§ 110-121. Construction of sewers; connections.

(a)

Sewer construction by developer. Sewers to be constructed by a developer or his contractor shall be constructed in accordance with the following:

(1)

Plat approval. For a subdivision, the application shall be accompanied by two copies of a recorded plat or, for a new subdivision, an approved preliminary plan or preferably a master preliminary plan or a large-scale development plan, plus a plan showing the location of proposed sewer extensions.

(2)

Other governmental approval. Prior to final acceptance, all such sewer extensions shall be approved by the appropriate state agencies and the county.

(3)

Materials and construction standards. All materials and labor shall meet the specifications required by the county; all construction shall be performed under the inspection of the county and in strict compliance with the standards of the county and the county's design manuals.

(4)

Costs. The developer will pay all impact fees and construction costs prior to connecting to the county's system unless otherwise specified in an agreement between the developer and the county. Construction cost will be the cost of sewer lines of sufficient capacity constructed by the developer to collect the sewage in the proposed development and transport it to the nearest adequately sized county sewer.

(5)

Oversizing. The county reserves the right to oversize any extension and will pay for such oversizing on the basis of additional costs beyond that necessary to serve only the subject development. The county will pay an established unit amount based upon the pipe size of a facility multiplied by the length of that facility. The established unit amount will be determined by the county based on the flow requirements of the developer, and the county will credit the developer for the cost of the county's share of oversized sewers. This credit at the option of the county will be in the form of a reduction of the impact fee or cash payment. The county also reserves the right to limit the amount of its participation in the cost of oversizing, depending on economic conditions or other factors. The rates of credit will be related to the difference in diameter between the pipe required for the developer's project and the pipe required by the county to be installed.

(6)

Maintenance bond. Sewers installed under this section shall become part of the county's system; however, before acceptance, a contract bond approved by the county, equal to the amount of 15 percent of the construction cost, shall be required to guarantee all work and materials for a period of one year after acceptance by the county. Terms and conditions of the bond must meet the county's standards.

(7)

Construction permit. A permit for construction must be obtained by the developer from the appropriate governmental agency.

(b)

Public easement required. No sewer facility will be installed under this section and accepted by the county for operation and maintenance unless it is in a public right-of-way or easement with a minimum width of 15 feet. Conveyance of any easement shall be by a separate document in recordable form to be approved by the county and shall be accompanied by a written certification by an attorney licensed to practice law in the state that the developer is the owner in fee simple of the property to be conveyed by the easement and that, upon its execution by the developer, a valid and enforceable easement in the developer's property will be vested in the county. No sewer facilities to be owned and operated by the county shall be installed under any building or appurtenance thereto.

(c)

Conveyance and ownership. All sewer facilities and appurtenances to be owned by the county shall be conveyed to the county by proper bill of sale immediately after the county's acceptance, in writing, of the construction of the system. The developer shall also provide copies of paid bills or lien waivers, releases or satisfactions, together with a breakdown of the actual cost of the facilities. Concurrently with the documents required in this subsection, the developer shall furnish the county with one set of Mylar as-built drawings showing specific locations, depths, etc., of all sewer facilities and appurtenances. In addition, the developer shall furnish the county with a maintenance bond or alternate security deposit acceptable to the county, for a period of one year from the county's final acceptance of the facilities, in the amount of 15 percent of the total actual cost of construction of the facilities, to protect the county against losses resulting from any and all defects in materials or improper installation of facilities. When accepted and properly conveyed to the county for ownership, maintenance and operation, the facilities shall become and remain the property of the county, and no person shall, by the payment of any charges provided for in this article, or by causing any construction of facilities accepted by the county, acquire any interest or right in any of these facilities or any portion thereof, other than the privilege to have his property connected thereto for sewer service in accordance with this article.

(d)

Minimum size, velocity and length of gravity sewers. The design and layout of the system shall be subject to approval by the county as to conformance with county standards and its master sewer plan. The developer shall include provisions required by the county to carry out the intent of such master planning and will be reimbursed for the additional cost of oversized facilities.

(e)

Minimum size of force mains. The minimum size of force mains shall be six inches inside diameter.

(f)

Approvals. No sewer extension will be accepted by the county without the approvals of the county and the appropriate state agency.

(g)

Unauthorized work on sewer system. No person shall tamper with, work on, uncover, make connection with or in any way alter or damage any county sewer or sewer appurtenance without written permission of the county. Further, no unauthorized person shall cause stormwater, groundwater or any other unauthorized water or material to enter the sanitary sewer system, including sanitary sewage from septic tank trucks. This shall include the connection of downspouts of air conditioning condensate lines into the sewer system; raising manhole lids to allow for drainage; dumping garbage, refuse or other wastes in manholes; draining of swimming pools into sewers; or any other means of causing or allowing any substance not considered sanitary sewage or not legally paid for as sanitary sewage to enter the sewer system. The offending person shall pay the total cost of all charges attributable to such tampering and be subject to all penalties as may be provided by law.

(h)

Common house connections. A single connection serving two or more properties will not be permitted. Common plumbing to two or more lots or parcels shall not be allowed.

(i)

Extent of county maintenance. The county shall not be responsible for the repair and maintenance of house connections or service laterals or for privately owned pumping stations, force mains and sewers. The county shall be responsible only for the repair and maintenance of all public sewers, pumping stations and force mains in the county's system and shall make a diligent effort to inspect and keep these facilities in good repair. All facilities that have been accepted by the county shall become the property of the county and will be operated and maintained by the county. No person shall do any work or be reimbursed for any work or in connection with any work on the system unless written authorization from the county was received prior to the work being accomplished. The county shall make a reasonable effort to inspect and keep its facilities in good repair, but assumes no liability for any damage caused by the system that is beyond the control of normal maintenance or due to situations not previously reported to the department. This shall include damage due to breaking of pipes, poor quality of water caused by unauthorized or unlawful entry of foreign material into the system, faulty operation of fire protection facilities or other reasons. In general, the county will maintain water lines up to and including meters only.

(j)

Customer's maintenance. The customer shall be responsible for the maintenance of the service lateral into and including the house plumbing. The county shall have the right to inspect the house connection and plumbing and to discontinue water service to any customer or property owner who fails to maintain the plumbing to the extent that it may or does cause harm to the sewer facilities. For a municipality or privately owned utilities, the county's responsibility for the cost of maintenance ends at the point of connection to the county's system. The county retains all rights to insist on proper maintenance of the utilities' facilities and to exclude infiltration and harmful wastes by the owners.

(Code 1970, § 26-91; Ord. No. 87-10, § 11, 3-24-87)