8. Nelson comments_ Draft Ordinance Amendments to Chapter 51 of the Code of Ordinances 9-16-2021 - ctn commentsDraft Ordinance Amendments to Chapter 51 of the Code of Ordinances
DRAFT CHANGES SUMMARY:
Correction of Typos, retitling of section, an introduction of mandatory utility service areas.
Below, the proposed changes are shown in red.
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CHAPTER 51: 201 BIG MARINE COMMUNITY SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEMSEWER
UTILITY
Section
51.01 Title
51.02 Purpose and intent
51.03 Rules and definitions
51.04 Calculation of user charges
51.05 Accounts
51.06 Billing
51.07 Delinquent accounts
51.08 Connections to the community sewage treatment system
51.09 Prohibited waste discharges
51.10 Cost of repairs
51.11 Administration and enforcement
§ 51.01 TITLE.
This chapter shall be known, cited, and referred to as the “201 Big Marine Community Sewage
Treatment SystemSewer Utility Ordinance”, except as referred to herein, where it shall be
known as “this chapter”.
(Ord. 202, passed 12-18-2018)
§ 51.02 PURPOSE AND INTENT.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish the local regulatory requirements for the operations,
maintenance, administration, use, and application of user fees of the Big Marine Sewer Utility in
accordance with all applicable laws and to ensure operations are conducted within an
environmentally responsible manner. and user charges for the operation, maintenance, and
administration of community sewage treatment systems constructed with “201” grant assistance
and owned and operated by the city. This All fees established by this chapter is are intended to
provide for the collection of sufficient revenues to financially balance revenues and expenditures
for short and long-term operation and maintenance of the systems within the utility in
accordance with all laws, including those found in this chapter., and to provide for operation of
the system in accordance with all applicable laws and in an environmentally sound manner.
(Ord. 202, passed 12-18-2018)
§ 51.03 RULES AND DEFINITIONS.
(A) In the event of conflicting provisions in the text of this chapter, and/or other ordinances, the
more restrictive provisions shall apply. The City Council shall determine which is more
restrictive.
(B) Words used in the present tense shall include the past and future tense; the singular
includes the plural and the plural includes the singular.
(C) The word “shall” is mandatory and the word “may” is permissive.
(D) For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context
clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACCOUNT. A record of periodic costs for sewer service provided to each property
connected to the city “201” community sewage treatment system.served by the Big
Marine Sewer Utility.
ANDERSON-ERICKSON FACILITY. A wastewater system as defined by a formal
service map as adopted and amended, from time-to-time, by the City Council in
accordance with this chapter, serving the eastern shore of Big Marine Lake that operates
as part of the cityCity’s Big Marine Sewer Utility. The facility’s original construction was
funded under a federal grant administered by the State of Minnesota as authorized
under Section 201 of the US Clean Water Act of 1972.
BIG MARINE SEWER UTILITY: The utility for which this chapter regulates in
accordance with all other state and federal law.
BLISS FACILITY. A wastewater system as defined by a formal service map as adopted
and amended, from time-to-time, by the City Council in accordance with this chapter,
serving the western shore of Big Marine Lake that operates as part of the cityCity’s Big
Marine Sewer Utility. The facility’s original construction was funded under a federal
grant administered by the State of Minnesota as authorized under Section 201 of the US
Clean Water Act of 1972.
CITY. The City of Scandia, Washington County, Minnesota.
COMMUNITY SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM. AOne of two sewage treatment
systems, the Bliss Community Sewer SystemFacility and the Anderson-EriksonErickson
Community Sewer SystemFacility, constructed with “201” grant assistance andthat are
owned and operated by the cityCity.
INCOMPATIBLE WASTE, defined as waste that either singly by interaction with other
wastes interferes with any waste treatment process, constitutes a hazard to humans or
animals, creates a public nuisance, or creates a hazard in the treatment system.
NEW CONNECTION: When an unserved property establishes service to the utility
through a new connection permit or when an existing connected property increases its
capacity to serve a new addition or to replace a home with higher service capacity than
the existing structure.
SERVICE CAPACITY: A reference to the sizing of septic tanks and service lines relative
to the number of bedrooms of a structure and the amount of wastewater treatment
capacity related to the increased processing need.
SUFFICIENT CAPACITY: shall be defined as a minimum available capacity of 10% of
the permitted flows for the facility. Flow evaluation shall be based on a minimum of 12
months of flow data.
UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE: collector lines; pumps; sewage tanks; and soil treatment
unit sewage infrastructure from the septic holding tank(s) on the property served to the
wastewater treatment facility for which ownership, operation, and maintenance is
maintained by the cityCity.
USER. A residential dwelling or other establishment connected to the community
sewage treatment system, including and extending to the owners and occupants thereof.
