1000 Jackson Street,
PO Box 308
 Roanoke Rapids, NC 27870
(252) 537-9137
Fax(252) 537-3064

The District is the water purveyor and is responsible for ensuring a safe water supply begins at the source and includes all of the public water distribution system, including the service connection, and ends at the point of delivery to the consumers' water systems. In addition, the District shall exercise reasonable vigilance to ensure that the consumer has taken the proper steps to protect the public potable water system. The District will determine the degree of hazard or potential hazard to the public potable water system, the degree of protection required, and will ensure proper containment protection through an ongoing inspection program. The District will identify all facilities that approved backflow prevention assemblies shall be required to be installed.

When it is determined that a backflow prevention assembly is required for the protection of the public system, the District shall require the consumer, at the consumer's expense, to install an approved backflow prevention assembly at service connection. The assembly shall be tested immediately upon installation and thereafter at frequency as determined by the District. The consumer shall properly repair and maintain assembly or assemblies and to keep adequate records of each test and subsequent maintenance and repair, including materials and/or replacement parts.

The fiscal year of the Sanitary District shall be established by ordinance unless such fiscal year is established by general law, in which event the fiscal year established by general law shall be the fiscal year of the Sanitary District. The fiscal year of the Sanitary District shall also constitute the budget and accounting year.

The Chief Executive Officer shall submit to the Board of Commissioners a budget and a budget message at least sixty days prior to the beginning of each budget year.

It shall be the duty of the head of each department supported in whole or in part by the Sanitary District, to file at such time as the Chief Executive Officer may prescribe estimates of revenue and expenditure for the ensuing fiscal year. The Chief Executive Officer shall hold such hearings as he may deem advisable and shall review the estimates and other data pertinent to the preparation of the budget and make such revisions in such estimates as he may deem proper, subject to the laws of the state relating to obligatory expenditures for any purpose. The budget shall be prepared in accordance with accepted principles of municipal accounting and budgetary procedures and techniques.

In no event shall the expenditures recommended by the Chief Executive Officer in the budget exceed the receipts estimated, taking into account the estimated cash surplus or deficit at the end of the current fiscal year, unless the Chief Executive Officer shall recommend an increase in the rate of water and sewer use or initiate a referendum for other new taxes or licenses within the power of the Sanitary District to levy and collect in the ensuing fiscal year, the receipts from which, estimated on the basis of the average experience with the same or similar rates during the three rate years last past, will make up the difference. If estimated receipts exceed estimated expenditures and sufficient funds are not available in the general fund balance, the Chief Executive Officer may recommend revisions in the rate ordinance of the Sanitary District.

The budget message shall contain the recommendations of the Chief Executive Officer concerning the fiscal policy of the Sanitary District, a description of the important features of the budget and an explanation of all significant changes in the budget as to estimated receipts and recommended expenditures as compared with the current and last preceding fiscal years.

At the same time that he submits the budget, the Chief Executive Officer shall introduce and recommend to the Board of Commissioners an appropriation ordinance that shall be based on the budget. He shall also introduce at the same time any ordinances levying a new water and sewer use rate on any existing rate necessary to balance the budget.

The Board of Commissioners shall hold a public hearing on the budget as submitted, at which time all interested persons shall be given an opportunity to be heard. The Board of Commissioners shall cause to be published a notice of the time and place of the hearing not less than seven days prior to the date of the hearing.

After the public hearing the Board of Commissioners may make such changes in the budget as it may determine, except that no item of expenditure for debt service shall be reduced or omitted. The budget shall be adopted by the vote of at least a majority of all members of the Board of Commissioners not later than thirty days prior to the end of the current fiscal year. Should the Board of Commissioners take no action prior to such day, the budget shall be deemed to have been finally adopted as submitted. In no event shall the Board of Commissioners adopt a budget in which the estimated total of expenditures exceeds receipts, unless at the same time it adopts measures to provide additional revenue estimated to be sufficient to make up the difference.

