Chapter 743 | Utilities - Electric; Gas; Water

Section
Section 743.01 \| General powers of legislative authority. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The legislative authority of a municipal corporation may take possession of any land obtained for the construction or extension of water works, reservoirs, or the laying down of pipe, and also any water rights or easements connected with the use of water. Any land, water right, or easement so taken possession of for water-works purposes shall not be used for any other purpose, except by authority of the director of public service and with consent of such legislative authority.
Section 743.02 \| Bylaws and regulations. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The director of public service may make such bylaws and regulations as he deems necessary for the safe, economical, and efficient management and protection of the water works of a municipal corporation. Such bylaws and regulations shall have the same validity as ordinances where not repugnant thereto or to the constitution or laws of the state. Last updated March 9, 2022 at 1:18 PM
Section 743.03 \| Duties of director of public service. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The director of public service shall manage, conduct, and control the water works of a municipal corporation, furnish supplies of water, collect water rents, and appoint any necessary officers and agents.
Section 743.04 \| Assessment and collection of water rents. Effective: September 4, 2014 Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 172 - 130th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF (A) For the purpose of paying the expenses of conducting and managing the waterworks of a municipal corporation, including operating expenses and the costs of permanent improvements, the director of public service or any other city official or body authorized by charter may assess and collect a water rent or charge of sufficient amount and in such manner as the director, other official, or body determines to be most equitable from all tenements and premises supplied with water. (1) When water rents or charges are not paid when due, the director or other official or body may do either or both of the following: (a) Certify them, together with any penalties, to the county auditor. The county auditor shall place the certified amount on the real property tax list and duplicate against the property served by the connection if the auditor also receives from the director or other official or body additional certification that the unpaid rents or charges have arisen pursuant to a service contract made directly with an owner who occupies the property served. The amount placed on the tax list and duplicate shall be a lien on the property served from the date placed on the list and duplicate and shall be collected in the same manner as other taxes, except that, notwithstanding section 323.15 of the Revised Code, a county treasurer shall accept a payment in such amount when separately tendered as payment for the full amount of such unpaid water rents or charges and associated penalties. The lien shall be released immediately upon payment in full of the certified amount. Any amounts collected by the county treasurer under this division shall be immediately placed in the distinct fund established by section 743.06 of the Revised Code. (b) Collect them by actions at law, in the name of the city from an owner, tenant, or other person who is liable to pay the rents or charges. (2) The director or other official body shall not certify to the county auditor for placement upon the tax list and duplicate and the county auditor shall not place upon the tax list and duplicate as a charge against the property the amount of any unpaid water rents or charges together with any penalties as described in division (A)(1)(a) of this section if any of the following apply: (a) The property served by the connection has been transferred or sold to an electing subdivision as defined in section 5722.01 of the Revised Code, regardless of whether the electing subdivision is still the owner of the property, and the unpaid water rents or charges together with any penalties have arisen from a period of time prior to the transfer or confirmation of sale to the electing subdivision; (b) The property served by the connection has been sold to a purchaser at sheriff's sale or auditor's sale, the unpaid water rents or charges together with any penalties have arisen from a period of time prior to the confirmation of sale, and the purchaser is not the owner of record of the property immediately prior to the judgment of foreclosure nor any of the following: (i) A member of that owner's immediate family; (ii) A person with a power of attorney appointed by that owner who subsequently transfers the land to the owner; (iii) A sole proprietorship owned by that owner or a member of that owner's immediate family; (iv) A partnership, trust, business trust, corporation, or association of which the owner or a member of the owner's immediate family owns or controls directly or indirectly more than fifty per cent. (c) The property served by the connection has been forfeited to this state for delinquent taxes, unless the owner of record redeems the property. (3) Upon valid written notice to the county auditor by any owner possessing an ownership interest of record of the property or by an electing subdivision previously in the chain of title of the property that the unpaid water rents or charges together with any penalties have been certified for placement or placed upon the tax list and duplicate as a charge against the property in violation of division (A)(2) of this section, the county auditor shall promptly remove such charge from the tax duplicate. This written notice to the county auditor shall include all of the following: (a) The parcel number of the property; (b) The common address of the property; (c) The date of the recording of the transfer of the property to the owner or electing subdivision; (d) The charge allegedly placed in violation of division (A)(2) of this section. (4) Each director