(Ord. 202, passed 12-18-2018; Ord. 209, passed 2-19-2019)
§ 51.04 CALCULATION OF USER CHARGES.
(A) Prior to the beginning of each calendar year, the City Administrator shall prepare a
proposed budget for operation of the community sewage treatment system, including all
costs for the operation, maintenance, replacement, and administration of the system.
Upon approval of the budget by the City Council, the amount of user charges needed to
balance revenues with expenditures shall be determined. The user charges shall be
apportioned among all the users of the system in equal amounts, to determine the base
user charge for the calendar year.
(B) The base user charge may be subject to an energy charge adjustment. A user who
supplies power from the user’s home electrical connection to a shared lift station may be
entitled to a deduction from the base user charge. Users who do not supply power from
the user’s home electrical connection to any lift station, but who share a lift station to
which another user supplies electrical power, may be subject to an increase in the base
user charge.
(C) An additional fee shall be charged to users of the community sewage treatment
system who, for whatever reason, require septic tank pumping more frequently than
once in two years. The surcharge for the frequent pumping shall be at the same rate,
either per tank or per gallon, as established by contract for the routine pumping of each
septic tank on the community sewage treatment system.
(D) A schedule of user charges and other fees shall be adopted from time to time by
ordinance of the City Council.
(Ord. 202, passed 12-18-2018)
§ 51.05 ACCOUNTS.
(A) All accounts shall be carried in the name of the owner of the property, at the mailing
address to which property tax bills are sent by the county, unless a written request for an
alternative billing address is submitted to the cityCity by the owner.
(B) The owner shall be liable for the sewer service supplied to the property, whether he
or she is occupying the property or not, and any unpaid charges shall be a lien upon the
property.
(Ord. 202, passed 12-18-2018)
§ 51.06 BILLING.
(A) Bills shall be mailed for each account on or before March 5, June 5, September 5
and December 5 of each year and specify the charges in accordance with the current
fee schedule set by ordinance of the City Council.
(B) All charges shall be due upon receipt and considered delinquent after the fifth day of
the following month.
(Ord. 202, passed 12-18-2018)
§ 51.07 DELINQUENT ACCOUNTS.
(A) Late payment penalties shall be assessed on all delinquent accounts in accordance
with the fee schedule set by ordinance of the City Council.
(B) Partial payments on delinquent accounts shall first be applied to any penalties and
then to user charges.
(C) All delinquent accounts as of October 15 of each year shall be certified to the County
Auditor for collection with taxes in the following year, according to the following
procedure.
(1) Notice shall be sent to each account holder by first class mail of the
delinquent charges not less than ten days prior to the date of a City Council
hearing to consider the charges proposed to be certified for collection with
property taxes.
(2) The notice shall state that if payment is not made before the date for
certification, the entire amount plus penalties will be certified to the County
Auditor for collection as other taxes are collected.
(3) A hearing shall be held by the City Council at its first meeting during the
month of November. Property owners with unpaid accounts shall have the
opportunity to object to the certification of unpaid charges to be collected as
taxes are collected. If, after the hearing, the City Council finds that the amounts
claimed as delinquent are actually due and unpaid, and there is no legal reason
why the unpaid charges should not be certified for collection with taxes in
accordance with this chapter, the cityCity may certify the unpaid charges to the
County Auditor for collection as other taxes are collected.
(4) For each certification sustained, the property owner shall have the following
options after the hearing:
(a) To pay the delinquent amount listed on the preliminary assessment
roll, but without additional interest after the hearing, within ten days of the
hearing date; or
(b) To pay the certified charges as billed to the property owner by the
county on the owner’s property tax statement with a collection term of one
year.
(5) Fifteen days after the hearing, the certified roll, minus any payments, shall be
delivered to the county.
(Ord. 202, passed 12-18-2018)
§ 51.08 CONNECTIONS TO THE COMMUNITY SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM.
(A) REQUIRED TO CONNECT
Properties that are situated within the official service areas of the Big Marine Sewer Utility and
currently receive service from said utility shall be required to maintain services with this utility. .
Such service areas shall be identified and adopted by the City Council i, from time-to-time, for
Commented [CN1]: Consistent with the timeline for the
County to assess on property taxes?
the Bliss Facility and the Anderson-EriksonErickson Facility subject to provisions within this
chapter. Only properties identified within these service maps may be served by this utility and
not yet currently served by the Big Marine Sewer Utility shall also be subject sufficient capacity
limits set forth in this code. Properties that that meeting City Development Code requirements
specified in § 153 of this code, but are unable to be served by the Big Marine Sewer Utility, may
by special permit from the City Council, obtain a permit for a private on-site septic system,
should adequate space and design requirements be met under both this cityCity code and
Washington County Ordinance.
