Legal Documents of Sweetwater
Code of Sweetwater
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Code of Sweetwater
Title 2 Boards and Commissions, etc.
Chapter 2 Board Of Public Utilities
Title 2 Boards and Commissions, etc.
Chapter 2 Board Of Public Utilities
Sweetwater
Title 2 : Boards and Commissions, etc.
Chapter 2 : Board Of Public Utilities
2-204 : Powers and duties of the board.
- The board shall employ a competent and well qualified person to serve as general manager of the system who shall have the sufficient training and experience to enable him or her to operate said system efficiently and economically, and whose salary shall be fixed by the board. The manager may be discharged at any regular meeting of the board for incompetency, for default in office, failure to perform the duties of the office, failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the board, or for any malfeasance or misfeasance in office. However, no employee of the board shall be discharged because of political affiliations, and no person shall be hired, during the tenure of any member, who is a member of an immediate family of the board member. Immediate family is defined as child, step-child, mother, father, spouse, grandparent, brother, sister, grandchild, stepbrother, step-sister, step-mother, step-father, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece. It shall be the duty of the members of said board and the employees thereof to operate the system in a manner most consistent with sound economy and to public advantage, and to carry out the duties of their respective office without regard to political or personal favor and without discrimination.
- The board shall have the power to select, employ, and fix the salaries of officers and employees of the system, but may delegate this power to the general manager of the system except for the fixing of the salary of the general manager.
- Said board shall have full charge of operating, maintaining, extending, and servicing the utilities system, of making disbursements of its funds in accordance with law and ordinances and contracts made and entered into by the City of Sweetwater, and of collecting all moneys due to the system. It shall keep all necessary and proper books and records of said funds, and of all records and accounts of the system, and shall keep its funds in a special bank account or accounts kept for that purpose. It shall have them audited annually, and shall have them always available for inspection by the duly authorized representatives of the City of Sweetwater. The board shall require a fidelity bond with a corporate surety from all officers or persons charged with the handling and safekeeping of any of its funds. The cost of auditing, the cost of surety bonds, and any other expenses required by this chapter which are necessary to the operation of the utilities system or the performance of the duties of the board shall be paid by said board and shall be paid out of revenues collected by and from the system. All disbursements made by the board shall be approved by a majority of the board.
- The board shall have the right to extend or enlarge said system, the right to contract and to be contracted with, the right to exercise the rights of eminent domain, in the name of the City of Sweetwater, by and with the consent of the mayor and board of commissioners, the right to institute suit and defend suits brought against it, the right to employ counsel, and in general to do all acts and things necessary for the operation and maintenance of the utilities system.
- The board shall be required to give full effect to the contracts with the Tennessee Valley Authority, and others, with reference to the acquisition and purchase of the distribution system, as well as the power contract between the Tennessee Valley Authority and the City of Sweetwater; shall collect all bills when due and shall neither donate electricity, natural gas, or water and sewer service nor deviate from the established rate schedules for the aforementioned services. In order to comply with the provisions of this subsection, the board shall rigidly enforce the collection of bills for service and shall, within the time prescribed by its rules and regulations, discontinue service for the non-payment of bills. Collection procedures are further specified as follows: If an account is closed, the deposit plus interest will be credited toward the final bill. If monies are still left, a refund will be made to the customer. In the event that a balance remains unpaid on the account after the deposit is applied, Sweetwater Utilities Board reserves the right to begin collection activities which may include: thirty (30), sixty (60), or ninety (90) day notices, door hanger, referral to the consumer's credit file, referral to a third party collection agency (selected by the board), and apply all collection fees to the debt, or legal action.
- The board shall fix rates to be charged for services rendered by the system, which rates shall be fair, reasonable, and uniform for all customers within the same class, and different rate schedules may be applied to different classes of customers, as determined by the board. Rates within the city may be less, but not greater than, rates for the same service outside the city. The rates for utility service shall be fixed in conformity with the resale rates that the city is required to charge by the city's contractual obligations with the Tennessee Valley Authority, either under the existing contractual rate or under the rates as may be revised pursuant to said contract. (1982 Code, § 13-104, as amended by Ord. #924, May 2015)
Date Last Updated: 08/05/2024
Codification Date: 03/01/2004
Officials at Date of Last Codification:
Mayor - Doyle F. Lowe
Vice Mayor - Sam Moser
Commissioner - Lamar Hughes
Commissioner - Johanna Jinks
Commissioner - Alan Richeson
Commissioner - James A. Stutts
Recorder - Sonya Crush
City Attorney - John Cleveland