§ 54-121. Schedule; special charges.

(a)

Rates established. City council shall establish by separate resolution a minimum uniform schedule of rates and charges for the use of the services and facilities of the sanitary municipal solid waste system of the city. Rates will be subject to periodic review and adjusted by city council by separate resolution as necessary to ensure adequate cost recovery for operation of the sanitary municipal solid waste system. Errors discovered in billing may be corrected for up to the prior 12 months. Over charges may be corrected by the issuance of a credit to the account. Under charges may be corrected by back billing the account for the total charge error amount. The director is authorized to establish a repayment plan for back billing errors when such recovery of the total amount owed can be accomplished within six months of the date the account owner is notified of the error.

(b)

Multiunit commercial establishments. For each multiunit commercial establishment served by a commercial dumpster, the monthly charges shall be divided equally among each of the users or addressees, and shall be uniform and nondiscriminatory unless any one of the occupants exceeds its anticipated amount of municipal solid waste thereby rendering the charge to other parties unfair. It shall be the responsibility of each owner, in conjunction with a qualified employee of the sanitary municipal solid waste system of the city, to make timely notification of changed management to formerly served occupants so that any requested temporary or permanent rate changes may be considered.

(c)

Residential establishments serviced by commercial division. For apartments, condominiums and all other multifamily residential developments determined to be safely serviceable by the commercial division of the sanitary municipal solid waste system, the rate per dwelling unit for such service as established by resolution shall be the rate specified for multifamily residence.

(d)

Commercial establishments serviced by residential division. For commercial establishments determined to be safely serviceable by the residential division of the sanitary municipal solid waste system, the rate for such service as established by resolution shall apply up to and including five 32-gallon containers or two 96-gallon refuse carts. Commercial establishments which generate more than five 32-gallon containers or two 96-gallon refuse carts per collection day will be changed to commercial container service after the commercial establishment has been sent written notification and the maximum disposal limit has been exceeded on two additional occasions.

(e)

Additional or special pickups. Dumpsters will be required for service in excess of five 32-gallon containers or two 96-gallon refuse carts. If casters must be provided for containers, an additional charge per month, as established by separate resolution, will be made. If additional pickups per week are requested on a short-term basis, an additional charge will be made according to the fee established by separate resolution for the size container requiring the extra dump. Commercial establishments served by dumpsters which request more than ten additional pick ups per year will automatically be upgraded to the next higher level of service as determined by the director after written notification of the service change is mailed to the establishment.

(f)

Determination of type of service required. The type of sanitation services provided (i.e., residential or commercial) shall be established during the building official's site plan review or thereafter at such times as are deemed appropriate by the building official or director.

(g)

Overloading containers, placing prohibited materials in containers or the accumulation of waste outside of the container. The placement of hazardous waste, appliances, yard waste, tires or building materials into a commercial municipal solid waste container, or the unsafe overloading of such a container, shall be unlawful. It shall also be unlawful to allow the accumulation of any type of waste or litter outside of the container. The accumulation of such waste presents an environment conducive breeding disease and vermin. It is in the public interest to collect and remove such threats to public health, safety and to maintain the cleanliness of the city. The city will not be responsible for the emptying of an overloaded dumpster or a dumpster containing unlawful contents. There shall be no credit or adjustment of charges when these violations occur. The removal of items creating the overloaded condition or the extraction of these unlawful contents will be the responsibility of the owner or manager of the business. Disposal of overload or other unlawful accumulations will be made by special arrangements with the sanitary municipal solid waste system of the city, and appropriate charges, as established by separate resolution, for the waste in question shall be added to the customer's utility bill.

(h)

Terms defined. Terms referred to in such resolutions shall have the same meanings as set forth herein.

(Ord. No. 5084, § 1, 10-10-02; Ord. No. 5192, § 9, 8-5-03; Ord. No. 5564, § 9, 9-19-06)