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Council moves utility code into fee schedule, schedules hearings on vacant-property registration
Summary
Council reviewed multi-chapter updates to utility code to move rates into a fee schedule, remove obsolete 1960s/1980s language, raise certain tap fees, and accept EPA-mandated wastewater pretreatment updates; public hearings for related ordinances set for Nov. 24.
City staff told council that much of the utility code had not been updated since the 1960s and that moving rates to a centralized fee schedule would allow more frequent updates. Ms. Barone and interim Public Utilities Director Perry Mickley outlined changes to water-main extensions, tap fees, oversizing agreements and other modernizations.
"We really wanted to move the utility rates to the fee schedule...most of the code hadn't been updated since 1967," Ms. Barone said, noting removal of outdated provisions and referencing necessary changes to ensure EPA compliance in wastewater pretreatment language.
Key items described: removal of a $12.50 turn-off fee from code language, an increase in city-performed tap fees (meter < 1" from $700 to $800; 1" from $800 to $1,000), moving rate tables into the fee schedule rather than codified sections, and a proposed change to allow the city manager to execute oversizing agreements when an appropriation exists (rather than requiring prior council authorization).
Staff emphasized that updates to Chapter 917 are required by EPA to restore pretreatment enforcement authority lost due to outdated code, which staff said currently leaves the publicly owned treatment works exposed to enforcement risk. Council set public hearings and moved multiple items to third reading so fee changes align with the fee schedule.
The council also scheduled a November 24 public hearing for an ordinance to add a new chapter titled "Registration of Abandoned Foreclosures, Long Term Rentals, and Vacant Properties" and for a zoning map amendment; those hearings will be the opportunity for further public input.
