Last Update: 040605
Chapter 25
UTILITY COMMISSION

§ 25-1. Establishment; purpose; duties and responsibilities.
§ 25-2. Number of Utility Commissioners; selection; term.
§ 25-3. Compensation of Commissioners; meetings.
§ 25-4. Selection of officers; duties.
§ 25-5. Examination of records; removal of Commissioners; appeal.
§ 25-6. Utility Manager.
§ 25-7. Street-opening powers.

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Berlin 6-30-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-11. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES
Sewers — See Ch. 86.
Water — See Ch. 102.
Cable television franchise — See Ch. A110.

§ 25-1. Establishment; purpose; duties and responsibilities.
  1. The Mayor and Council do hereby establish the Berlin Utility Commission, hereinafter referred to as the "Commission" for the purpose of overseeing and directing the operations of the Berlin electric, water and sewer utilities.
  2. The Commission shall have the authority and the responsibility to exercise the powers granted to the Town under §§ C10-1 and C11-1 of the Berlin Charter subject to the approval of the Mayor and Council. The Commission shall function at all times as a policy-making body for the Town’s electric, water and sewer utility system subject to the approval of the Mayor and Council.
§ 25-2. Number of Utility Commissioners; selection; term.
  1. The Commission shall consist of five voting members appointed by the Mayor and Council for terms of three years, except for initial terms of office as provided in Subsection D below. One of the five voting members shall be the Administrative Director for the Town of Berlin.
  2. There shall be no limit as to the number of terms a member may serve.
  3. No fewer than three of the voting members shall be residential class electric, water and sewer customers within the Town of Berlin.
  4. Each member’s term shall commence on the first day of January in the year his appointment becomes effective.
  5. Initial appointments shall be made such that no more than two members’ terms shall expire in the same year and shall be made as follows: two members shall be appointed for two-year terms and two members shall be appointed for one-year terms. Upon expiration of these initial terms of office, each member shall be appointed for a three-year term thereafter. The Administrative Director’s position shall be permanently appointed to a voting membership on the Commission.
  6. If a vacancy shall occur on the Commission at any time by reason of death, resignation, removal from office or other reason, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment of a qualified person by the Mayor and Council and such appointment shall be for the remainder of the unexpired term of the vacating Commissioner.
 
§ 25-3. Compensation of Commissioners; meetings.
  1. Commission members shall serve without compensation, except that reasonable travel and personal expenses incurred during the conduct of official Commission business will be reimbursed upon presentation of an expense voucher and accompanying receipts.
  2. The Commission shall meet for the transaction of business once each month during the calendar year and may set more frequent meetings if a majority of the Commission deems it necessary. The Chairman with the concurrence of at least two other Commissioners may cancel a regularly scheduled meeting, provided that no more than three such meetings are canceled in any one calendar year.
  3. Any Commissioner absent from more than three meetings in the course of his or her twelve-month term of appointment without having been excused by the Chairman will be dismissed unless otherwise determined by the Mayor and Council in each individual case.
§ 25-4. Selection of officers; duties.
  1. The Commission shall set its own rules of procedure for the conduct of meetings. The Commission shall draft and adopt bylaws to govern its operations subject to the review and approval of the Mayor and Council.
  2. The Commission shall elect a Chairperson from among its members (except, however, that the Administrative Director shall not be eligible), whose term as Chair shall be for one year and who may be reelected by the remaining Commissioners without limitation as to the number of terms served.
§ 25-5. Examination of records; removal of Commissioners; appeal.
  1. The Mayor and Council shall, at all times, have the right to examine or to have examined any and all documents or records maintained by the Commission.
  2. The Commission shall participate in the Town’s annual independent audit under the same terms and circumstances as any other town department by making any and all records available to the Auditor. The Commission shall further have the authority to procure an individual audit of the electric, water and sewer utility’s records with the approval of the Mayor and Council.
  3. The Mayor and Council shall have the power to remove any member of the Commission by means of formal resolution adopted by affirmative vote of a majority of the Council.
§ 25-6. Utility Manager.
  1. There shall be a Utility Manager, hereinafter referred to as the "Manager," appointed by the Mayor with the consent of the Council in the same manner as other department, agency and office heads are appointed, as more fully described in § C4-4 of the Berlin Charter. Such appointment shall be made pursuant to acceptable recommendation of an interview or search committee, such committee to be comprised of at least three members of the Utility Commission, one of whom shall be the Administrative Director and two members of the Council appointed by the Mayor and such other town representatives as the Mayor and Council deem necessary and appropriate. The Manager shall serve at the pleasure of the Mayor and may be terminated by the Mayor, with the consent of the majority of the Council.
  2. The position shall be an unclassified position, as described in § C8-5 of the Charter and shall be subject to all personnel and policy regulations of the Town. The Manager shall report directly to the Mayor and Council.
  3. The Manager shall be responsible for the management and supervision of the day-to-day operations of the Town’s electric, water and sewer utility system and for the implementation of policies and directives set by the Commission under its scope of authority set forth by the Mayor and Council and the provisions of this chapter.
  4. The present supervisors of the electric, water and sewer departments at the effective date of this chapter, shall report directly to and be supervised by the Manager upon the date of the Manager’s hiring.
  5. The initial level of salary, compensation and benefits for the Manager shall be set by the Mayor and Council at the time of hiring. Annual increases in that salary, compensation and benefit level shall be reviewed annually.
§ 25-7. Street-opening powers.

    The Commission shall have the right to open streets or public ways for the installation, replacement and maintenance of electric, water and sewer utility fixtures, equipment or any system component, subject to all other standards and regulations related to the opening and restoration of public ways that would be applicable to any public utility operating within the Berlin corporate limits. Such standards and regulations include, without limitation, protection and securing of the excavation or opening and restoration of the same to, at minimum, its prior condition.