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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 1063 (1991) 1 ORDINANCE NO. 1063 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUSTIN, 3 CALIFORNIA, ESTABLISHING A MANDATORY WATER CONSERVATION · AND RATIONING PROGRAM 4 The City. Council of the City of Tustin does hereby ordain as 5 follows: 6 SECTION 1. Water Consumption Reduction. 7 A. Findings. The City Council hereby finds and determines as follows: the State of California is entering the fifth year of 8 an unprecedented drought; water levels at many reservoirs are at an all time low; deliveries of water to the Southern California region 9 from the State Water Project, Colorado River, Owens ~alley and Mono County have declined due to the lack of rainfall and litigation 10 regarding entitlement; the Metropolitan Water District of Southern ' California (MWD) is the supplier of thirty.percent (30%) of the 11 water supplied to the Tustin Water Service.andMWD has reduced the City's allocation of water by thirty.percent (30%) as of March 1, 1~ 199~ and advised that it will charge'the City a premiUm-Of.at least Three Hundred Ninety-Four Dollars ($394) per acre'foot for delivery 13 of water in excess of'new allocation. levels; the Mandatory Conservation Rate on the effective date of this ordinance is a 14 collective fifteen percent (15%); this Conservation Rate corresponds with the recent decision of MWD to~ allocate only 15 seventy percent (70%) of the water used ..... by the City during · comparable periods in'the past; the failure=of Tustin Water ServiCe 16 consumers Go collectively reduce water-consumption may lead to even more drastic. cutbacks in allocati6ns, deliveries, and-costs; the 17 failure to reduce 'water consumption and a continuation of the drought may, in the long term, result in the inability of-the City 18 to supply water at or above minimum levels'required.for health and sanitation; this ordinance will promote reductions in water. 19 consumption and permit recovery of additional'costs ihcurred with the purchase of water and the administration of-water conservation 20 measures. 21 .B. Definitions. 22 1. "Billing Period" means the time interval between two consecutive water' meter readings taken-for billing purposes 'and 23 will average sixty (60) days. 24 2. "Billing Unit" means one hundred (100) cubic f~et of water (748 gallons). 25 3. "MWD" shall mean The Metropolitan Water District of 26 Southern California. 28 /GR:jab:R6:3-28~l~c!~3jab) Ordinance No. 1063, Page 2 1 2 4. "Allowable Water Usage" means the amount of water delivered to a customer's premises which does not exceed the 5 .maximum .amount established pursuant to -this ordinance and .-by resolutions of the City Council made from time to time pursuant to 4 the provisions of this ordinance. 5 5. "Customer" means each person or entity who has contracted for water service from the City of Tustin. 6. "Penalty Amount" shall mean the additional charge, 7 expressed in terms of cost per Billing Unit, imposed on water consumption in excess of the Allowable Water Usage. 8 7. "Water" means potable water and does not include 9 reclaimed water. 10 C. Customer Responsibility. Each customer of the Tus~in Water Service shall be, responsible for the use and-misuse of all water pipes and facilities connected to the. meter oromet~rs'Which measure the amount of'water for which the customer'is obligated to 12 pay the City of Tustin. ' lS D. Water Usaqe Limitation. All customers shall make all reasonable efforts to not receive, use, consume or-permit to be 14 delivered to the premises for which the customer. contracted-.With the City for service, water in an amount in excess of the All0waSle 15 Water Usage. The Allowable Water Usage shall be as set forth below, effective at'12:01 a.m-. on April 22, 1991:' 16 summer winter 17 Allotment GallonS. Allotment Gallons Water User May - Oct. Per Day Nov. - April Per Day 18 Single Family 48 units * 598 30 units 374 Residential Dwelling 19 Multi-Family unit 18 units 224 16 units 200 20 (including condominium unit) Commercial business. 138 units 1720 105 units 1309 21 Industrial business 278 units 3466 138 units 1720 Non-Profit establishment -186 units 2319 109 units 1359 (including church, boys 23 and girls club, etc.) 24 Government unit 675 units 8415 235 units 2930 (including school districts, 25 City, State) Landscape 161 units 2007 98 units 1221 26 (multi-family developments (including condominiums} 27 served by Green Meter) 28 * 1 unit equal 100 cubic feet and equals 748 gallons Ordinance No. 1063, Page 3 1 2 For purposes of this subsection, measurements of water. consumption falling between full Billing Units shall be rounded up 3 to the next full Billing.-Unit ..... 4 E. Additional Charges and Penalties. In the event a customer f.ails to comply with prescribed water usage limitations, 5 an additional charge of ninety cents ($0.90) shall be imposed on each Billing Unit received over and above the' Allowable Water 6 Usage. If two consecutive billing periods show water usage exceeding the Allowable Water Usage, an additional surcharge of 7 twenty-five percent (25%) of the total amount of the bill (including the additional ninety cents ($0.90) per Billing Unit 8 prescribed above) will be imposed. After the third consecutive billing period where water usage exceeds the Allowable Water Usage. 