THE CITY OF
ORDINANCE NO: G-08-7
FOR THE PURPOSE of amending the Code of
the City of Frederick, 1966, as amended, to impose an availability charge in
conjunction with the allocation of water to new development projects
BY ADDING Chapter
25, Section 25-1.1, entitled "Availability charge"
WHEREAS, on March
16, 2006, The City of Frederick (''the City") and the Board of County
Commissioners of Frederick County, Maryland ("the County") entered
into a contract known as the Potomac River Water Supply Agreement
("PRWSA"); and
WHEREAS, under the terms of the PRWSA, the County's Potomac River Water Supply System is being expanded and improved to provide for the long-term supply of potable water for the City and the County; and
WHEREAS, under the terms of the PRWSA, the County provides water system capacity, as it becomes available, to the City for the City's use and allocation; and
WHEREAS, the intent of the PRWSA is that as water capacity becomes available, the County will notify the City of the amount of water capacity available for allocation by the City, and the City will in turn notify the County of the amount of water required by the City for allocation to new development projects; and
WHEREAS, under the terms of the PRWSA, the County's monthly bill to the City for water supplied from the County's Potomac River Water Supply will include both a commodity charge and an availability charge based upon the capacity available for use by the City; and
WHEREAS, the City has adopted a regulatory scheme for the allocation of water and sewer capacity to new development projects within the City, currently codified as Section 742 of the Land Management Code (Appendix A of the Frederick City Code, 1966, as amended) and the administrative regulations adopted pursuant thereto; and
WHEREAS, under the City's water and sewer allocation regulations, the City's Water and Sewer Service Committee grants an allocation of water and sewer to each new development project, which allocation is finalized through the execution by the City and property owner of a water and sewer allocation contract; and
WHEREAS, under the City's water and sewer allocation regulations, the execution of an allocation contract serves as a reservation of water and sewer in accordance with the applicable regulations and the terms of the allocation contract; and
WHEREAS, the
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED AND ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND BOARD OF
ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF
Section 1. Chapter 25 of the
(a) Definitions.
Allocation contract means a water and sewer allocation contract executed pursuant to Section 742 of the LMC.
EDU means Equivalent Dwelling Unit, a measure where one unit is equivalent to water supply (and sewer effluent) of 400 gallons per day for peak day demand.
Land Management Code or LMC means Appendix A of the Frederick City Code (1966, as amended).
Ready to serve rate means the amount of money per equivalent meter unit that Frederick County charges its customers for the ready to serve component of its water and sewer service charges, which component is intended to recover the cost to maintain infrastructure capacity associated with the customer's potential need, as further described in the County's Water and Sewer Rules and Regulations.
(b) Applicability. This section applies to any development project within the City for which an allocation contract is entered into on or after the effective date of this section.
(c) Time Period of Charge. The City shall impose an availability charge for water upon a property owner starting on the effective date of the allocation contract and ending on the date a certificate of occupancy is issued for the development project (at which time the City will bill the property owner for water at the City's prevailing water rates). If multiple certificates of occupancy will be issued for a single development project, then on the date of issuance of each certificate of occupancy, the availability charge will be reduced in proportion to the amount of water associated with that certificate of occupancy.
(d) Calculation and Payment. The availability charge for water imposed under this section is calculated by multiplying the EDUs allocated to the development project on a peak day demand basis, as shown on the allocation contract, by the County's ready to serve rate. The City shall bill the property owner, and the property owner shall pay the City, quarterly for the water made available to the property owner. The availability charge will be prorated for every portion of a month that the availability charge is to be assessed. The bill is due and payable within 30 days; the City will issue a notice and add a charge of 2% per month to any bill for availability charges not paid within that 30 day period. If the owner fails to pay the bill for an availability charge within 60 days of a second notice of a balance due, the City forthwith shall revoke the entire allocation associated with that availability charge. Once an allocation is revoked, the property owner will have no further rights to that allocation and the City will have no obligations to the property owner or any other person with respect to the allocation revoked. Following revocation of an allocation to a development project, the development project will not be eligible to receive another allocation for a period of one year from the date of revocation. The owner shall have the right to appeal to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen any revoked allocation within 30 days of revocation. If the allocation is redeemed, the Mayor and Board of Aldermen shall assess a surcharge of $1,000 per EDU.
(e) Revocation, Recapture,
or Relinquishment. If, pursuant to the LMC, the City revokes or
recaptures, or a property owner relinquishes, a water allocation or any portion
of a water allocation, then the City promptly shall adjust the availability
charge based upon the actual amount of water available for use by that property
owner.
(f) No Substitution. The
availability charge imposed pursuant to this section is in addition to, and not
in lieu of, any other charge associated with water allocation or use, including
but not limited to application fees, contract fees, and water rents.
Section 2. In the event any provision, section, sentence, clause or part of this Ordinance shall be held to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect or impair any remaining provision, section, sentence clause or part of this Ordinance, it being the intent of the City that such remainder shall be and shall remain in full force and effect.
Section
3. This Ordinance shall take effect on March 7, 2008, and all other
ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent with the provisions of this
Ordinance will as of that date be repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.
APPROVED: March 6, 2008 PASSED: March 6, 2008
______________________________ ________________________________
WILLIAM J. HOLTZINGER,
Board of Aldermen
Approved for Legal Sufficiency:
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