§ 48. Water department.

(a)

The city of Bristol is authorized to construct, establish and maintain a plant or plants for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of said city with pure water, and to lay, maintain and repair pipes and conduits in any highway or highways and public and private places and grounds, which plant may include suitable lands, constructions, easements, privileges, tools, machinery, pipes and conduits and all other apparatus and appliances that may be incident to the purposes of this section; and said city is given power to construct, repair and maintain such reservoir or reservoirs, plant and apparatus within the towns of Harwinton, Plymouth and Bristol as may be incident to said purposes, and may take, lease and use the water of any spring, stream, watershed or drainage area therein, not already occupied and used for the purpose of public water supply; provided said City of Bristol shall not take or occupy any property or exercise any rights in the town of Plymouth not occupied or exercised by said city at the time of the passage of this charter except as otherwise provided in this section, and said city may construct, repair and maintain such canals and aqueducts and overflow such lands as may be incident to the retention and conveyance of water to supply said city, and is given power to retain, maintain, lease and convey the same, and also to take, lease and hold by purchase or gift any real estate, personal property or easements incident to the purposes of this section, and to provide for storing, conducting and distributing water, and for all buildings and constructions incident to the supplying of said city of Bristol and the inhabitants thereof with pure water, and for preserving such lands and waters, for the use of said plant, free from contamination, nuisances, drains and sewers.

(b)

The city of Bristol, for the purpose of increasing its water supply, is authorized to acquire and take, by purchase or otherwise, and hold, the waters, or so much thereof as may in the opinion of the board of water commissioners of said city, be necessary, of Old Marsh pond and of the first stream entering Poland stream from the west below the dam of reservoir number 3 of said city of Bristol and crossing Poland road, so called, about seventeen hundred feet south of the bridge across Poland stream near the dam below reservoir number 3, and of any or all of their tributaries in whatever town located, together with the water rights connected therewith; and, for the purpose of holding, storing, purifying or conveying waters to such points as may seem necessary or advisable in connection with its said system of water supply, or for preserving such land and waters for the use of said system free from contamination, nuisances, drains and sewers, may, in like manner, acquire and take any or all lands, rights of way, easements and other property within the limits of the towns of Bristol, Burlington and Plymouth, which may, in the opinion of said board, be necessary, and may enter upon such lands for the purpose of making preliminary surveys, and may erect on any lands so acquire and taken, proper dams, reservoirs, fixtures, structures and other appliances, and make such excavations and provide such other means as may in the opinion of said board be necessary or advisable for the holding and conveying of such waters to and into its system of water supply, and may construct and lay such conduits, canals, pipes or other works under, through or over any lands, water courses, railroads and public and private ways which may, in the opinion of said board, be necessary and convenient for the use of said city; and, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions and objects of this charter, may dig up such land and rights of way and may enter upon and dig up any such public ways in such manner as to cause the least hindrance to public travel, and shall hold the town in which such ways are located harmless from all liabilities to parties claiming damages resulting from the acts of said city; provided nothing in this charter shall grant to the city of Bristol any right to take water from any source within the town of Burlington outside of the limits of the watersheds of Old Marsh pond and of Poland river.

(c)

Said city shall pay reasonable damages to any person or corporation whose land is taken, permanently or temporarily, in order to establish or maintain the city's water supply system. Any person or corporation entitled to damages under this section who shall fail to agree with the city as to the amount of damages may have the damages assessed and determined in the manner provided in this section. It being the intention of this section to compensate the owner or corporation solely for the property taken, permanently or temporarily, e.g. by easement, and for no other reason or damage.

(d)

Said city is also empowered to make use of the ground or soil under any road, railway, railroad, highway, street, private way, lane or alley for the purpose of constructing its waterworks or laying its pipes, conduits and apparatus, but shall, in all such cases, cause the surface of such road, railway, railroad, highway, street, private way, lane or alley to be restored to its usual condition, and all damage done thereto to be repaired, and all damages sustained by any person or corporation in consequence of the interruption of travel thereby to be paid to such person or corporation.

