§ 90-31. Sale of public water by city; application for service, deposit, service connection fee; prohibition against resale of water; prohibition against tampering with public water supply facilities.
(a)
No water from the city water supply shall be turned on for service into any premises by any person except the public utilities director or some person authorized by the public utilities director to perform such service.
(b)
Application to have water turned on shall be made in writing to the public utilities director and shall contain an agreement by the applicant to abide by and accept all of the provisions of this article as conditions governing the use of the city water supply by the applicant. A connection fee for water and fire line service and a service turn-on fee shall be paid to the city in amounts to be established by resolution before water service is commenced.
(c)
No water shall be turned on for service in a premises in which the plumbing does not comply with the ordinances of the city; provided that water may be turned on for construction work in unfinished buildings, subject to the provisions of this article. All plumbing fixtures and methods of installation shall comply with all applicable state and local laws.
(d)
No connections with a water main shall be made without a permit being issued therefor and 24 hours' notice having been given to the public utilities director. All such connections shall be made and all such work done at the expense of the applicant who shall also furnish city-approved materials necessary for such work. All such connections shall be made under the supervision of the public utilities director, and no connections shall be covered until the work has been inspected by him or by his authorized representative. Applications for such connections must be made to the public utilities director.
(e)
Except as provided in subsection (e)(1)(2), utilities service purchased from the public utilities department shall be used by the customer only and the customer shall not sell or otherwise dispose of such service supplied by the public utilities department. In no case shall a customer extend his connection across a street, alley, lane, court, property line, avenue or other way, in order to furnish utilities service for adjacent property, even if such adjacent property is owned by the customer, except with (i) written consent of the engineering service, construction services and fire departments, and (ii) the granting and execution of a mutual private utility cross easement in favor of each affected property owner on city-approved form recorded in the public records of Palm Beach County. In case of any unauthorized extension, reentering, sale or disposition of service, the customer's service is subject to discontinuance unless full payment is made on all bills for service calculated by proper classification and rate schedules and reimbursement in full is made, including all extra expenses incurred as a result thereof, and service is properly authorized and provided.
(1)
Definitions.
a.
End user shall mean the person or entity receiving remetered water.
b.
Master meter shall mean the main meter on multi-unit premises which serves as the point of entry for water from the city to the entire premises.
c.
Owner shall mean the person or entity that owns, manages or provides re-metered water to the premises occupied by the end user.
d.
Remetering shall mean the resale of water provided to premises by the city by transferring said water through a submeter to an end user.
e.
Submeter shall mean a water meter used to measure the amount of water transferred to an end user.
(2)
Remetering of water shall be permitted provided the following terms and conditions are met.
a.
Remetering shall be permitted where the owner of the property receives water from the city through a master meter. Water shall be transferred to the end user through submeters installed by owner at owner's sole cost and expense.
b.
Owner agrees to perform accuracy tests of submeters upon reasonable request by the city. Testing shall be in accordance with standards established by the American Water Works Association.
c.
It shall be unlawful to resell water pursuant to this section at a rate greater than those charged by the city. An owner shall be entitled to charge a fee, in addition to the actual cost for the water, to cover administrative expense to the owner for providing water service provided such administrative fee shall not exceed ten percent of the monthly submetering water bill. The city reserves the right, but does not have the obligation, to monitor fees charged pursuant to this subsection and to order a reduction of said fees if, in city's sole judgment and discretion, such fees are excessive. Owner agrees to provide billing information upon reasonable request by the city.
d.
All requests to remeter water must be approved by the city's building official or his/her designee.
e.
Owners' failure to comply with the provisions of this article may result in the imposition of a fine not to exceed $100.00 per day, which fine shall accrue daily until such time as compliance occurs.
f.
The city may institute civil actions or proceedings to enforce the provisions of this article. Such actions may include, but not be limited to, injunctions, civil fines and penalties and such other remedies and attorney's fees as permitted by law or equity.
(f)
It shall be unlawful for any person not authorized by the city to tamper with, alter or injure any part of the city waterworks or supply system, or any meter.
(Code 1979, § 31-29; Ord. No. 3676-03, §§ 1, 2, 8-4-2003; Ord. No. 4211-09, § 1, 5-4-2009)