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HomeMy WebLinkAbout91-3 - Amending Section 14.12.090 of the Newport Beach Municipal Code to Establish a Water Conservation and Rationing ProgramNO. 91- 3 AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH AMENDING SECTION 14.12.090 OF THE NEWPORT BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE TO ESTABLISH A WATER CONSERVATION AND RATIONING PROGRAM. • The City Council of the City of Newport Beach does hereby ordain as follows: SECTION 1• Section 14.12.090 of the Newport Beach Municipal Code shall be amended to read as follows: 14.12.090 Water Consumption Reduction. A. Findings. The City Council finds the State of California is entering the fifth year of an unprecedented drought. Water levels at many reservoirs are at an all time low. Deliveries of water to the Southern California region from the State Water • Project, Colorado River, Owens Valley and Mono County have declined due to the lack of rainfall and litigation regarding entitlement. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) is the supplier of all water consumed in Newport Beach and MWD will reduce the City's allocation of water by up to ten percent (10 %) beginning February 1, 1991. MWD will charge the City ninety -one percent (91 %) more for delivery of water in excess of new allocation levels. The failure of Newport Beach consumers to collectively reduce water consumption may, in the future, lead to more drastic cutbacks in allocations or deliveries. The failure to reduce water consumption and a continuation of the drought may, in the long term, result in the inability of the City to supply water at or above minimum levels required for health and sanitation. This Ordinance will promote reductions in water consumption and permit recovery of additional costs incurred with the purchase of water and the administration of water conservation measures. 1 B. Definitions. (1) "Base" means the amount of water, expressed in Billing Units, used by a Customer during one of the six (6) Base Periods. (2) "Base Period" means one of six (6) billing • periods used for calculating compliance with the water conservation requirements of this ordinance. The Base Periods for the four billing groups within the City of Newport Beach are as specified below: Group I: June 8, 1989 to August 10, 1989 August 10, 1989 to October 10, 1989 October 10, 1989 to December 7, 1989 December 7, 1989 to February 8, 1990 February 8, 1990 to April 6, 1990 April 6, 1990 to June 7, 1990 Group II: June 15, 1989 to August 15, 1989 August 15, 1989 to October 19, 1989 October 19, 1989 to December 14, 1989 December 14, 1989 to February 15, 1990 February 15, 1990 to April 12, 1990 April 12, 1990 to June 20, 1990 Group III: July 13, 1989 to September 13, 1989 September 13, 1989 to November 9, 1989 • November 9, 1989 to January 11, 1990 January 11, 1990 to March 13, 1990 March 13, 1990 to May 10, 1990 May 10, 1990 to July 15, 1990 Group IV: July 19, 1989 to September 19, 1989 September 19, 1989 to November 13, 1989 November 13, 1989 to January 15, 1990 January 15, 1990 to March 19, 1990 March 19, 1990 to May 16, 1990 May 16, 1990 to July 20, 1990 (3) "Billing Period" means the time interval between two consecutive water meter readings taken for billing purposes. (748 gallons). (4) "Billing Unit" means 100 cubic feet of water (5) "Conservation Rate" means the rate of reduction • in water usage, expressed as a percentage, and reflects the reduction in water allocated to the City by MWD. The Conservation Rate on the effective date of this Ordinance is ninety percent (90 %). This Conservation Rate corresponds with the recent decision of MWD to allocate only ninety percent (90 %) of the water used by the City during comparable periods in the past. 2 (6) "Customer" shall mean any person who receives water service from the City of Newport Beach. (7) "MWD" shall mean Metropolitan Water District. (8) "Reduced Base" shall mean the amount of water equal to the Base multiplied by the Conservation Rate. •(9) "Surcharge" shall mean the additional charge, expressed in terms of cost per Billing Unit, imposed on all water consumption in excess of the Reduced Base. (9) "Water" shall mean potable water. C. Customer Responsibility. The Customer shall be responsible for the use or misuse of all water pipes and facilities connected to the meter or meters which measures the amount of water for which the Customer is obligated to pay the City of Newport Beach. D. Water Usage Reductions. •No Customer shall, during any Billing Period, use or consume water in an amount in excess of the Reduced Base. For purposes of this Subsection, measurements of water consumption falling between full Billing Units shall be rounded up to the next full Billing Unit. E. Surcharges. In the event a Customer fails to comply with the water usage reduction provisions of Subsection D., a Surcharge of ninety -one cents (.91) shall be imposed on each Billing Unit over and above the Reduced Base. The Surcharge shall appear on the first billing statement for that account immediately following the Billing Period in which the excess water usage occurred. The • Surcharge shall be paid at the same time as the payment for normal water service and the penalty for failure to pay the entire amount due shall be the same as the penalty imposed for failure to pay for normal water service. 3 F. City Manager Amendments. The City Manager shall have the authority to set, increase or decrease the Surcharge and /or Conservation Rate as necessary to reflect to changes in allocation or surcharges imposed by MWD or other factors affecting the supply or cost of water to • the City of Newport Beach. The revised Surcharge and /or Conservation Rate shall become effective when notice of the change is published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Newport Beach. G. New Customer. In the event water service was not provided to the premises during one or more Base Period, the Customer shall be assigned a standard Base that reflects typical water usage of a structure use of the same size and /or intensities for which water is provided. • H. Adjustments. The City Manager shall, upon recommendation of the Utilities Director and without an application for relief from a Customer, have the authority to change the Base of, or modify the Billing to, a Customer if strict application of the provisions of this Ordinance would create undue hardship to, or result in inequitable treatment of, the Customer. I. Relief from Compliance. 