(e)

Said city of Bristol, by its board of water commissioners hereinafter provided for, is authorized to enter upon any land or water for the purposes of making surveys, and to agree with the owner or owners of any property or franchises which may be taken, permanently or temporarily, in the exercise of the powers granted in this section as to the amount of damages to be paid to such owner or owners for the same, and, in case of disagreement between said city, acting through its said commissioners, and any owner or owners as to the amount of said damages to be awarded for such taking in order to establish or maintain the city's water supply system, or, in case any such owner shall be an infant or incompetent or the owner of a contingent or uncertain interest, any judge of the superior court may, on the application of either party, unless the application has been unreasonably delayed, cause such notice to be given of such application as such judge shall prescribe and, after proof of such notice and after hearing may appoint three disinterested persons to examine any such property which is to be taken by said city in the establishment and/or maintenance of its water supply system, and such persons, being duly sworn to a faithful discharge of their duty, shall, after reasonable notice to, and hearing of the parties, estimate the damages which such owner shall receive, and report the same in writing to the clerk of the superior court of Hartford County, to be by him recorded. Such judge may thereupon confirm the doings of such appraisers and direct said city to pay the sum appraised, in such manner as such judge may prescribe, in full compensation for the property taken by the city in the establishment and/or maintenance of its water supply system; and upon compliance with the order of such judge, said city may proceed with the construction of its works, without any liability to any further claim for damages and shall control, own and hold exclusively, the property so taken, for the purposes set forth in this section.

(f)

The general supervision of the Bristol water department shall be entrusted, subject to the charter and ordinances of the City of Bristol, in a commission to be known as the board of water commissioners, consisting of five citizen electors of said city and appointed as hereinafter provided. The commissioners now serving shall continue in office for the duration of their terms. Appointments to the board of water commissioners of the City of Bristol, shall be made during the month of December for a period of three years, and shall be effective as of the date of expiration of the term of office succeeded to, or from the date of appointment if made subsequent thereto; but the term of office shall be deemed to begin on the first Tuesday of said month. Before entering upon the duties of the office, each commissioner shall give bond to the city for the faithful performance of the duties of said office, in said sum and form as the City Council shall direct. Each commissioner shall serve without compensation.

(g)

The superintendent of the water department shall be nominated by the mayor and appointed by the city council for a term of four years. The mayor shall notify such superintendent of the water department at least one month prior to the expiration of his term in writing that he will or will not be renominated. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the full-time superintendent of the water department in office on the effective date of this section shall continue in office until the expiration of his term. Under the direction of the board of water commissioners, the superintendent shall administer the operation, management and maintenance of the system for the distribution of water. The mayor and/or the board of water commissioners shall have the authority and duty to formally reprimand the superintendent for general or any specific acts of mismanagement or violations of the personnel procedures of the city and may refer his/their findings to the city council for further disciplinary action.

(h)

The hiring and discharging of all other personnel of the water department shall be under the direction of the director of personnel, in accordance with the provision of section fifty-four of the City Charter.

(i)

Said board shall present monthly reports of the financial status and doings of the department as directed by the City Council in a manner as prescribed by the city comptroller, consistent with city guidelines and the rules and regulations of the PUCA. These reports shall be available to the board of finance and the City Council no later than the fifth working day of the following month. Annually, as of the thirtieth day of June in each year, the board shall render to the City Council and the board of finance an annual report in as much detail as required by the mayor and City Council, of its doings and of the business and finance of said water plant, and shall at any time when required by the City Council, the mayor or the board of finance, make to the City Council and said board of finance a statement of its doings and of the business, receipts, disbursements, balances and indebtedness of the water department.

All funds collected by the water department for the sale of water or services or resulting from the sale of property or equipment and of any interest thereon shall be reserved for the use of the water department in its normal operations and shall not become a part of the general fund of the City of Bristol.

The procedures for negotiation and awarding of all contracts, the purchase of supplies and the disposal of materials or supplies declared to be surplus shall be entrusted to the board of water commissioners and exercised in accordance with the purchasing manual of the City of Bristol and in coordination with the staff facility and assistance of the city comptroller and city purchasing department.

The duty of keeping of accounts, custody of money received for water or otherwise, the collection of bills and the payment of bills incurred in the operation of said water department, shall be entrusted to the board of water commissioners and shall be executed with the assistance and in coordination with the city comptroller.

(j)

All the rights granted to said city relating to the establishment and maintenance of the water department, the exercise of which is not otherwise sufficiently provided for herein or under existing laws, shall be exercised by the board of water commissioners or their successors in authority acting in behalf of said city.

(k)

The books and accounts pertaining to the business authorized by the preceding section shall be kept in the form prescribed by the board of water commissioners consistent with the rules and regulations of the Connecticut Public Utilities Control Authority. The accounts shall be closed on the last day of June in each year, and a report from said commissioners, showing the receipts and disbursements of said water plant up to and including the last day of June in each year, shall be included in their report to the City Council hereinbefore provided to be made in July of each year. Such report shall also include a list of the salaried officers employed in said business and the amount of salary paid to each, and shall be accompanied by a statement, signed and sworn to by the clerk and superintendent of said department of the income and expenses of said business and all the indebtedness of the city properly chargeable to said water plant. In February of each year, the board of water commissioners shall present a detailed budget, in accordance with the city's budget requirements, to the board of finance to be discussed at a public budget hearing. The board of finance may make recommendations for changes but may not actually change any budgetary items. If the recommendations of the board of finance are not acted upon by the board of water commissioners, the board of water commissioners shall enumerate their reasons for not doing so in writing to the board of finance no later than the regular April meeting of the board of finance.