(B) SERVICE AREA MAPS
The City Council shall adopt service area maps for the Bliss Facility and the Anderson-Erickson
Facilities for the Utility as of the publication of this amendment. Properties eligible for inclusion
include:
(1) All properties currently served by one of the utility’s two facilities.
(2) Parcels that meet all four for the following criteria:
a. Said parcel meets all development minimum standards as specified within the
Scandia Development Regulations found in Chapter 153 of this Code of
Ordinances; and,
b. The property owner of the parcel can demonstrate with a report from a State
Licensed Septic System Designer, consistent with Minn. Rules part 7080, that
no appropriate sites for a system can be sited within the property consistent
with City and County regulations; and,
c. That the City deems that inclusion of said property will not hinder the sewer
system’s sufficient capacity; and,
d. The inclusion of said property to the community wastewater system is
deemed in the interest of the environmental well-being of Big Marine Lake or
other adjacent water sources.
(C) NEW CONNECTIONS.
New connections to the community sewage treatment system shall be prohibited unless
sufficient capacity is available in all downstream facilities AND the property is identified within
official service area maps for a facility within this utility. SUFFICIENT CAPACITY shall be
defined as a minimum available capacity of 10% of the permitted flows for the facility. Flow
evaluation shall be based on a minimum of 12 months of flow data.
(1) ANDERSON-ERIKSONERICKSON FACILITY
For the Anderson-Erickson facility, sufficient capacity is available if the peak flow as
measured over the peak three-day period is less than 90% of the 6,700 gallon per
day system design flow and the peak flow as measured on a monthly basis is less
than 90% of the target monthly limit of 5,300 gallons per day.
Commented [CN2]: Rephrase. Perhaps:
Properties located within a Big Marine Sewer Utility service
areas that are not presently connected to the utility may be
served by the Big Marine Sewer Utility subject to the
sufficient capacity limits articulated in this Chapter.
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Commented [CN3]: If this is the case, how could they not
be included?
Tricky situation: some one for example has an existing,
failing septic, standards have changed to a septic meeting
new standards cannot be installed, and this situation arises
when the system is consider at capacity.
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(2) BLISS FACILITY
For the Bliss facility, sufficient capacity is available if the peak flow as measured on a
monthly basis is less than 90% of 14,800 gallons per day. Nineteen thousand, eight
hundred gallons per day is the permitted flow less 5,000 gallons per day of reserve
capacity.
(D) New connections to the community sewage system shall be prohibited if the system is within
10% of the permit limits of non-flow sampling requirements. The City may also impose new
connection moratoriums if a facility is at risk of or has exceeded its sufficient capacity.
(E) Connections shall be limited to residential users only, and to properties adjacent to the
existing collection system identified within adopted service area maps.
(F) Alterations made or proposed that increase user capacity shall be treated as a new
connection under this chapter and as such shall be subject to the provisions of § 51.08 (D).
(F) Only properties that are not able to accommodate a private onsite sewage treatment system
will be permitted to connect to the community sewage treatment system. Any property owner
requesting connection to a connection to the 201 system utility must first apply for a permit with
the cityCity provide to the city that includes a survey survey, or site plan, as determined by the
City Administrator and an analysis from a Minn. Rules part 7080 (2011) licensed onsite sewage
treatment system designer documenting that an onsite sewage treatment system is not feasible
forfor the sizeing and location of tanks, piping, and the specifications of pumps to be installed on
the property consistent with City design specifications andunder the current the Washington
County Individual Sewage Treatment System Code.
(G) No person shall uncover, make any connection with, or opening into, or use, alter, or disturb
any portion of the system or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from
the cCity. Further, it shall be a violation for any user upon whose property any portion of the
system is located to allow any unauthorized access, use, alteration, or disturbance of any
portion of the system or appurtenance thereof on the user’s property.
(H) All sewer connections shall conform to applicable requirements of the State Building and
Plumbing Code and all applicable rules and regulations of the city or county. All connections
shall be made gas-tight and water-tight, and verified by proper testing to prevent the infusion of
infiltration/inflow. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials shall be approved
prior to installation. The connection and inspection shall be made under the supervision of the
city building official or his or her designee.
(I) All new connections to the system after the effective date of this chapter shall have their own
septic tank and pump tank. The sharing of septic tanks among neighboring properties is strictly
prohibited. If a dwelling currently sharing a septic tank applies for a permit that involves any
material improvements that increase the flow, the property owner will be required to install a
separate septic tank unless it can be proven that a non-economic hardship exists, in which case
the property owner may apply to the City Council for an exemption from this requirement.
