MID-DAKOTA RURAL WATER SYSTEM, INC.
Miller, South Dakota
Rules and Regulations / GENERAL
Policy Bulletin (PB) Series: 100
Bulletin No. : 00

PB 100

DEFINITIONS AND OBJECTIVES:

PURPOSE

To provide definitions for terms used throughout the Corporation’s policies and to establish the goals and objectives of the Corporation’s policies.

TERMS OF POLICY

A.Definitions. Unless otherwise provided or the context clearly requires otherwise, when used in the Corporation’s policies, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

  1. Active Account: an account, in conjunction with which water service is available to the connection to be accessed by the User.
  1. Add-On User: any person or entity (including special Users) that made or makes application and paid or pays the appropriate fees after the deadline set for Initial Users.
  1. Cost of Service Contribution: the amount of monetary resources the Corporation will devote to the construction of a service line to an Add-on User.
  1. Deleted Account (sometimes referred to in these Policy Bulletins as “Deleted” or a “Deletion”): an account that is no longer an Active Account; the service has been Disconnected and under the circumstances the Corporation has determined it is unlikely it will ever be reconnected (e.g., the location is no longer being used as a home) or the owner has requested that the account be deleted. Typically, the facilities serving the account have been or will be removed.
  1. Disconnected Account (sometimes referred to in these Policy Bulletins as “Disconnected” or a “Disconnection”): an account, in conjunction with which water service has been disconnected by the Corporation due to unpaid amounts owed to the Corporation or for other cause. Typically, the construction of new facilities is not required to reactivate a Disconnected Account.
  1. Equivalent Rural Household: the quotient of the minimum monthly bill for the classification of the proposed hookup divided by the minimum monthly bill for a Residential hookup. By way of example and not limitation, the number of Equivalent Rural Households for a four unit rural household is 1.75. (Four-unit rural household minimum bill of $57.40 divided by one Residential minimum bill of $32.80 equals 1.75)
  1. Extraordinary Circumstances: those circumstances in which the Board of Directors, in its sole and exclusive discretion, determines that it would not be in the best interest of the system and all its members to devote monetary resources to construct a service line to an Initial User.
  1. Household Use: the use of water for drinking, washing, sanitary, culinary and other household purposes.
  1. Housing Development Area: a tract of property that has been properly platted into residential lots for resale to individual homeowners.
  1. Idle Account (sometimes referred to in these Policy Bulletins with the verb “Idle”): an account, in conjunction with which the User requests to have the water service shut off at the service valve or meter, but agrees to continue to pay the minimum bill.
  1. Initial User: any person or entity (other than a special User) that made application and paid the appropriate fees prior to June 1, 1993 (February 1, 1994, for special Users only).
  1. Lawn Watering Use: the use of water for irrigation of a noncommercial family garden, trees, shrubbery or orchard not greater in area than one acre.
  1. Livestock Use: the use of water for stock watering.
  1. Main Transmission Pipeline: pipeline greater than 12 inches in diameter and capable of transporting more than 1,200 gallons of water per minute, laid to line and grade with topsoil replacement and compaction, and requiring a right-of-way during construction of 50 to 100 feet, depending upon size. The Board of Directors in its sole and exclusive discretion, may designate any other transmission pipeline as Main Transmission Pipeline if such designation is appropriate.
  1. Mainline: pipeline generally paralleling public right-of-way and section lines and making up the distribution system of the Corporation. Mainline will generally be located so that it serves or may serve more than one User.
  1. Member: all water Users who have complied with the requirements of these Rules and Regulations shall be members of the Corporation. Memberships shall run with the land on which the water user hookup is located (or to be located).
  1. Minimum Bill: (also referred to as service charge) A fixed monthly (or annually in the case of Livestock Taps) charge designed to recover customer costs including but not necessarily limited to debt service costs. The Service Charge “Minimum” DOES NOT include any volume of water. The Service Charge “Minimum” is charged whether or regardless of any water used.
  1. Service Line: the pipeline running from the main line to the Water User Connection Point.
  1. Service Unit: a unit of hydraulic design capacity equal to 1,080 gallons per day and as further defined in the Final Engineering Report.
  1. Temporary Disconnect: any interruption of water service not of permanent nature.
  1. Tenant: in case of a tenant water service location, the person paying the water bill shall be considered the member for voting purposes. Where both the landowner and his tenant have signed water user agreements for the same location, then only the member paying the water bill to the Corporation shall be entitled to vote.
  1. Water Rate: that part of the Corporation’s water rate structure that provides a charge per 1,000 gallons of water actually used.
  1. Water User Connection Point: the point at which the water User’s private system is connected to the Service Line.Yard Area: the area of a farmstead, rural residence, cabin, place of business, commercial feed lot, house lot or other accepted and approved service location which contains buildings, fences, wells, windmills, buried pipes, buried wires, sewers or other obstructions so that the installation of buried waterline by large high production trenchers is rendered impractical or difficult.
  1. Yard Area: the area of a farmstead, rural residence, cabin, place of business, commercial feed lot, house lot or other accepted and approved service location which contains buildings, fences, wells, windmills, buried pipes, buried wires, sewers or other obstructions so that the installation of buried waterline by large high production trenchers is rendered impractical or difficult.

B.Objectives. The goals and objectives of Corporation’s policies are as follows:

  1. To establish Rules and Regulations setting forth the Corporation's intentions for the conduct of the business affairs of the Corporation in a manner that will result in a successful operation.

2. To treat all water Users alike with respect to recurring situations by establishing Rules and Regulations.

3. To provide high-quality service to the water Users of the Corporation at lowest possible cost, and consistent with sound business practices.

4. To make known to the water Users the Rules and Regulations of the Corporation.

5. To create a favorable image among the water Users and general public.

6. To promote maximum beneficial utilization of water among the Users by providing additional services desired by water Users.

7. To represent at all times the interests of the water Users in the most fair and equitable manner.

CROSS REFERENCES

Date Initially Adopted: / 01/04/1993 / Amended / Revised: / 02/12/2002
04/15/2003
05/10/2005
03/10/2009
06/11/2013

ADOPTED:

By: ______

Chairperson of the Board

(Corporate Seal)
ATTEST:

By: ______

Title: ______