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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 08 - Water Well OrdinanceITEM • .- v MINN- MEMO TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: ROGER NELSON, CITY MANAGER Q•' MEETING DATE: MAY 7, 2002 SUBJECT: WATER WELL ORDINANCE RECOMMENDATION: City Council to consider approval of an Ordinance amending Chapter 7, of the Grapevine Code of Ordinances establishing Article XIII, Private Wells. BACKGROUND: City staff has seen an increase in the number of private water well installations in the City of Grapevine. The wells were drilled to provide irrigation water for commercial and residential water customers. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission provides general regulatory oversight over these wells. However, many Texas communities have enacted local ordinances to ensure the water wells are installed properly, and without a cross connection to the City system. State law requires that a Public Water System must not contain any cross connections to an unknown source. The attached Ordinance creates a process which will be administered by the Development Services Department, to protect the City of Grapevine utility system from potential water well contamination. The proposed ordinance includes the following requirements: • Application: A permit to drill is required which includes conveyance of all pertinent information. • Supervision: The Development Services and Public Works Departments will inspect work. • Interconnection: No interconnection or cross -connection will be allowed to the City system. • Sale or gift of water off -premises: No water may be sold, given or utilized off the premises of the property of the owner. May 1, 2002 (2:20PM) A permit fee of $200.00 will be assessed on a per well basis. The $200.00 fee is adequate to recover staff time related to plan review and inspection of the drilling process. Both Development Services and Public Works inspectors will be involved in the inspection effort. Separate electrical permits and fees may also be required. Failure to comply with the provisions of the ordinance could result in a misdemeanor charge and a fine not to exceed two thousand dollars. To protect the health and welfare of the City and to ensure the public water system is not contaminated, staff recommends this ordinance for approval. MS/ms o:\agenda\051072\water well.agm May 2, 2002 (8:43AM) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS AMENDING THE GRAPEVINE CODE OF ORDINANCES BY AMENDING CHAPTER 7, BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, ARTICLE XIII, PRIVATE WELLS, RELATIVE TO THE 1994 UNIFORM BUILDING CODE, PROVIDING AMENDMENTS TO SAME, REPEALING CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING A PENALTY OF FINE NOT TO EXCEED TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS ($2,000.00) FOR EACH SEPARATE OFFENSE AND A SEPARATE OFFENSE SHALL BE DEEMED COMMITTED UPON EACH DAY DURING OR ON WHICH A VIOLATION OCCURS; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS: Section 1. That Chapter 7, of the Grapevine Code of Ordinances is hereby amended by the addition of Article XIII to read as follows: "Article XIII, Private Wells. Sec. 7-248 Permit to drill, repair, abandon, etc. — Required. It shall be unlawful for any person to drill, or construct, or to engage in or work upon such work within the City, without first securing a permit to do so from the Development Services Department. Sec. 7-249 Same —Application. Any person desiring a permit shall file with the Development Services Department written application therefor. Such application shall contain the following information: (1) The name of the owner of the land upon which the work is to be done; (2) A site plan showing the exact location of the well; (3) The depth of the well to be drilled, repaired or plugged; (4) A complete set of specifications for the work to be done; (5) The name and address of the contractor. Sec. 7-250 Same —Issuance. A permit required by this section shall be issued by the Development Services Department if the applicant complies with all provisions of this division. Sec. 7-251 Supervision of drilling. All work in drilling, casing, cementing, construction, of any water well within the City shall be done under the supervision of the Building Department and the Public Works Department of the City. Sec. 7-252 Casing; minimum depth of cementing. Each water well drilled within the City shall be cased with a good grade of casing and shall be properly cemented to a depth of not less than fifty (50) feet below the surface of the ground. Sec. 7-253 Owner to furnish log. The owner of any water well within the city shall furnish the Public Works Department with a complete log of each and every such well drilled within the City. e n,» Sec. 7-254 Right of the City to inspect and take samples of water, etc. The City shall have the power and privilege to go upon the land and property of the owner of any water well within the city for the purpose of inspecting and taking samples from such well, and to require the owner thereof to give any information requested concerning same. Sec. 7-255 Interconnection or cross -connection with City water. No interconnection or cross -connection shall be made between the City water supply system and any well water supply system. Sec. 7-258 Sale or gift of water off premises. It shall be unlawful for the owner or operator of any well drilled or producing water within the city to sell or give water produced from such well for use off the premises owned by such owner or operator. Sec. 7-259 Use of water. It shall be unlawful for the owner or operator of any well drilled or producing water within the city to use the water for potable purposes. 2ORD. NO. 2 Sec. 7-260 Location of water well. The location of all wells drilled within the city shall conform to the "Rules and Regulations for Public Water Systems" established by the Texas Department of Health. Sec. 7-261 Permit Fees. The permit fee to drill, construct, repair, correct, abandon, or plug a water well shall be $200.00, assessed on a per well basis. Separate electrical permit(s) and fees are required in accordance with the electric code ordinance(s) adopted by the City." Section 2. That all ordinances or any parts thereof in conflict with the terms of this ordinance shall be and hereby are deemed repealed and of no force or effect. Section 3. Any person violating any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) and a separate offense shall be deemed committed upon each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues. Sectio ' n 4. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phase of this ordinance shall for any reason be held to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. Section 5. The fact that the present ordinances and regulations of the City of Grapevine, Texas are inadequate to properly safeguard the health, safety, morals, peace and general welfare of the inhabitants of the City of Grapevine, Texas, creates an emergency for the immediate preservation of the public business, property, health, safety and general welfare of the public which requires that this ordinance shall become effective from and after the date of its passage, and it is accordingly so ordained. PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS, on this the 7th day of May, 2002. 30RD. NO. 3 ATTEST: mill, APPROVED AS TO FORM: 40RD. NO. 4