1. A Customer may file an application for relief from the water usage reduction requirements of this Ordinance. The application shall be on a form provided by the City and shall specify the basis for the request for relief. The application •shall be filed with the Utilities Director. The application shall be filed within fifteen (15) days after the date on which the water bill reflecting the Base at issue was mailed to the Customer. In determining whether to grant relief and the nature of any relief, the Utilities Director shall consider the following: 4 (a) Whether mandated reduction in water usage will result in unemployment; to the household: (b) Whether additional members have been added (c) Whether physical changes have been made to •the property, such as additional construction or landscaping, since the relevant Base Period or Periods; (d) Whether there has been any increase in the number of employees or tenants in the commercial, industrial or office building; (e) Whether specific health or safety considerations are present that require the use of water over and above the Reduced Base; 2. No relief shall be granted to any Customer in the absence of a showing that the Customer has achieved the maximum practical reduction in water consumption aside from those factors which warrant an adjustment. No relief shall be granted to any • Customer who fails to provide the Utilities Director with information requested and which is relevant to a determination of the adequacy of the grounds for relief or a finding that maximum practical reduction and consumption has been achieved. final. 3. The decision of the Utilities Director shall be J. Notice. Notice of the applicable Base, Reduced Base, Base Period, Billing Period and Surcharge shall be given on the water bill. The Customer shall have the right to request, telephonically, confirmation of the amount of water used during the Billing Period and a determination of leaks within the system. The • Customer shall have the right to a hearing regarding the amount of the bill or the accuracy of information on the bill by filing a written request for hearing before the Utilities Director or the Director's designee. The appeal shall be filed within fifteen (15) days after the date on which the bill reflecting the charges or E� information that form the basis of the appeal was mailed to the Customer. The decision of the Utilities Director shall be final. K. Irrigation. Where an improperly maintained irrigation system results in a waste of water (i.e. causes excessive runoff), the •City Manager shall have the authority to discontinue water service. Notice of the termination of service shall be given by posting notice of the decision on the meter which measures water flowing through the system, and by mailing written notice of the decision to the operator of the irrigation system as shown on City records, within twenty -four (24) hours after service was terminated. The irrigation system operator shall have the right to appeal the decision to terminate service by filing a written request for hearing with the Utilities Director within fifteen (15) days after the date on which notice was mailed. L. Contracts for Sale of Water. • The City Manager shall have the authority to approve contracts for the sale of water outside of the City that come up for renewal subsequent to the effective date of this ordinance, provided, however, the City Manager shall not approve any such contract unless the rate charged for water delivered pursuant to the contract is ten percent (10 %) more than the rate charged to Customers within the City that are required to reduce water consumption in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance. SECTION 2: The City Council finds and declares that adoption of this ordinance as an emergency measure is necessary to preserve the public peace, health, and safety in that: A. California is currently experiencing a drought of unprecedented magnitude with current water reserves throughout the State far below normal. B. The City has initiated a voluntary water conservation program, but the program has not achieved the desired 6 results. C. Metropolitan Water District, the supplier of all water sold by the City of Newport Beach, has announced its intention to reduce the amount of water delivered to the City and • to impose a surcharge on all water sold to the City in excess of new allocation levels. The surcharge and reduced allocation levels will become effective on February 1, 1991 and compliance with MWD directives cannot be achieved other than through the adoption of an emergency ordinance. D. The imposition of the surcharge on excess consumption of water will reduce water usage and allow the City to recoup the additional costs it incurs relative to the purchase of water from MWD. E. Failure to achieve a 10% reduction in water • consumption will reduce available water supplies, lead to further MWD mandated reductions, and require imposition of more stringent restrictions on water use in the future. In the long term, the failure to conserve water combined with continued drought could lead to the inability of the City to provide water in amounts necessary for health and sanitation. SECTION 3: Ordinance No. 90 -27 is repealed. SECTION 4: Severability. The City Council of the City of Newport Beach hereby declares that should any section, paragraph, sentence or word of this ordinance be declared, for any reason, to be invalid, it is the intent of the Council that it would have • passed all other portions of this ordinance independent of the portion declared invalid. SECTION 5: Savings Clause. Neither the adoption of this ordinance nor the repeal of any other ordinance of the City shall, 7 • is in any manner, affect the prosecution for violations of ordinances committed prior to the effective date of the adoption or repeal, nor be construed as a waiver of any of the penalty or penal provisions applicable to such violation. The provisions of this ordinance, to the extent they are substantially the same as ordinances previously adopted by the City and relating to the same subject matter, shall be construed as restatements and continuations, and not as new enactments. SECTION 6: This Ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Newport Beach held on the 14th day of January, 1991, and adopted on the 14th day of January, 1991, by the following vote, to wit: My W J / _E %!�% A ING /�alL AYES, COUNCILMEMBERS HEDGES, WATT, TURNER, SANSONE, HART, COX, PLUM ER NOES, COUNCILMEMBERS NONE ABSENT NONE 8