Appropriations in addition to those contained in the general appropriation ordinance may be made by the Board of Commissioners only if there is available in the general fund an unencumbered and unappropriated sum sufficient to meet such appropriations.

The Sanitary District's water and sanitary sewer system is operated as a self-sustaining enterprise fund, with rates and charges adjusted when necessary to assure a stream of revenues adequate to cover the costs of operations and maintenance of the system and debt service on all water and sewer system bonds. Revenues from water and sewer charges are reserved solely for the payment of water and sewer fund obligations and are not used for any non-water or non-sewer related purpose. Water and Sewer charges are maintained at a level sufficient to pay all water and sewer operating expenses and debt service. Table 1 details the District's current rate structure.

Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District (RRSD) incurs substantial expenses in providing essential public water and sewer services and facilities for the Roanoke Rapids community and surrounding area. RRSD does not receive tax revenues from local governments for ongoing operations and receives only limited Federal and State grant funding assistance. Therefore, RRSD's ongoing water and sewer operations and extensive Capital Improvements Program are financed almost entirely from customer revenues.

The North Carolina General Statutes authorize RRSD "To fix and revise from time to time and to collect rates, fees and other charges for the use of or for the services and facilities furnished by any system operated by the authority." (G.S. 162A-9.) Rates and fees must be set at levels sufficient to pay operation and maintenance expenses and to pay the principal and interest on all bonds issued by RRSD (G.S. 162A-9). RRSD's rates are generally established utilizing a cost-of-service rate making methodology. Each customer pays for the estimated costs incurred by RRSD to provide the services and/or facility capacity required by the customer. Table 2 details the District's current fee structure.

Consistent with the District's Emergency Response Plan, the Chief Executive Officer of the Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District or his designee is authorized to contact the media and issue news releases. The Chief Executive Officer acts as the District's Public Information Officer as that job relates to emergency situations. The Chief Executive Officer maintains an extensive media, local and state agency contact list to expedite the delivery of public notices and news release of immediate concern to the general public.

Communications with the public shall be facilitated through mutual aid agreements with County and Municipal agencies effected by instructions in the event of problems or emergencies. A boil water advisory shall be issued as a response to low system pressure. A boil water advisory shall be immediately issued to all media and government agencies including the County Board of Health. The advisory shall remain in effect until test results for fecal and total coliform bacteria are negative.

Customers with high water readings shall be left with a door hanger by the meter reader notifying them of their high reading and with the recommendation to check for possible leaks.

Customers whose bills have not been paid on time shall be sent a final notice advising them of potential termination of service for non-payment.

The safety policy of the Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District, as endorsed by the Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District Board of Commissioners states:

The management of the Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District has a sincere concern for the welfare and safety of all employees and the public that they serve. With the goal of eliminating suffering and the cost of avoidable personal injury and vehicle accidents, department heads have been charged with the responsibility of implementing the Safety Program of the Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District. It is the District's policy to provide safe working conditions for all employees, comprehensive instruction covering safe work practices and special equipment to protect employees against particular hazards. The District will give safety precedence over the operational expediency of short cuts and will comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and other pertinent safety laws. Most accidents are preventable. All District employees are responsible for promoting accident prevention by actively supporting the Safety Program and observing the safety regulations.

Many companies involved in construction have written safety plans for individual safety topics, but few have an umbrella plan to summarize overall safety. This safety policy states the Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District's overall view of safety and the tenets of the safety program for our various construction sites.

In order to establish and organize good safety policies and procedures, this General Safety Policies and Procedures Written Plan summarizes information regarding safety policies and procedures at this company.

The District Safety Officer is responsible for implementing and updating this plan. The plan is kept at the following locations:

• ADMINISTRATION OFFICE VAULT 
• DISTRIBUTION & COLLECTION RIGHT TO KNOW STATION 
• WATER TREATMENT PLANT RIGHT TO KNOW STATION 
• WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT RIGHT TO KNOW STATION