ORDINANCE NO. 130-14
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTIONS 28-118 AND 28-141
OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF OPELIKA, ALABAMA
BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council (the “Council”) of the City of Opelika, Alabama (the “City”) as follows:
Section 1. Amendment to Section 28-118. That Section 28-118 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Opelika, Alabama, is hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 28-118 Items restricted.
(a) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials, water, or wastes if it appears likely in the opinion of the superintendent that such wastes can harm either the sewers, sewage treatment process, or equipment; have an adverse effect on the receiving stream, or can otherwise endanger life, limb, public property, or constitute a nuisance. In forming an opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the superintendent will give consideration of such factors as the quantities of subject wastes in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, materials of construction of the sewers, nature of the sewage treatment process, capacity of the sewage treatment plant, degree of treatability of wastes in the sewage treatment plant, and other pertinent factors. The substances prohibited are:
(1) Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than one hundred fifty (150) degrees Fahrenheit (65 degrees Celsius).
(2) Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease, or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of one hundred (100) mg/l or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between thirty-two (32) and one hundred fifty (150) degrees Fahrenheit (0 and 65 degrees Celsius).
(3) Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-fourths horsepower (0.76 hp metric) or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the superintendent.
(4) Any waters or wastes containing strong acid iron pickling wastes, or concentrated plating solutions whether neutralized or not.
(5) Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc, cyanide, and similar objectionable or toxic substances; or wastes exerting an excessive chlorine requirement, to such degree that any such material received in the composite sewage at the sewage treatment works exceeds the limits established by the superintendent and/or the Alabama Water Improvement Commission, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for such materials.
(6) Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste or odor producing substances, in such concentrations exceeding limits which may be established by the superintendent as necessary, after treatment of the composite sewage, to meet the requirements of the state, federal, or other public agencies of jurisdiction for such discharge to the receiving water.
(7) Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the superintendent in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations.
(8) Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of 9.5.
(9) Materials which exert or cause:
a. Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids (such as, but not limited to, Fullers earth, lime slurries, and lime residues) or of dissolved solids (such as, but not limited to solidum chloride and sodium sulfate).
b. Excessive discoloration (such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions).
c. Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand, nitrogenous oxygen demand, or chlorine requirement in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works. Unusual BOD is considered to be above three hundred (300) mg/l. A surcharge shall be applied to all users whose sewage exceeds three hundred (300) mg/l. Unusual nitrogenous oxygen demand is considered to be for a discharge having an ammonia concentration of above ONE HUNDRED (100) parts per million (ppm) NH3-N. A surcharge shall be applied to all users whose sewage exceeds fifty (50) ppn NH3-N.
(10) Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amendable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes employed, or are amendable to treatment only to such degree that the sewage treatment plan effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters.
(11) Waters or wastes containing suspended solids in excess of three hundred (300) milligrams per liter.
(b) If any waters or wastes are discharged, or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in subsection (a), and which in the judgment of the superintendent and/or the Alabama Water Improvement Commission, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the Environmental Protection Agency, may have a deleterious effect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment, or receiving waters, or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the superintendent may:
(1) Reject the wastes.
(2) Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers.
(3) Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge, and/or,
(4) Require payment to cover the added cost of handling and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges under the provisions of section 28-123 of this Code.
If the superintendent permits the pretreatment or equalization of waste flows, the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the superintendent, and the Alabama Water Improvement Commission, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the Environmental Protection Agency, and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances, and laws.
Section 2. Amendment to Section 28-141. That Section 28-141 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Opelika, Alabama, is hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 28-141. Implementation of service charges.
(a) Definitions. The following words, terms and phrases used in this section shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this paragraph unless where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(1) Meter: An instrument or apparatus for measuring and recording the quantity or flow of water passing through it.
(2) Premises: Any dwelling, apartment, rooming or boarding house, motel, hotel, restaurant, shop, eating, commercial or industrial establishment, place of business, institution or building and all other such dwellings or establishments, whether specifically enumerated herein or not, together with the lot upon which same is situated.
(3) Wastewater: A combination of water-carried waste from residences, business buildings, institutions, industrial establishments or other premises, together with such ground, surface and storm waters as may be present.
(b) Service charge. A wastewater disposal service charge shall be paid by the owner or tenant of each premises which shall discharge sanitary or industrial wastewater originating from or on such premises into any sanitary sewer served by the sewer system of the city. Said wastewater disposal service charge shall be computed, as herein provided, on the basis of demand, and on the rate of water consumption upon the premises so served by the sewer system of the city.