or other official or body that assesses water rents or charges shall determine the actual amount of rents due based upon an actual reading of each customer's meter at least once in each three-month period, and at least quarterly the director or other official or body shall render a bill for the actual amount shown by the meter reading to be due, except estimated bills may be rendered if access to a customer's meter was unobtainable for a timely reading. Each director or other official or body that assesses water rents or charges shall establish procedures providing fair and reasonable opportunity for resolution of billing disputes. (5) When property to which water service is provided is about to be sold, any party to the sale or the agent of any such party may request the director or other official or body to read the meter at that property and to render within ten days following the date on which the request is made, a final bill for all outstanding rents and charges for water service. Such a request shall be made at least fourteen days prior to the transfer of the title of such property. (6) At any time prior to a certification under division (A)(1)(a) of this section, the director or other official or body shall accept any partial payment of unpaid water rents or charges, in the amount of ten dollars or more. (B)(1) When title to a parcel of land that is subject to any of the actions described in division (A)(1) of this section is transferred to a county land reutilization corporation, any lien placed on the parcel under division (A)(1)(a) of this section shall be extinguished, and the corporation shall not be held liable for unpaid rents or charges in any collection action brought under division (A)(1)(b) of this section, if the rents or charges certified under division (A)(1)(a) of this section or subject to collection under division (A)(1)(b) of this section were incurred before the date of the transfer to the corporation and if the corporation did not incur the rents or charges, regardless of whether the rents or charges were certified, the lien was attached, or the action was brought before the date of transfer. In such a case, the corporation and its successors in title shall take title to the property free and clear of any such lien and shall be immune from liability in any such collection action. If a county land reutilization corporation takes title to property before any rents or charges have been certified or any lien has been placed with respect to the property under division (A)(1) of this section, the corporation shall be deemed a bona fide purchaser for value without knowledge of such rents, charges, or lien, regardless of whether the corporation had actual or constructive knowledge of the rents, charges, or lien, and any such lien shall be void and unenforceable against the corporation and its successors in title. (2) If a lien placed on a parcel is extinguished as provided in division (B)(1) of this section, the municipal corporation may pursue the remedy available under division (A)(1)(b) of this section to recoup the rents and charges incurred with respect to the parcel from any owner, tenant, or other person liable to pay such rents and charges.
Section 743.05 \| Disposition of surplus funds. Effective: March 18, 1969 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 108th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF After payment of the expenses of conducting and managing the water works, any surplus of a municipal corporation may be applied to the repairs, enlargement, or extension of the works or of the reservoirs, the payment of the interest of any loan made for their construction, or for the creation of a sinking fund for the liquidation of the debt. In those municipal corporations in which water works and sewerage systems are conducted as a single unit, under one operating management, a sum not to exceed ten per cent of the gross revenue of the water works for the preceding year may be taken from any surplus remaining after all of the preceding purposes have been cared for and may be used for the payment of the cost of maintenance, operation, and repair of the sewerage system and sewage pumping, treatment, and disposal works and for the enlargement or replacement thereof. Each year a sum equal to five per cent of the gross revenue of the preceding year shall be first retained from said surplus as a reserve for water-works purposes. The amount authorized to be levied and assessed for water-works purposes shall be applied by the legislative authority to the creation of the sinking fund for payment of any indebtedness incurred for the construction and extension of water works and for no other purpose; provided, where such municipal corporation does not operate or maintain a water works or a sewage pumping, treatment, and disposal works, any or all such surplus may be transferred to the general fund of the municipal corporation in the manner provided for in sections 5705.15 and 5705.16 of the Revised Code.
Section 743.06 \| Proceeds from water works to be a separate fund. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF Money collected for water-works purposes shall be deposited weekly with the treasurer of the municipal corporation, and shall be kept as a a separate and distinct fund. When appropriated by the legislative authority of the municipal corporation, such money shall be subject to the order of the director of public service. The director shall sign all orders drawn on the treasurer of the municipal corporation against such fund.
Section 743.07 \| Director may make certain contracts. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF Subject to Title VII of the Revised Code, the director of public service may make contracts for the building of machinery, water-works buildings, reservoirs, and the enlargement and repair thereof, the manufacture and laying down of pipe, the furnishing and supplying with connections all necessary fire hydrants for fire department purposes, keeping them in repair, and for all other purposes necessary to the full and efficient management and construction of water works.
