1989-10 Water & SewerRESOLUTION NO. 89-10
• A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A WATER AND SEWER
CAPACITY ALLOCATION POLICY; PROVIDING FOR AN
i&r t,s%.rj. vn DATE.
BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Okeechobee,
Florida, as follows:
Introduction
This is a policy statement of the City of Okeechobee relative to
obtaining water and sewer capacity allocation. This policy is
required due to the recognition that water and sewage capacity is
very limited under existing constraints and conditions. This
policy is intended to provide a fair and equitable method for
allocation of water and sewer capacity. It is further intended to
provide an equitable distribution of the financial support required
to meet the necessary financial obligations of the city -owned and
-operated water and sewer system.
Statement of Policy
The allocation of water and sewer capacity within the City and
County of Okeechobee is made possible by and is contingent upon
capacity allocation at the water and wastewater treatment plants
operated by the City of Okeechobee, which is monitored and governed
by DER.
This policy provides for allocations based on specific requests in
the form of requisite gallons per day of water and sewage capacity
.for new development, renovation, alterations, etc.
Capacity Application
Applications for capacity shall be submitted to the Department of
Public Utilities on the appropriate form. Applications will be
given a preliminary screening when submitted, and any incomplete
or incorrect applications will be returned to the applicant for
necessary revisions. Accepted applications shall be entered on the
Preliminary Capacity Waiting List in chronological order based upon
date of receipt of capacity application by the Department of Public
Utilities. Developments which have previously submitted
preliminary plans through the Development Review process, shall. be
entered on the Capacity Waiting List in a chronological order_.
Such entry date will be based upon the date of preliminary plan
review by the Development Review Committee. Placement on the List
will serve to confirm a valid application for capacity and insure
an equitable "First Come -First Served" processing of capacity
requests.
Procedure for Allocation of Caoacity
Applicants will be notified by certified mail that capacity is
available for allocation for their specific project. Notification
shall be handled in a chronological order based upon the project's
placement on the "Preliminary Capacity Waiting List". The
applicant, within 72 hours from receipt of notification of
capacity, must issue a "Letter of Intent" to the Okeechobee
Department of Public Utilities should he/she wish to reserve
capacity.
Upon receipt of the "Letter of Intent", the requested capacity
shall be reserved contingent upon execution of a Developer's
• Agreement and payment of Water and Sewer Fees. Payment of the
Water and Sewer Fees will be required within 30 days from date of
issue of the "Letter of Intent". Such execution of the Developer's
Agreement and payment of the Water and Sewer Fees shall constitute
a reservation of capacity and will remain as such, subject to
complete compliance with all other provisions of this policy.
To obtain a water and sewage capacity allocation, the property for
• which capacity application is made shall comply with all
appropriate aspects of the Okeechobee County Land Development Code.
Applications for capacity allocation for nonresidential development
shall provide sufficient information to determine a reasonable
estimate of capacity requirements and determination of required
Water and Sewer Fees. Capacity will be reserved and payment of
Water and Sewer Fees shall be based on this estimate. However,
upon completion of final site plan designs, the plans shall be
reviewed for capacity needs and recomputation of Water and Sewer
Fees. Should the final site plans reflect a capacity requirement
in excess of that previously reserved, additional capacity will be
reserved, if available and in accordance with the allocation
provisions of this policy, and the applicant will be required to
pay the differential Water and Sewer Fees. Should additional
capacity be required and not be available, the applicant shall, at
his option, modify his plans consistent with the previously
reserved capacity. All projects (residential and nonresidential)
shall conform with all appropriate aspects of the County Land
Development Code in order to qualify for a certificate of
occupancy. Reservation of capacity in no way guarantees that the
subject property will automatically be approved by any necessary
review process of the City of Okeechobee, and is subject to
modification by governmental agencies and permitting which is
beyond the control of the City.
Payment of Water and Sewer Fees
As indicated in the preceding section of this Policy, Water and
Sewer Fees are to be paid in order to reserve capacity allocation.
Such payment is to be made in accordance with the following
provision:
1. Developer will be required to pay water and sewer fees
for each unit or equivalent residential connection (ERC)
within 30 days from the date of issue of the "Letter of
Intent". Failure to pay the fees within 30 days will
result in recapture of the capacity allocation.