(l)

Each October, the board will review the last fiscal year's income and expenditures, long and short term debt, proposed additions and improvements to the plant along with any pertinent factors. No change in rates shall take effect until the new rates shall have been advertised at least once, one month prior to the effective date of any water rate increase in some newspaper having a circulation in said City of Bristol and a public hearing will be called and all facts and figures necessary to prove need for an increase will be presented to this hearing. If the increase is approved, it will be implemented on July 1. In determining the prices to be fixed for furnishing such water, the board of water commissioners may take into consideration interest on the amount invested in such plant, the depreciation thereof, and the requirements of any sinking fund which may be established to meet the city bonds issued for water purposes, as they mature; but the water used by the city for municipal purposes shall be supplied to it at a price not exceeding its cost.

(m)

The board of water commissioners shall adopt regulations:

(1)

For the use and protection of the water system and facilities;

(2)

To control the use of its land, water plant and facilities;

(3)

To prevent accidents and promote safety among its employees and for the use of said water plant;

(4)

For the planting, management, safeguarding and harvesting of trees on water department properties;

(5)

Relating to the operation of said water plant;

(6)

As to the methods, amounts, prices, quantity and quality of water supply to individual users;

(7)

Limitations on water usage in the event of periods of droughts or other emergencies; and

(8)

Governing the supplying of water to the inhabitants of said city and all matters connected therewith, and may prescribe in such rules that the supply of water may be shut off from any premises until arrearages for water shall be paid, and may provide by such rules penalties for default in payment of water charges, which penalties shall be in addition to the water charges and shall be collectible as a part thereof.

(n)

The City Council is authorized to impose, by means of suitable ordinance, fines or penalties or both for the violation of any regulations adopted by the board of water commissioners, which penalties may be collected by said city in a civil action based upon such ordinance and which fines shall be enforced by criminal process in the Superior Court of the State of Connecticut.

(o)

When a petition for the extension of a water main or mains, signed by the owners of fifty per cent of the real estate to be affected, or by a smaller number, at the option of the commissioners, shall be filed, with the commissioners, a hearing on the petition shall be held. Notice of such hearing shall be sent by registered mail to all persons liable to be assessed for such extension at least five days before the date of the hearing. If the extension as petitioned for, or as modified by the water commissioners, shall be ordered and made, the cost thereof shall be assessed against the owners of the real estate benefited, or the commissioners shall make a front foot assessment as provided in section thirty-five hereof, and such assessment shall be a lien upon such real estate.

(p)

Repealed by 1969, S.A. No. 233.

(q)

All charges for water, and assessments for the extension of water mains and for the cost of laying or relaying service pipes upon public or private property, shall be a lien upon the real estate where or for the benefit of which such charges are incurred. Each such lien shall take precedence over all other liens or encumbrances on the property whereon the same is placed except taxes or prior improvement liens due to the city or the state and legal proceedings may be taken for the collection thereof by civil action against such delinquent owner or by foreclosure of such liens in the same manner as a lien for unpaid taxes due the City of Bristol, provided such lien for any such water charge or assessment shall not continue for a longer period than one hundred eighty days after the assessment therefor has been voted or the due date of the bill for the water charges incurred unless a certificate of such lien shall be lodged with the town clerk for record and provided further that no bill incurred for water charges shall be lodged with the town clerk for record earlier than one hundred sixty days after the due date of the bill for said charge.

(r)

The City Council may designate the water department as the facility to bill and collect for the City of Bristol the sewer usage fee when said program is implemented in accordance with the City Code of Ordinances.

(Amend. eff. 11-5-75; Amend. eff. 1-1-83; Amend. eff. 11-9-83; Amend. eff. 11-3-93; Amend. eff. 12-8-05)

Legislative history— Sp. No. 251, 1911; Sp. No. 352, § 3, 1911; Sp. No. 249, 1915; Sp. No. 164, 1919; Sp. No. 434, §§ 113—124, 1931; Sp. No. 489, § 49, 1939; Sp. No. 151, § 5, 1943; Sp. No. 1, 1944; Sp. No. 326, § 1, 1945.