Section 743.08 \| Investigation by legislative authority. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The legislative authority of a municipal corporation in which water works are situated or are in the process of construction may appoint a committee for the investigation of all books and papers, and all matters pertaining to the management of the water works, at least once a year, and more often, if necessary by reason of the neglect of duty or malfeasance on the part of any officer of such water works. Any such officer found by the committee to be so offending shall be liable to removal from office by the legislative authority.
Section 743.09 \| Water supply free for certain purposes. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF No charge shall be made by a municipal corporation or the water-works department thereof for supplying water for extinguishing fire, cleaning fire apparatus, or for furnishing or supplying connections with fire hydrants, and keeping them in repair for fire department purposes, for the cleaning of market houses, or the use of any public building belonging to the municipal corporation. In any case in which a school district includes territory not within the boundaries of the municipal corporation, a proportionate charge for water service shall be made in the ratio which the tax valuation of the property outside the municipal corporation bears to the tax valuation of all the property within such school district, subject to the rules and regulations of the water-works department of the municipal corporation governing, controlling, and regulating the use of water consumed.
Section 743.10 \| Protection to attachments. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF Attachments of whatever nature made to the water pipes or other fixtures belonging to the water works of a municipal corporation and intended for public use shall be subject to the same supervision, rules, and regulations as are made for the protection of water works against abuse, destruction, and unnecessary use or waste of water, or the director of public service may make general or special rules and regulations for such purpose.
Section 743.11 \| Bond of contractor - emergency. Effective: August 1, 1980 Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 157 - 113th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF Before entering into any contract for work to be done concerning the water works of the municipal corporation, the director of public service shall ensure that the requirements of section 153.54 of the Revised Code are met. In case of emergency the legislative authority of the municipal corporation may, by a two-thirds vote of all the members elected thereto, authorize the director to enter into such contract without formal bidding or advertising.
Section 743.12 \| Extension of public utility service beyond municipal corporation limits. Effective: July 6, 1956 Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 420 - 101st General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF On the written request of any number of citizens living outside the limits of a municipal corporation, the municipal corporation may extend, construct, lay down, and maintain aqueduct and water pipes, and electric light and power lines outside the municipal corporation, and for such purpose may make use of such of the public streets, roads, alleys, and public grounds as are necessary therefor.
Section 743.13 \| Expense of service outside municipal corporation. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF When any person at his own expense has laid down and extended mains and water pipes or electric light and power lines beyond the limits of a municipal corporation, and the legislative authority thereof, by resolution, has authorized the proper officer of the water works to superintend or supervise such laying and extension, the municipal corporation shall furnish water or electricity to the residents and property holders on the line of such facilities. The same rules and regulations which govern the furnishing of water or electricity to its own citizens shall apply in such cases, except that the rates charged therefor shall not exceed those within the municipal corporation by more than one tenth.
Section 743.14 \| Supervision of territory having water service outside municipal corporation. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF All ordinances, except those relative to taxation or assessment, resolutions, rules, and regulations relative to the construction, maintenance, and operation of water works, mains, hydrants, and service pipes and connections, and the protection thereof, shall operate in a similar manner in the territory outside the municipal corporation when the extensions mentioned in sections 743.12 and 743.13 of the Revised Code have been made, and for the enforcement thereof the jurisdiction of the mayor and police shall extend into and over such territory.
Section 743.15 \| Disposition of aqueducts and water pipes in case of annexation. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The municipal corporation shall take full charge and control of the mains and water pipes mentioned in sections 743.12 to 743.14, inclusive, of the Revised Code, keep them in repair at its own expense, and, in case of annexation to the municipal corporation of such territory, the municipal corporation shall pay a just compensation therefor and shall thereupon become the owner of them.
Section 743.16 \| Regulation and protection of aqueducts and water pipes. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The aqueducts and water pipes mentioned in sections 743.12 to 743.15, inclusive, of the Revised Code, shall be so constructed and laid as not to interfere unnecessarily with the use of any streets, roads, alleys, public highways, and public grounds, and the municipal corporation so extending and establishing any part of its water works outside of its limits shall have the same power and jurisdiction to prevent or punish pollution of or injury to the water so conveyed or injury to the water works or any portion thereof as it has within the limits of the municipal corporation.