9 a-surcharge of fifty percent (50%) of the total bill (including.the additional ninety cents ($0.90) per Billing. Unit prescribed above) 10 will be imposed. For consecutive billing periods, four or more 6f which exceed the Allowable Water Usage, the City may install.a flow 11 restricting device to reduce the amount of water supplied t6 the' customer and a surcharge of seventy-five percent (75%).of the total 12 charge shall be imposed will be'added to the total bill.'(including the additional ninety cents ($0.90) per Billing. Unit prescribed 13 above) for all periods exceeding the allowable usage. -The device. shall not be removed until such time as the customeP ha~.provided 14 proof satisfactory to the City that the customer will not exceed the Allowable Water Usage. A fee of Fifty Dollars ($50). Shall 15 charged for installing the flow restricting---device. Penalties shall appear on the first billing statement for-lthat account= 16 immediately after the Billing PeriOd in _which the excess water usage occurred. The penalty shall be paid-at the same time as.the 17 payment for normal water service. Failure to pay the entire amount due shall incur the same penalties as those imposed for failure to 18 pay for normal water service. 19 Any excess revenues received by. the City from the additional charges and penalties prescribed in this ordinance 20 'greater than.the additional charges and penaltiespaid by the City to the MWD, shall be used by the City solely for capital 21 improvement costs of water facilities. 22 F. Chanq~s in Allowable Water Usaqe, Charqes, Penalties, etc. .The City Council may by resolution adopted'from time to time 23 set, revise, increase or decrease the Allowable Water Usage and the charges, surcharges and penalties as deemed necessary. to 24 accommodate water'allocations, charges and penalties imposed by MWD and other factors affecting the supply and cost of water to the 25 City of Tustin. Such resolutions shall become effective as specified in such resolutions and shall within ten (10) days of 26 their adoption be published in a newspaper of general circulation, printed, published and circulated in the City of Tustin. G. New Customers. The water billing section shall notify 28 new customers of their Allowable Water Usage -rate, charges, Ordinance No. 1063, Page 4 1 2 penalties, etc., at the time application is made for new water service. H. Adjustments. The City Manager or designee. upon 4- application by a customer for relief, shall have the authority t0 modify the billing to a customer if the City Manager or designee 5 determines that strict 'application of the provisions of this ordinance would create undue hardship to, or result in inequitable 6 treatment of, the customer. 7 I. Relief from Compliance. 1. A customer may file an application for relief from 8 the water usage reduction requirements of this ordinance. The application shall be on.a form provided by the City and shall 9 specify the basis for the request-for relief~ The application shall be filed with the City. Manager or designee.. An application 10 seeking relief relative to a previously billed amount shall be filed within fifteen (15) days after the-date on which.the water 11 bill was mailed to. the customer. In determining whether'to grant relief and the nature of any relief, the City Manageror designee 12 may consider the following: 13 (a) Whether mandated reduction in water. usage will result in unemployment; (b) Whether a larger number of persons tha~'avera~e~ 15 reside or are employed on the premises; 16 (c) Whether a commercial.or industrial user has previously undertaken extensive water conservation activities and 17 an additional reduction .in allowable water usage would be a hardship; 18 (d) Whether specific health or safe~y 19 considerations are present that require the use of.wate~ in excess of the Allowable Water Usage. 20 2. No relief shall be granted to any customer in the 21 absence of a showing that the customer has achieved the maximum practical reduction in water consumption aside'from those factors 22 which would otherwise warrant an adjustment. No relief shall be granted to any customer who fails to provide the City Manager or 23 designee with requested information relevant to a determination of the adequacy of the grounds of relief or a finding that maximum 24 practical reduction and consumption has been achieved.' 25 3. The decision of the City Manager or designee shall be made after all material has been reviewed. 4. The City Manager or designee will make a 27 -determination no later than fourteen (14) days after. the appeal.is received. If an appeal is decided in full or partial favor of the 28 customer, an immediate adjustment will be made to the customer's Ordinance No. 1063, Page 5 1 2 account. If the appeal is rejected, customer must pay the.bill in full within five (5) business days to avoid service interruption. 