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Commented [k4]: Check for ord. and publication date
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(J) New users connecting to the system shall pay to the cityCity a sewer connection fee in
accordance with the current fee schedule set by ordinance of the City Council. In addition to the
connection fee, the new user is responsible for all of the costs associated with hooking up to the
community sewage treatment system, including, but not limited to, the septic tank, pumps, wet
wells, control panels, sewer laterals, road repair related to the installation of the new equipment,
and any costs incurred by the cityCity in the use of engineers or other third partythird-party
consultants.
(K) By accepting utility service Each each user shall allow the cityCity access to inspect any
portion of the community sewage treatment system and any connection to the system, including
(without limitation) portions of the system and connections accessible from the interior of any
structure. Interior inspections shall be conducted during normal business hours of the City and
the City shall provide the Customer with at least 48 hours of notice before an inspection is to
take place. Notice under this section shall be effective upon mailing and shall be mailed to the
customer or owner at the address file with the utility. Failure to cooperate with the cityCity’s
reasonable request for access shall be a violation of this chapter.
() If the city identifies an improper condition of or unauthorized connection to any part of the
community sewage treatment system located on a user’s property, the city shall notify the user
in writing and specify the maintenance or repair required. If the user fails to cause the specified
maintenance or repair to be properly performed, and evidence of the same to be provided to the
city, within 30 days of the notice, the city may cause the specified maintenance or repair to be
performed and may charge the user for the cost of the same, which cost shall be considered a
cost of repairs under § 51.10. (Moved to maintenance responsibility section)
(Ord. 202, passed 12-18-2018; Ord. 209, passed 2-19-2019) Penalty, see § 10.99
§ 51.09 Maintenance responsibility.
(A) It shall be the responsibility of the property owner to maintain the service line from the
septic holding tank into the house or building. It shall be the responsibility of the cityCity to
maintain the part of the system from septic tank to the service main. The contractor hired by the
owner to repair the wastewater service line on the property owner's side of the system shall
follow the all requirements of this section relating to new construction which are applicable to
maintenance work, including obtaining a permit from the City.
(B) If the cityCity identifies an improper condition of or unauthorized connection to any part
of the community sewage treatment system located on a user’s property, the cityCity shall notify
the user in writing and specify the maintenance or repair required. If the user fails to cause the
specified maintenance or repair to be properly performed, and evidence of the same is not
provided to the cityCity within 30 3 days of the notice, the cityCity may cause the specified
maintenance or repair to be performed and may charge the user for the cost of the same, which
cost shall be considered a cost of repairs under § 51.11.
§ 51.09 10 PROHIBITED WASTE DISCHARGES.
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Commented [CN5]: If notice is effective upon mailing,
may not get there in time, so a City staff member may be
showing up to an unsuspecting property owner.
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(A) No user shall make or maintain connection of roof downspouts, exterior foundation drains,
surface runoff, or groundwater to a building sewer or indirectly into the community sewage
treatment system.
(B) No user shall discharge into the community sewage treatment system any INCOMPATIBLE
waste as defined in this chapter. INCOMPATIBLE WASTE, defined as waste that either singly
by interaction with other wastes interferes with any waste treatment process, constitutes a
hazard to humans or animals, creates a public nuisance, or creates an hazard in the treatment
system.
(C) No user shall discharge into the community sewage treatment the sewage system any
wastewater having a strength greater than that primarily produced by residential user, defined
as having a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) concentration of approximately 200 mg/l and
suspended solids concentration of approximately 225 mg/l.
(Ord. 202, passed 12-18-2018)
§ 51.10 11 COST OF REPAIRS.
In addition to any penalties that may be imposed for violation of any provision of this chapter,
the cityCity may assess against any user the cost of repairing or restoring sewers or associated
facilities damaged as a result of any act or omission in violation of this chapter by the user or
upon the user’s property, and may collect the assessment as an additional charge for the use of
the system or may pursue any other method of collection of the costs the cityCity deems
appropriate.
(Ord. 202, passed 12-18-2018)
§ 51.11 12 ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT.
(A) The City Administrator, or his or her designee, shall be responsible for administration and
enforcement of this chapter and the collection of the user charges as set forth in this chapter.
The City Council shall hear and decide appeals and review any order, decision, or determination
made by the Administrator regarding the enforcement of this chapter.
(B) The cityCity hereby establishes a Sewage Treatment Service Big Marine Sewer Fund into
which all revenue collected from users shall be deposited, and from which all expenditures
necessary for the operation and maintenance of the system shall be paid.
(C) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and
upon conviction thereof, the violator shall be subject to a fine, imprisonment, or both, plus the
cost of prosecution.
(D) The cityCity reserves the right to disconnect service to any user found to be in violation of
this chapter. Service shall not be disconnected until notice and an opportunity for a hearing
before the City Council have been provided to the occupant and to the owner of the premises
involved.
(Ord. 202, passed 12-18-2018)