Section 743.17 \| Water works in contiguous municipal corporation. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF A municipal corporation owning water works whose territory is contiguous to that of another municipal corporation may, with the assent of such other municipal corporation, establish and maintain such portion of its water works as is advisable within the limits of such other municipal corporation, and may make such use of the streets, alleys, and public grounds thereof as is necessary to construct, lay down, and maintain all such aqueducts and water pipes as are required in connection with such water works for the conveyance of water along and across such streets, alleys, and public grounds. Such aqueducts and pipes shall be so constructed and laid as not to interfere unnecessarily with the use of such streets, alleys, and public grounds as public highways and public grounds. A municipal corporation so establishing a part of its water works within the limits of another municipal corporation shall have jurisdiction to prevent or punish the pollution of or injury to water so conveyed, or of the stream or source from which it is obtained, or an injury to any portion of the water works so located within the limits of such other municipal corporation.
Section 743.18 \| Authority to supply other municipal corporations. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF A municipal corporation which has water works or electric works may contract with any other municipal corporation to supply it or its inhabitants with water or electricity upon such terms as are agreed upon by their respective legislative authorities. A municipal corporation which has a water works may dispose of surplus water, for manufacturing or other purposes, by lease or otherwise, upon such terms as are agreed upon by the director of public service of a city or the board of trustees of public affairs of a village and approved by the legislative authority thereof. Moneys received for such surplus water in either case shall be applied to the payment of the principal and interest of the bonds issued for the construction of such water works, or for other expenses incident to the maintenance thereof, but no lease shall be made for a longer term than twenty years. The amount to be paid for such water supply shall be raised by the municipal corporation purchasing it, in the manner provided for the payment of the expense of conducting and managing water works constructed wholly by a municipal corporation. The amount so received by the municipal corporation furnishing such supply shall be applied to the payment of the interest on the sum borrowed for the construction of such water works, or to defray the expense of its management, as the director of public service or board of trustees directs.
Section 743.19 \| Construction of water works by two or more municipal corporations. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF Two or more municipal corporations may unite in the construction of a water-works plant for the purpose of supplying water to the municipal corporations and the inhabitants thereof for domestic, manufacturing, and other purposes. Such municipal corporations may, through their authorized officers, contract with each other for the construction and maintenance of such water works, and agree as to a division of the cost and maintenance of such plant and a division of the water produced thereby.
Section 743.20 \| Ownership of water works when municipal corporations are annexed. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF Upon the annexation of one municipal corporation to another, the water works theretofore constructed by either shall thereby become the property of the united municipal corporation, and shall thereafter be managed by the director of public service of the city or the board of trustees of public affairs of the village to which such annexation is made.
Section 743.21 \| Termination of contract upon annexation. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF A contract entered into by one municipal corporation for the supply of water to another, as provided by section 743.18 of the Revised Code, shall be terminated by an annexation under section 743.20 of the Revised Code, and so much of the debt incurred by either, in the construction of a water works, as remains unpaid, shall thereafter be a charge upon the united municipal corporation, to the same extent that the separate debt of either was, before the union, a charge upon the municipal corporation which constructed such water works.
Section 743.22 \| Tax for payment of interest, lien on property. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF For the purpose of paying the interest on money borrowed for the erection and completion of a water works, during the erection and completion thereof and before the water works is put into operation, a tax of sufficient amount shall be assessed and collected each year, in the usual manner of levying and collecting taxes in the municipal corporation, upon all the taxable property thereof. For the purpose of paying the interest on any money which a municipal corporation has borrowed for the erection or extension of a water works, and after such water works has been placed in operation, and for the building of machinery, a tax of sufficient amount may be assessed and collected each year by the legislative authority thereof, in addition to the amount authorized by law, upon all the taxable property, both real and personal, in such municipal corporation. Such tax, when levied and assessed, shall be a lien upon the property upon which it is levied, and a charge against the owners thereof, and shall be certified to the county auditor, placed upon the tax list in a separate column thereof, collected as other taxes, and paid into and be under the same control as the water-works funds.