(c) Demand charge. Except as provided herein, a monthly demand charge according to the size of the water meters serving each premises, shall be computed and assessed against each customer discharging effluent from such premises beginning with the October 2011 billing cycle and increasing on the October 2012 billing cycle, as follows:
(d) Water consumption charge. Effective October 1, 2011, in addition to the demand charge as computed in [subsection] (c) above, a monthly consumption charge, established from the meter readings of the water system serving such premises for the preceding billing period, shall be computed and assessed against each customer discharging effluent from such premises, at the rate of one dollar fifty-four cents ($1.54) per one thousand (1,000) gallons of water consumed. Beginning with the October 2012 billing cycle, the monthly consumption charge will increase to one dollar sixty-nine cents ($1.69) per one thousand (1,000) gallons of water consumed. Beginning with the October 2013 billing cycle, the monthly consumption charge will increase by four (4) percent.
(e) Review of system. The city will review its service charge system annually to determine the wastewater contribution of users, the total cost of the operation and maintenance of the treatment works and the adequacy of its user charge rate.
(f) Surcharges. A surcharge shall be applied to all users of the sewer system whose wastewater discharge has total suspended solids (TSS) and/or biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in excess of three hundred (300) parts per million (ppm), and/or nitrogenous loading is greater than ONE HUNDRED (100) parts per million (ppm) NH3-N concentration determined according to the greater of the two following formulas:
Surcharge cost per 1,000 gallons (B-300)+(S-300)} × Demand Rate × 0.16
OR for high nitrogenous oxygen demand sewages:
Surcharge cost per 1,000 gallons = (N-50) x Demand Rate x 0.045
Where, B = Average monthly user BOD in ppm, and
S = Average monthly user TSS in ppm
N = Average monthly user ammonia (NH3-N) concentration in ppm
The surcharge cost will be multiplied by the user’s metered water consumption (in one thousand (1000) gallons). The calculated amount will then be added to the charges computed under the City’s normal rate schedule to arrive at the user’s total monthly bill.
The discharger shall be responsible for the sampling, testing and reporting the concentration of each discharge to the City’s sewer system. Each discharger shall submit a monitoring, testing and quality control plan that meets the City’s information needs to ensure accurate measurement of sewer discharges. Discharger shall bear all costs with said sampling, monitoring and testing. The City reserves the right to perform simultaneous testing to verify the accuracy of the dischargers’ self-monitoring. The City reserves the right to terminate receipt of material should City testing be materially different from discharger’s self-monitoring and self-reporting.
(g) Cost for additional expenses. Any user which discharges any toxic pollutants that cause an increase in the cost of managing the effluent or the sludge of the city’s treatment works shall pay the cost of such additional expenses based on the water consumption charge per one thousand (1,000) gallons.
Section 3. Repealer Clause. All former ordinances or parts thereof conflicting or inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance or the sections hereby amended are repealed.
Section 4. Severability Clause. If any section, clause, provision or portion of this ordinance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any Court of competent jurisdiction, said holding shall not effect any other section, clause, provision or portion of this Ordinance which is not in or of itself invalid.
Section 5. Construction Clause. If any section, paragraph, sentence or word of this Ordinance or the sections hereby amended are declared for any reason to be invalid, it is the intent of the City Council that it would have passed all other portions of this Ordinance and the sections hereby adopted independent of the elimination therefrom of any portion that may be declared invalid.
Section 6. Effective Date. This ordinance and the sections hereby amended shall take effect and be enforced immediately upon its adoption and publication as required by law.
Section 7. Publication. The City Clerk of the City of Opelika, Alabama is hereby authorized and directed to cause this Ordinance to be published one (1) time in a newspaper of general circulation published in the City of Opelika, Lee County, Alabama.
ADOPTED AND APPROVED this the 21st day of October, 2014.
/s/ C. E. “Eddie” Smith, Jr.
PRESIDENT OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF OPELIKA, ALABAMA
ATTEST:
/s/ R. G. Shuman
CITY CLERK
TRANSMITTED TO MAYOR on this the 22nd day of October, 2014.
/s/ R. G. Shuman
CITY CLERK
ACTION BY MAYOR
APPROVED this the 22nd day of October, 2014.
/s/ Gary Fuller
MAYOR
ATTEST:
/s/ R. G. Shuman
CITY CLERK
Legal run 10/24/14