ORDINANCE AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF WHITE BEAR LAKE REGARDING WATER METERS

The Council of the City of White Bear Lake does ordain as follows:

ARTICLE I.   Section 401.020 of the Municipal Code of the City of White Bear Lake is hereby deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

§401.020 MUNICIPAL WATER SYSTEM; METERS.  No person other than an authorized City employee shall use water from the City water system or permit water to be drawn therefrom unless the water passes through a meter supplied by and approved by the City. All meters shall be the property of the City and shall remain under the control and supervision of the City. Meters may be removed and replaced only by the City when deemed necessary, in the City’s sole discretion.  No person not authorized by the City shall connect, disconnect, take apart or in any manner change, interfere or tamper with any water meter or its use.

City-approved meters will be installed, replaced, and repaired, when deemed necessary by the City at all locations with City water service. Installation of standard size meters will be at the City’s expense, except that larger meters may be installed at the customer’s expense. Customers not complying with installation or replacement of standard City meters will be subject to a manual meter reading fee, which may be established by the City Council in its fee schedule, or, if deemed necessary by the City, water service shut-off pursuant to Municipal Code sections §401.090.

ARTICLE II.   Section 401.030 of the Municipal Code of the City of White Bear Lake is hereby deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

§401.030 MUNICIPAL WATER SYSTEM; METER MAINTENANCE AND ACCESS.  The City shall maintain and repair at its expense any meter that has become unserviceable through ordinary wear and use and shall replace said meter, if necessary, at no cost to the customer.   Where meter repair or replacement is made necessary by act or neglect of the customer or any occupant of the premises it serves, City replacement and repair costs shall be a charge against and collected from the customer. Customers must use reasonable measures to keep their service lines, attachments and water meters in working order, and must protect them from damage and freezing. In case of the breakage or stoppage of any meter, the customer shall immediately notify the City.

Authorized City employees and contractors shall be provided access at reasonable hours of the day to every building or property connected with the City water supply in order to install and replace meters, obtain meter readings, maintain meters, and make meter inspections, as deemed necessary in the City’s sole discretion.  Water meters shall be kept unobstructed and accessible by the customer.

If after reasonable efforts the City is unable to gain access to a building or property to install, read, maintain, replace, or inspect any water meter, irrespective of the reason, the water customer shall be subject to a quarterly non-compliance fee to account for the City’s inability to determine usage and properly maintain its water meters and its overall municipal water system.  Said fee may be established by the City Council in the City’s fee schedule.  If deemed necessary by the City, water service shut-off pursuant to Municipal Code sections §401.090 may also be utilized when meter access is not provided to the City.

ARTICLE III.  This ordinance shall become effective on the first day of publication after adoption.