Section 743.23 \| Laying pipes in highway. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The legislative authority of a municipal corporation may prescribe by ordinance for the laying of water pipes in all highways about to be paved, macadamized, or otherwise permanently improved, and for the assessment of the cost and expense thereof upon the lots or parcels of land adjoining or abutting upon the highways in which they are laid. In no case, except as a sanitary measure, shall such legislative authority require any house connections to be built further from the main pipe than the outer line of the curbstone.
Section 743.24 \| Municipal corporations may contract for a water supply - contract to be submitted to a vote. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF A municipal corporation may contract with any individual or an incorporated company for supplying water for fire purposes, or for cisterns, reservoirs, streets, squares, and other public places within its limits, or for the purpose of supplying the citizens of such municipal corporation with water for such time, and upon such terms as is agreed upon. Such contract shall not be executed or binding upon the municipal corporation until it has been ratified by a vote of the electors thereof, at a special or general election. The municipal corporation shall have the same power to protect such water supply and prevent the pollution thereof as though the water works were owned by such municipal corporation.
Section 743.25 \| Jurisdiction of municipal corporations to prevent water pollution. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF No person shall pollute a running stream, the water of which is used for domestic purposes by a municipal corporation, by putting therein a putrid or offensive substance, injurious to health. The director of public service of a city or board of trustees of public affairs of a village shall enforce this section. The jurisdiction of a municipal corporation to prevent the pollution of its water supply and to provide a penalty therefor shall extend twenty miles beyond the municipal corporation limits.
Section 743.26 \| Regulation of price of electric light, gas, sewage disposal, and water. Effective: September 19, 1961 Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 500 - 104th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The legislative authority of a municipal corporation in which electric lighting companies, natural or artificial gas companies, gaslight or coke companies, sewage disposal system companies, or companies for supplying water for public or private consumption, are established, or into which their wires, mains, or pipes are conducted, may regulate the price which such companies may charge for electric light, or for gas for lighting or fuel purposes, or for the disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes, or for water for public or private consumption, furnished by such companies to the citizens, or to the public grounds, buildings, streets, lanes, alleys, avenues, wharves, and landing places, or for fire protection. Such companies shall in no event charge more for electric light, natural or artificial gas, or for sewage disposal services, or water furnished to such municipal corporation or individuals than the price specified by ordinance of the legislative authority. The legislative authority may regulate and fix the price which such companies shall charge for the rent of their meters, and the ordinance may provide that such price shall include the use of meters to be furnished by such companies, which shall be furnished and kept in repair by such companies at no separate charge, either directly or indirectly, for the use or repair of the meters.
Section 743.27 \| Free use of municipally owned public utilities. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The legislative authority of any municipal corporation owning and operating municipal water, gas, or electric light plants, may provide by ordinance that the products of such plants, when used for municipal or public purposes, shall be furnished free of charge.
Section 743.28 \| Negotiation of one-price schedule contract. Effective: September 28, 1979 Latest Legislation: House Bill 156 - 113th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF (A) Where the legislative authority of a municipal corporation fixes the price at which a company shall furnish electricity or either natural or artificial gas to the citizens or to public buildings, or for the purpose of lighting the streets, alleys, avenues, wharves, landing places, public grounds, or other places, or for other purposes, for a period not exceeding ten years, and the company or person to furnish such utility assents thereto, by written acceptance, filed in the office of the auditor or clerk of the municipal corporation, the legislative authority may, for the purpose of exercising the rights of the municipal corporation under division (B) of this section, at any time during such period negotiate with the company a new contract establishing the one-price schedule provided for under division (B) of this section, provided said new contract will not take effect until the expiration of the existing contract and such new contract will remain in effect for the balance of the existing term of the new one-price schedule. (B) Two or more municipal corporations may agree to negotiate one price schedule under which a gas, natural gas, or electric light company shall furnish its service to the residents of the municipal corporations so agreeing. Such a schedule shall apply uniformly in such municipal corporations for a period no longer than ten years. Upon written receipt of a joint notification by the mayors of a group of municipal corporations that they have each, by ordinance, expressed their intent to negotiate jointly, a gas, natural gas, or electric light company shall, within ninety days, commence joint negotiation of a price schedule with such municipal corporations. Where such negotiation does not, within ninety days after its commencement, result in an agreement between the group of municipal corporations and the company, the group may exercise the rights of a municipal corporation under section 743.26 of the Revised Code on the same basis as if it were a single municipal corporation.
