FIRST READING OF A NEW ORDINANCE No. 62 DRAFT
NEW ORDINANCE At its September 9, 2024, meeting the BHV Board of Trustees approved on first reading a draft of a new Ordinance No. 62 to amend the code of Barton Hills Village to address water meters and water service lines. The draft of the ordinance is published on the Village website (bartonhillsvillage.org). Second reading of the ordinance, and possible adoption, is set for the next Board meeting on October 14. You may comment on the draft at that meeting or by sending a written comment prior to the meeting to BHV Clerk, 199 Barton Shore Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 or bhvclerk@bartonhillsvillage.org.
BARTON HILLS VILLAGE
WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN
ORDINANCE NO. 62
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CODE OF BARTON HILLS VILLAGE TO ADDRESS WATER
MEETERS AND WATER SERVICE LINES BY ADDING A NEW SECTION TO CHAPTER 9,
WHICH NEW SECTION SHALL BE DESIGNATED AS SECTION 1:98 OF CHAPTER 9 OF TITLE I
OF THE CODE
BARTON HILLS VILLAGE ORDAINS THAT THE BARTON HILLS VILLAGE CODE BE AMENDED
BY ADDING SECTION 1:98 TO TITLE I, CHAPTER 9, AS FOLLOWS:
1:98 – Water Meters and Service Lines
1. Generally. All premises served by the Village water supply system shall be
metered, and, when technically practical, all water meters shall be equipped with
automatic remote reading devices. All water meters shall be the property of the
Village. No person except a Village employee or authorized Village contractor shall
break or injure the seal or change the location of, alter, or interfere in any way with
any water meter. Failure to allow installation or replacement of a water meter
equipped with automatic remote reading device is a violation of this ordinance and
may result in the discontinuance of water service and the imposition of surcharges
and fines.
2. Access to meters.
(a) Village staff and authorized Village contractors shall at all reasonable
hours have the right to enter the premises that are served by the Village water
supply system with owner or occupant approval or after obtaining an
administrative search warrant from a court of competent jurisdiction for the
purpose of installing, reading, testing, maintaining, removing, replacing, or
inspecting a meter. No person shall hinder, obstruct, or interfere with such
person in the lawful discharge of his or her duties in relation to the care and
maintenance of such water meter.
(b) When a premise is not equipped with a device that allows automatic or
remote reading of a meter, or such device has become inoperative for any
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reason, a direct reading shall be obtained by Village staff or its contractor at a
minimum of once annually.
(c) The Village shall have the right to assess a surcharge and to discontinue
the supply of water to any premises, pursuant to prior notice, where Village
staff or an authorized Village contractor is not able to install, repair, maintain,
test, inspect, or replace a meter or obtain an annual direct reading in
accordance with this section. Any such surcharge shall reflect the actual
costs incurred by the Village in enforcing compliance with these provisions.
3. Reimbursement for damage. Any damage that a meter may sustain resulting from
carelessness of the owner, agent, or tenant or from neglect or intentional acts of any
of them, to properly secure and protect the meter as well as any damage that may
result from frost, hot water, or steam backing from a boiler, shall be paid by the
owner of the property to the Village on presentation of a bill therefore. Nonpayment
of the bill may result in discontinuance of water service until all charges have been
paid to the Village.
4. Meter failure. If any meter shall fail to register properly, the Village shall estimate
the consumption on the basis of former consumption and bill accordingly.
5. Inaccurate meters. A customer may request that the meter be tested. If the meter
is found defective, a new meter will be installed and no charge will be made. If the
meter is found to be accurate, the customer will be charged the cost of the meter
replacement. The customer may request third party testing of the meter at the
customer’s expense.
6. Responsibility to maintain service lines in good condition; discontinuing water
services. The owner of a property served by the Village water supply system is
responsible for maintaining the water service line that serves the property in good
condition. The Village may discontinue water service to any property where there is
evidence that the water service line is not in good condition.
7. Surcharge for unauthorized water flow. If a violation of any provision of this
chapter results in unauthorized flow detected by a detector check meter or
evidenced by a tampered bypass valve or plumbing, the charge for such
unauthorized water flow shall be calculated on the basis of full flow through the
bypass and the bypassed plumbing at the provided service pressure for the full
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duration of time estimated by the Village that the bypass violation condition existed.
The duration of the violation may be calculated to include all time during the billing
period when the flow detection was determined to have occurred or all time since
the last physical inspection of the metering system, up to a maximum of 3 years.
Adopted: August 12, 2024
Effective: August ___, 2024
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Robert Hensinger, Clerk
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Howard Holmes II, President