5 Provided, however, i~ the customer-files anNappeal with the Water Appeals Board,.to be appointed. by the City Council, payment need 4 not be made until five (5) business days following decision of the Board. Appeals of decisions of the Water Appeals Board may be made 5 to the City Council, provided, however, the customer must first make a deposit with the City of seventy-five percent (75%) of the 6 disputed bill to avoid service interruption. 7 J. Confi~ation. A customer shall have the right to request confirmation of the amount of water used during a Billing Period 8 for which the customer has been billed. 9 K. Irriqation. Where an improperly maintained irrigation system results in a waste of water., e.g., causes excessive runoff, 10 the City Manager or designee shall have the authority to discontinue water service. Notice of the termination o~ service 11 shall be given by posting notice of.the.decision on the meter which measures.water flowing through. the 'system and by mailing .written 12 notice of"the decision to the customer within twenty-four (24) hours after service was terminated. The customer shall-have the lS right to appeal the decision to .terminate service by filing a written request for hearing with the City 'Manager- or designee 14 within fifteen (15) days after the date on which notice-was mailed. Appeals of the decision of the City Manager or designee may be made 15 to the Water Appeals Board and thereafter to '~he City Council. 16 SECTION 2. The City Council finds and declares that adoption of this ordinance as an emergency measure is necessary ~o preserve 17 the public peace, health, and safety in that: 18 A. California is currently experiencing a drought Of unprecedented magnitude with current water reserves thrQughout the 19 State far below normal. 20 B. The City has initiated a voluntary water conservation program, but the program has not achieved the desired results. C. Metropolitan Water District, the supplier of imported 22 water to the City of Tustin, has announced its intention to reduce the amount of water delivered to the City and t0.'impose a surcharge 25 on all water sold to the City in excess of new allocation levels. The surcharge and reduced allocation levels were effective on 24 February 1, 1991 and compliance with MWD directives cannot be achieved other than through the adoption of an emergency ordinance. 25 D. The imposition of penalties on excess consumption of 26 water will reduce water usage and allow the City to recover the additional costs it incurs relative to the .purchase of water from' 27 MWD. ~ 28 Ordinance No. 1063, Page 6 1 2 E. Failure to achieve a fifteen percent (15%) reduction in water consumption will reduce available water supplies, lead to 5 .further MWD mandated reductions,. and require imposition-of more stringent restrictions on water use in the future. In the long 4 term, the failure to conserve water combined with continued drought could lead to the inability of the City to provide water in amounts 5 necessary for health and sanitation. 6 SECTION 3. Effective Date and Publication. This ordinance shall be effective immediately upon its adoption by a majority of 7 the members of the City Council pursuant to WaterCode Section 375. The City Clerk is hereby directed to cause this ordinance to be 8 published pursuant to Government Code Section 6061 within ten (10) days of its adoption in a newspaper of general circulation, 9 printed, published and circulated in the City of Tustin. 10 SECTION 4. Severability.. The City Council of the City of. Tustin hereby declares that should any section, Paragraph,.sentence- 11 or word of this ordinance be declared, for any reason,'-to 'be invalid, it is the intent of the Counc~i that it.Would have passed 12 all other .portions of this ordinance independent~ of.-~he portion declared invalid. 15 SECTION 5. Savinqs Clause. Neither the adoption Of this 14 ordinance nor the repeal of any other ordinance of the City shall, in any manner, affect the prosecution for violations of ordinances' 15 committed prior to the effective date of th~adoption or.repeal, nor be construed as a waiver of-.any of the penalty or penal~ 16 provisions applicable to such violation. The proviSions"of this ordinance, to the extent they are substantially the same as 17 ordinances previously adopted by the City and relating-tothe same subject matter, shall be construed. as restatements and 18 continuations, and not as new enactments. 19 PASSED AND APPROVED by the City Council of the City of Tustin at a regular meeting held on the 2st day of April 20 1991. · E. WYNN, City Clerk 28 City of Tustin ORDINANCE CERTIFICATION STATE OF CALIFORNIA .) COUNTY OF ORANGE ) SS CITY OF TUSTIN ) ORDINANCE NO. 1063 'Mary E. Wynn, City Clerk and ex-officio Clerk of the City Council of the City of Tustin, California, does hereby certify that the whole number of the members of the City Council of the City of Tustin is five; that the above and foregoing Ordinance No. 1063 was duly and regularly introduced, read, passed and adopted as an urgency ordinance at a regular meeting held on .the 1st day of April, 1991, ~y' the' following vote: COUNCILMEMBER AYES: Edgar, Puckett,-Pontious, Potts COUNCILMEMBER NOES: None COUNCILMEMBER ABSTAINED: None COUNCILMEMBER ABSENT: Prescott ValerieWhiteman. for Mary-Wynn, City Clerk