Section 743.29 \| Surveys for construction and repair of public works of municipal corporations. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The legislative authorities of municipal corporations may make surveys of water works, sewerage systems, or other public works or improvements which they are by law authorized to construct, operate, maintain, or repair, the construction, improvement, enlargement, or repair of which is contemplated, whether governmental or proprietary, and they may proceed in the manner provided in this section. The legislative authority of municipal corporations desiring to make such a survey shall adopt a resolution declaring the purpose and necessity therefor. In making such surveys, such legislative authorities may call upon engineering officers or employees regularly employed by the municipal corporation, whether elected or appointed, or they may authorize or enter into, as the case may be, contracts for the services of registered professional engineers to make such surveys. The surveys authorized by this section may include drawings, plans, specifications, estimates of cost of labor and materials, and other items of cost, and such other facts, material, data, reports, and other information and recommendations as the legislative authority deems advisable or necessary for the planning and construction of the improvement proposed or the enlargement, improvement, replacement, or repair of an existing improvement or work. Agreements entered into for such surveys shall be deemed contracts for professional services and may provide for preliminary surveys or the making of detailed plans, or both, and may also provide for engineer-supervision of the work. No such contract shall be valid unless one or more of the services to be performed thereunder are begun within one year after the contract date. Such contracts shall be executed in triplicate and shall be signed by the proper officers of the municipal corporation, as in the case of other contracts of such municipal corporation, and by the engineer agreeing to perform such service, and one copy thereof shall be filed with the fiscal officer of the municipal corporation, whose certificate as provided in section 5705.41 of the Revised Code shall not be required. Payment therefor may be from the general fund or any other fund legally available for such use at such times as are agreed upon, and, where bonds or notes are sold to pay the cost of work to which such survey related, such funds may be used to pay any part of the consideration under such contract or to reimburse the fund from which payment was made.
Section 743.30 \| Occupation of streets by legislative authority for gas purposes. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF If at any time any company, mentioned in section 743.28 of the Revised Code, required by the legislative authority to lay pipes and light a street, alley, avenue, wharf, landing place, or public ground or building, refuses or neglects for six months after being notified by the legislative authority to comply with such requirement, the legislative authority may lay pipes and erect gasworks for lighting such streets, alleys, or public grounds, and all other such places not already lighted, and such company shall be precluded from using or occupying any of the streets, alleys, or public grounds or buildings not already furnished with gas pipes of the company and the legislative authority may open any street for the purpose of so conveying gas. At any time after such default, the legislative authority may permit such companies to use and occupy the streets, alleys, and public grounds of the municipal corporation for the purpose of lighting them and furnishing gas to the citizens and public buildings.
Section 743.31 \| Forfeiture of charter for neglect to furnish gas - exception. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF Any gaslight company which neglects to furnish gas to the citizens and other consumers of gas or to the municipal corporation in accordance with the prices fixed and established by the legislative authority shall forfeit all rights of such company under the charter by which it has been established, and the legislative authority may proceed to erect, or, by ordinance, empower any person to erect gasworks for the supply of gas to such municipal corporation and its citizens. A temporary failure to furnish gas shall not operate as a forfeiture, unless such failure is through the neglect or misconduct of such gaslight or gaslight and coke company.
Section 743.32 \| Provision by legislative authority for electric current and gas inspection. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF In a municipal corporation in which gasworks are constructed, the legislative authority thereof may provide, by ordinance, for the appointment of an officer, to be known as inspector of gas, whose compensation shall be fixed by the legislative authority, and whose duty it shall be to inspect all gas and gas meters, certify the correctness of all bills against consumers of gas, make photometric tests, and perform such other duties as are prescribed by ordinance. The legislative authority may also provide for the inspection and testing of meters used for measuring electric current for electric light, power, or other purposes, furnished by any individual or company within the municipal corporation, and may prescribe a suitable charge for such inspection and testing, and the manner of collecting it.
