 3, 10/17/2017)
4-12-109 APPEAL OF CHARGES.
Any non-residential customer who disagrees with the storm sewer user fee for his or her parcel may apply to the Director for a user fee adjustment. The adjustment request must state the grounds for adjustment and must be filed in writing with the Director no later than thirty (30) days after receipt of billing. The Director shall review the request and basis for user charges to determine whether an error was made in the calculation or application of the fee. The Director may approve an adjustment to the fee.
An appeal of a Director’s decision may be brought before the City Administrator within thirty (30) days after the date of the Director’s decision.
The City Administrator may request additional information before making a decision. After reviewing the available information, the City Administrator may:
(1) Uphold the Director’s decision; or
(2) Apply an additional service charge credit not to exceed sixty-five percent (65%) of the original service charge amount.
Decision of the City Administrator shall be final and conclusive.
If an appeal of charges is successful, credit will be applied to all charges from the time of the appealed billing, and will be reflected on a future billing after the appeal is granted.
(Ord. No. 09-2022 § 2, 06/07/2022)
4-12-110. NO POLLUTED WATERS DISCHARGED TO STORM SEWERS.
The only substance allowed to be discharged under this chapter into the City’s storm sewer system is storm water, surface drainage, subsurface drainage, groundwater, roof runoff, cooling water or non-polluted water. Such water may be discharged only into storm sewer facilities which have adequate capacity for the accommodation of such water. Such discharged water shall comply with the City’s storm water quality standards.
4-12-111. OBSTRUCTION.
(1) It is unlawful for any person to obstruct or contribute to the obstruction of the flow of storm water runoff or non-storm water runoff into any sump, retention basin, storm drain, curb and gutter, drain inlet, or other associated structural controls that convey storm water and/or non-storm water runoff, unless the obstruction is authorized by the City Engineer or his appointee and granted with the issuance of a permit signed by the City Engineer or his appointee.
(2) It is unlawful for any person to cause any obstruction that inhibits the normal flow of storm water and/or non-storm water runoff in any curb and gutter, unless the obstruction is authorized by the City Engineer or his appointee and granted with the issuance of a permit signed by the City Engineer or his appointee.
(3) It is unlawful for a person to cover over any drain inlet for any reason or purpose, unless the obstruction is authorized by the City Engineer or his appointee and granted wit the issuance of a permit signed by the City Engineer or his appointee.
(4) Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this section shall not apply during clean-up periods established by the City, provided the materials are placed according to any directions from the City and do not obstruct drain inlets.
4-12-112. DUMPING.
(1) It is unlawful for any person to dump, or allow to be dumped into any sump, detention basin, storm drain, curb and gutter, drain inlet, or other storm drainage structure that conveys storm water and/or non-storm water, any type of debris, petroleum product, chemical, paint, pesticide, herbicide, heavy metal, acid or base product, solid or liquid waste product, hazardous waste product, and/or human or animal waste.
(2) The restrictions set forth in paragraph 1 shall not apply to the normal runoff of non-storm water related to domestic home uses; for example, lawn watering, washing cars, etc.
4-12-113. ENFORCEMENT.
(1) This Title may be enforced, in the City’s sole discretion, by filing a civil or criminal action or both, as provided by law, for violating any of the rules, regulations or ordinances controlling the storm sewer system, storm sewer facilities or storm sewer utility. The individual who violates this Title shall also forfeit all fees and other payments made to the City and the right to use the utility services of the City, and utility services to the premises of such user may be discontinued. The possibility of an available administrative remedy shall in no way interfere with the City’s right to prosecute violations of this Title as criminal offenses.
(2) In addition to the foregoing penalty, any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this Title shall be guilty of a Class B Misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be liable to punishment by a fine in any amount not to exceed $1,000.00, or by imprisonment for a term not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
4-12-114. ANNUAL REPORT TO STORM SEWER UTILITY CUSTOMERS.
The City’s Public Works Department shall cause to be completed an annual report available to the public on the Storm Sewer Utility which shall be approved by the City Council. This report shall summarize the financial activities of the Utility and the major areas of expenditure, field activities, accomplishments, and the upcoming year’s priorities.
(Adopted by Ordinance No #08-2007, 2/20/2007)