Payment of Monthly Service Charges
A monthly service charge, will be assessed for each remaining unit
or ERC which has not been transferred to a resident after one (1)
year from the date capacity was allocated. The monthly charge will
be composed of the following elements: (a) debt service payments
for revenue bonds; (b) expenses for operations; and (c)
depreciation. The monthly charges may be adjusted from time to
time by the City of Okeechobee based on the above criteria as
provided by law, and initial rates shall not be construed as a
binding contract throughout the life of the project.
Department of Environmental Regulation Permits
It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to submit
appropriate Water and Sewer Florida Department of Environmental
Regulation permit applications to the Department of Public
Utilities and provide all information or required documentation
prior to construction commencement of the water and/or sewer
system. An applicant shall not be permitted to record the final
plat for a project until an approved Department of Environmental
Regulation Permit has been obtained for the project. Should the
Florida Department of Environmental Regulation refuse to issue the
permit, refunds of the Water and Sewer Fees will be made within
thirty (30) days from such notification of denial. Such request
for refund must be accompanied by a written request from the
• property owner that the capacity allocation be made null and void.
During the valid life of a Florida Department of Environmental
Regulation permit, the applicant must complete the installation of
the sewage collection/ transmission system in accordance with the
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approved permitted plans. Should the permit expire, the City
• shall, subject to Florida Department of Environmental Regulation
approval, agree to an extension of the permit if all due payments
(Water and Sewer Fees, monthly service charges) are current and
paid in full. If all obligations are not current, the City may
rescind its authorization of capacity for the project and retain
the collected Water and Sewer Fees, except as to an allocation that
may actually be being used at lot(s) or unit(s).
Allocation Priorites, Factors and Limitations
The following criteria will be used to determine water and sewer
allocations:
1. Should capacity be exhausted and all needs on the
Capacity Waiting List are not met, future capacity shall
be initially offered to those projects which appeared on
the Waiting List at the time of initial allocation and
which did not obtain any portion of an allocation.
2. Those projects whose capacity needs were not met in their
entirety and those projects which did not commit to
initial capacity allocation shall then be offered
capacity, after the needs of those projects who did not
obtain an allocation on the initial offering of capacity.
Such allocation shall conform with the provisions of this
policy.
3. Should all capacity needs be met based upon issuance of
a "Letter of Intent" and capacity remains to be
allocated, the preceding allocation methods identified
in this policy shall be utilized to provide additional
capacity to those projects whose capacity needs were not
met in their entirety.
4. Should an applicant determine that he/she does not wish
to commit to the available capacity allocation, his/her
project shall retain it's position on the Preliminary
Capacity Waiting List.
5. Should all of a project's capacity needs not be met upon
initial capacity allocation, the project and the
remaining units/ERC's to be served shall retain it's
position on the Preliminary Capacity Waiting List for
future capacity allocation.
�acity Reservation or Allocation Recapture
Upon obtaining water and sewage capacity allocation, the
reservation of capacity shall be used and applied only with respect
to the property for which the allocatin of capacity was approved.
The allocation of water and sewer capacity shall run with the
property. The capacity allocation is transferred with ownership
of the property as long as all fees have been paid, and the new
owner also complies with all requirements herein. The applicant
or owner of the water and sewer allocation is not permitted to
sell, lease, sublet, assign, lend or transfer a capacity
reservation to another property, person or entity. To insure the
optimum utilization of the available capacity, the City reserves
the right to recapture capacity allocations for failure of the
applicant to meet the conditions of the authorization of the City
and/or failure to meet all required financial obligations.
The City may institute the recapture of the capacity allocation
under the following conditions:
• 1. Failure of the applicant to meet all financial
obligations that are due within the requirements of the
City of Okeechobee Water and Sewer Capacity Policy.
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2. Failure of the applicant to comply with Florida
• Department of Environmental Regulation permit
requirements within the life of the permit, unless the
permit authorization is extended.
3. Violation by the applicant of the prohibition against
transfer of water or sewer capacity allocation.
4. Failure of the applicant to comply with the requirements
of the City of Okeechobee Water and Sewer Capacity
Policy, as from time to time amended at regularly
scheduled public meetings.
This resolution shall become effective immediately upon its
adoption.
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED this lz� day of
1989 by the City Countil of the City of Okeechobee, Florida.
ATTEST:
Bbnnie Th6"s, City Cleik
•
Oakland R. Chapman., -Mayor
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