Section 743.33 \| Exclusive monopoly shall not be allowed to gas companies. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The legislative authority of a municipal corporation shall not agree by ordinance, contract, or otherwise with any person for the construction or extension of gasworks for manufacturing or supplying the municipal corporation or its inhabitants with gas, which gives or continues to such person the exclusive privilege of using the streets, lanes, commons, or alleys for the purpose of conveying gas to the municipal corporation or the citizens thereof, or which deprives the legislative authority of the right to designate, inspect, or regulate the kind of meter to be used for the correct measurement of the gas furnished under such agreement, or which does not specify the exact quality of the gas to be furnished, and reserve to the legislative authority the right to enforce an exact compliance with such specification under such rules as it prescribes. The legislative authority shall not make any such agreement which does not secure to it the right to purchase such works, and all the appurtenances belonging thereto, at any time within the existence of such contract or agreement.
Section 743.34 \| Legislative authority may erect or purchase gas or electric works. Effective: January 1, 1966 Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 94 - 106th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The legislative authority of a municipal corporation may erect gasworks or electric works at the expense of the municipal corporation, or purchase any such works already erected therein. If the legislative authority and the owner of such works are unable to agree upon the compensation to be paid therefor, the legislative authority may proceed in the manner provided in sections 163.01 to 163.22, inclusive, of the Revised Code. A contract existing between any village and such person, company, or corporation for the public or street lighting shall be considered as an element of value in fixing the compensation to be paid for such works.
Section 743.35 \| Sale of natural gas to village. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF When a municipal corporation is the owner of a natural gas plant by which the citizens thereof are supplied with natural gas, and such natural gas is so supplied through pipes, from a point beyond the limits of such municipal corporation, which pass through the limits of a village, the municipal corporation may sell natural gas to such village, or to a company, for the use of such village and the citizens thereof. Such gas shall be delivered at a reducing station located within one hundred feet of the main pipe line.
Section 743.36 \| Delivery of gas outside of municipal corporation - sales for manufacturing purposes. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF When a municipal corporation is the owner of a natural gas plant for the purpose of supplying the citizens thereof with natural gas for fuel, the legislative authority thereof may provide for supplying natural gas, at rates to be determined by it, to persons living outside of and in the vicinity of such municipal corporation, and to county homes, children's homes, and other public institutions within or without such municipal corporation. To encourage the location or establishment of manufacturing industries within such municipal corporation, the legislative authority may reduce the price of gas to be used to operate such manufacturing, or may donate it for a term of years for such purpose. This section shall be inoperative if the municipal corporation or the citizens thereof are thereby deprived of a full supply of such gas.
Section 743.37 \| Laying of gas pipes - assessment of costs. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF The legislative authority of a municipal corporation may prescribe, by ordinance, for the laying down of gas pipes in highways about to be paved, macadamized, or otherwise permanently improved, and for the assessment of the cost and expense thereof upon the lots or parcels of land adjoining or abutting upon the highways in which they are laid. In no case, excepting as a sanitary measure, shall the legislative authority require house connections to be built further from the main pipe than the outer line of the curbstone.
Section 743.38 \| Contracts to supply municipal corporation with electric light or gas. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF A municipal corporation may contract with any company for supplying such municipal corporation with electric light and natural or artificial gas for the purpose of lighting or heating the streets, squares, and other public places and buildings therein.
Section 743.39 \| Right of eminent domain in municipal corporations for public service enterprises. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF For the purpose of erecting or building dams across rivers or streams to raise and maintain a head of water, constructing and maintaining canals, locks, and race ways to regulate and carry such head of water to a plant or power house where electricity is to be generated, erecting and maintaining poles whereon to attach or sink wires or cables to carry and transmit electricity, transporting natural gas, petroleum, water, or electricity through or by means of tubing, pipes, conduits, wires, or cables, storing, transporting, or transmitting water, natural gas, or petroleum, or generating and transmitting electricity, a municipal corporation may enter upon any private land to examine or survey lines for such tubing, pipes, conduits, poles and wires, reservoirs, dams, canals, race ways, plant, or power house and to ascertain the number of acres overflowed by reason of the construction of such dams. The municipal corporation may appropriate so much thereof as is necessary for the laying down or building of such facilities and for the erection of tanks and reservoirs for the storage of water for transporting stations along such lines, and such buildings as are necessary for such purpose, as well as land overflowed.
