§ 42-54. Inspection to be at reasonable hour, etc.; warrant to enable inspection; termination of service to uninspected premises.

(a)

The director shall inspect all buildings or premises during reasonable hours and under such circumstances as to minimize the inconvenience to the owner of the building or premises. Should any owner or agent refuse to allow the director access to the building or premises for the purposes of conducting an inspection, or should the director not be able to contact the owner or agent for the purposes of obtaining permission to inspect, the director shall have the right to apply immediately to a magistrate or other judicial officer for a proper warrant to carry out the necessary inspection. The provisions of this section shall apply to all initial inspections and to such follow-up inspections as may be necessary.

(b)

In addition to the warrant procedure set forth in subsection (a), the director may commence administrative proceedings to discontinue water service to the uninspected building or premises. Except in emergency cases involving the imminent risk of pollution of the city water supply, the director shall give ten (10) days written notice to the owner of the affected building or premises, or to a responsible agent, of the director's intention to terminate the water service. The director shall afford to the owner or agent a hearing on the question of whether water service shall be terminated. This hearing shall be scheduled and conducted in such a manner that, to the maximum extent feasible, the inconvenience and burden on the owner or agent shall be minimized. The hearing shall take place before the director. The director shall not terminate the water service to the building or premises in question, if it is found as a fact that:

(1)

The owner or agent has presented clear, convincing and credible evidence that there are no cross connection hazards within the subject building or premises; and

(2)

No purpose of this article would be served by conducting an on-site inspection of the building or premises.

In all cases, the hearing provided by this subsection shall be held within the ten-day period immediately following the giving of written notice to the owner or agent. Upon a showing of good cause, the director may grant a reasonable continuance of the hearing so scheduled, but the director, nevertheless, shall retain the right to terminate the water service at the expiration of the ten-day notice period if, in his discretion, public health considerations require such action. The director shall, in all cases, render his decision immediately after the taking of all evidence at the hearing, or as soon thereafter as may be practicable, but in no case later than twenty-four (24) hours following the termination of the taking of evidence. The director shall cause his findings of fact and disposition of the case to be reduced to writing.

(c)

In emergency circumstances where the director has reasonable cause to believe that a cross connection hazard exists in the subject building or premises and that such hazard jeopardizes the integrity or the purity of the city water supply, he shall forthwith terminate the water service to the subject building or premises. The director shall thereafter immediately afford the owner or agent the notice and opportunity to be heard pursuant to the procedures set forth in subsection (b). In all cases where the director shall summarily terminate water service as provided under this subsection, the director shall act with dispatch in notifying the owner or agent and shall exercise the utmost diligence in scheduling a prompt hearing on the matter.

(d)

Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b), the director shall not terminate any water service in cases where the director has reliable information from any sources indicating that cross connection hazards do not exist in the building or premises to which access for inspection cannot be gained.

(Ord. No. 6233-06, § 1)

(Ord. No. 6233-06, § 1)