Section 743.40 \| Manner of appropriation - restrictions thereon. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF Appropriation of lands under section 743.39 of the Revised Code shall be made in accordance with sections 719.01 to 719.21, inclusive, of the Revised Code. As far as the rights of the public therein are concerned, the board of county commissioners as to county and state roads, the board of township trustees as to township roads, and the legislative authority of a municipal corporation as to streets and alleys, in their respective jurisdictions, may grant a municipal corporation the right to lay tubing, pipes, conduits, poles, and wires therein, subject to such regulations and restrictions as they prescribe. The right to appropriate for any such purpose shall not extend to the erection of any tank, station, reservoir, building, or lands therefor, or to more than one continuous pipe, conduit, or tubing, or land therefor, in or through a municipal corporation unless the legislative authority first consents thereto.
Section 743.41 \| Property not to be appropriated without consent of municipal corporation. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF Sections 743.39 and 743.40 of the Revised Code do not confer power to appropriate or confer any right in any portion of a street, alley, highway, public way, or land situated within a municipal corporation, without its consent.
Section 743.42 \| Construction restrictions. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF In appropriation proceedings under sections 743.39 to 743.41, inclusive, of the Revised Code, no reservoir for the storage or transportation of water shall be constructed within the limits of a municipal corporation or any public park. All excavations, except such reservoirs, shall be well filled and so kept by the appropriating municipal corporation.
Section 743.43 \| Further powers of municipal corporation. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF A municipal corporation appropriating property pursuant to sections 743.39 to 743.42, inclusive, of the Revised Code, may transport, store, insure, and ship natural gas, petroleum, or water, and transport and store water for the purpose of furnishing it to engineers employed in developing for, or in the production and transportation of, petroleum, and for that purpose may lay down, construct, and maintain the necessary pipes, tubing, tanks, machinery, and arrangements.
Section 743.44 \| Power of municipal corporation outside corporate limits to provide natural gas. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF A municipal corporation authorized by law to purchase or lease lands, purchase, lease or sink natural gas wells, procure rights of way, and purchase and lay pipes for the purpose of supplying such municipal corporation or the citizens thereof with natural gas may exercise any such powers outside of its limits, and in addition thereto shall have all the rights and powers conferred upon municipal corporations by sections 743.39 to 743.43, inclusive, of the Revised Code, subject to all the restrictions therein.
Section 743.45 \| Municipal corporation may request public utilities commission to review electric rates. Effective: September 1, 1976 Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 94 - 111th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF Nothing in section 743.26, 743.34, or 4909.34 of the Revised Code shall be construed to mean that a municipal corporation may not request the public utilities commission to review and comment upon the equity and financial implications of the portion of a proposed ordinance that relates to the rates that may be charged for electricity supplied by an electric generation facility either owned or operated by a municipal corporation or owned and operated by an electric light company with whom the municipal corporation has, or is considering entering into, a contract for the supply of electricity to its residents. The public utilities commission shall, to the extent that fulfillment of such a request does not significantly impair the primary functions of the public utilities commission under Title XLIX of the Revised Code, fulfill such a request but the corporation shall not be required to accept, or in any way to react to, any review and comment of this kind.
Section 743.50 \| Maintenance of buffer property near municipal water source. Effective: September 29, 2015 Latest Legislation: House Bill 64 - 131st General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF (A) A municipal corporation that has established and implemented a watershed management program with regard to a reservoir for drinking water shall allow an owner of property that is contiguous to property that constitutes a buffer around a body of water that is part of such a reservoir to maintain property that constitutes a buffer if the maintenance is for any of the following: (1) Creation of an access path that is not wider than five feet to the body of water; (2) Creation of a view corridor along adjacent property boundaries; (3) Removal of invasive plant species as defined in section 901.50 of the Revised Code; (4) Creation and maintenance of a filter strip of plants and grass that are native to the area surrounding the reservoir in order to provide adequate filtering of wastewater and polluted runoff from the owner's property to the body of water; (5) Beautification of the property. (B) A peace officer or other official with authority to cite trespassers on property that is owned by a municipal corporation and that constitutes a buffer as described in division (A) of this section shall not issue a civil or criminal citation to an individual who enters the property for the sole purpose of mowing grass, weeds, or other vegetation or for any of the purposes specified in that division.
Section 743.99 \| Penalty. Effective: October 1, 1953 Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly PDF: Download Authenticated PDF (A) Whoever violates section 743.25 of the Revised Code shall be fined not less than five nor more than five hundred dollars.