1. Adopt a Drain Grand River
2. Website Terms of Use Agreement
3. 1. Acceptance of Terms of Use

   Grand Valley Metro Council (GVMC) and the sponsoring jurisdictions of City of East Grand Rapids, City of Grand Haven, City of Grand Rapids, City of Grandville, Kent County Road Commission, Ottawa County Road Commission, Ottawa County Water Resources Commissioner, Plainfield Charter Township, City of Rockford, Village of Caledonia, Village of Fruitport, Village of Sparta, Village of Spring Lake DPW, City of Walker and City of Wyoming (“GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions”) provides the Adopt-a-Drain program ("AAD") to you subject to the following Terms of Use Agreement ("Agreement") which may be updated by us from time to time without notice to you. By accessing and using AAD, you accept and agree to be bound by the terms and provision of this Agreement.

4. 2. Description of Adopt-a-Drain

   ADD is an initiative of GVMC & the Sponsoring Jurisdictions to encourage residents to clear out blocked storm drains. The AAD website allows users to "adopt" a storm drain, or state that you intend to help clear that storm drain out if it gets blocked by debris.

   Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any new features that augment or enhance AAD are covered by this Agreement.

5. 3. Obligations

   If you choose to adopt a storm drain using the AAD website, you are under no obligation and have no responsibility to clear out the storm drain, or any storm drain. It is purely voluntary. However, user acknowledges that he/she may receive a “myGRcitypoints” reward code or other consideration in exchange for his/her participation.

6. 4. Termination of Obligations

   If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, offensive, not current, or incomplete, or GVMC & the Sponsoring Jurisdictions have reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, offensive, not current, or incomplete, GVMC & the Sponsoring Jurisdictions have the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the AAD services (or any portion thereof).

   Accounts that consistently adopt storm drains without clearing them out may also be terminated.

   Additionally, you agree that GVMC & the Sponsoring Jurisdictions may, without prior notice, immediately terminate, limit your access to, or suspend your AAD service. Cause for such termination, limitation of access, or suspension shall include but not be limited to:

   a. breaches or violations of this Agreement or other incorporated agreements or guidelines,

   b. requests by law enforcement or other government agencies,

   c. discontinuance or material modification to AAD (or any part thereof),

   d. unexpected technical or security issues or problems,

   e. extended periods of inactivity,

   f. engagement by you in fraudulent or illegal activities.

   Further, you agree that all terminations, limitations of access, and suspensions for cause shall be made in GVMC’s & the Sponsoring Jurisdictions’ sole discretion and that GVMC & the Sponsoring Jurisdictions shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your account, any associated email address, or access to AAD.

7. 5. GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions Public Records Policy

   Registration data, as well as data you submit using AAD, are subject to all applicable GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdiction, State and Federal public records laws.

8. 6. User Conduct

   a. You understand that all information entered by the user is the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. This means that you, and not GVMC & the Sponsoring Jurisdictions, are entirely responsible for all Content that you submit or otherwise make available via AAD. GVMC & the Sponsoring Jurisdictions do not control the sign-in content posted and, as such, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, or quality of such Content. While it is not anticipated, you understand that by using AAD, you could be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent, or objectionable. Under no circumstances will GVMC & the Sponsoring Jurisdictions be liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any Content, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content submitted or otherwise made available via AAD.

   b. We are under no obligation to enforce this Agreement on your behalf against another user. While we encourage you to let us know if you believe another user violated this Agreement, we reserve the right to investigate and take appropriate action at GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions’ sole discretion.

   c. You agree not to use AAD to:

   • submit Content that is false or inaccurate;

   • submit Content that does not generally pertain to the designated topic or theme;

   • submit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable;

   • harm minors in any way;

   • impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;

   • submit or otherwise make available any Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);

   • submit or otherwise make available any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary rights ("Rights") of any party;

   • submit or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of communication not relevant to specific GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdiction service requests;

   • submit or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;

   • intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law;

   • "stalk" or otherwise harass another; or

   • collect or store personal data about other users in connection with the prohibited conduct and activities set forth in paragraphs (a) through (k) above.

   d. You acknowledge that GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions may or may not pre-screen Content that is shared, but that GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions and their designees shall have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to pre-screen, refuse, or remove any Content that is available via AAD. Without limiting the foregoing, GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions and their designees shall have the right to remove any Content that violates this Agreement or is otherwise objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any Content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Content.

   e. You acknowledge, consent, and agree that GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions may access, preserve and disclose your account information and Content if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to:

   • comply with legal process;

   • enforce this Agreement;

   • respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third parties;

   • respond to your requests for customer service;

   • protect the rights, property or personal safety of GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions, their users, and the public.

   f. You may not attempt to override or circumvent any of the usage rules embedded into AAD.

   g. You may not trace any information of any other AAD user or visitor or otherwise use AAD for the purpose of obtaining information of any other AAD user.

   h. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to AAD or the computer systems and networks connected to AAD through hacking, password mining, or any other means.

   i. You may not release the results of any performance or functional evaluation of AAD to any third party without prior written approval of GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions for each such release.

   j. You may not take any action that imposes, or may impose, in GVMC & Sponsoring jurisdictions’ sole discretion, an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the GVMC & Sponsoring jurisdictions’ technology infrastructure or otherwise make excessive traffic demands of AAD.

9. 7. Interstate Nature of Communications on Adopt-a-Drain

   When you use the application, you acknowledge that in using AAD, you will be causing communications to be sent through a variety of networks (Internet service provider, wireless phone network, etc.) As a result, even communications that seem to be intrastate in nature can result in the transmission of interstate communications regardless of where you are physically located at the time of transmission. Accordingly, you agree that use of the AAD may result in interstate or international data transmissions.

10. 8. Submissions to GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions

    By submitting feedback ("Submissions") to GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions through the AAD feedback function, you acknowledge and agree that:

    a. your Submissions do not contain confidential or proprietary information;

    b. GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions are not under any obligation of confidentiality, express or implied, with respect to the Submissions;

    c. GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions shall be entitled to use or disclose (or choose not to use or disclose) such Submissions for any purpose, in any way, in any media worldwide;

    d. GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions may have something similar to the Submissions already under consideration or in development;

    e. your Submissions automatically become the property of GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions without any obligation of GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions to you;

    f. you are not entitled to any compensation or reimbursement of any kind from GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions under any circumstances.

11. 9. Indemnity

    You agree to indemnify and hold GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions and their subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, employees, partners, licensors, successors and assigns harmless from any claim or demand (including reasonable attorneys' fees) made by any third party due to or arising out of:

    a. Content you submit or otherwise make available through AAD,

    b. your use of AAD,

    c. your connection to AAD,

    d. your violation of this Agreement,

    e. your violation of any Rights of another

    f. your negligence and/or intentional acts.

12. 10. Modifications to Adopt-a-Drain

    GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions reserve the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, AAD (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the AAD (or any part thereof).

13. 11. Links

    GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions may provide links to other World Wide Web sites or resources. You acknowledge and agree that GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions are not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources.

    AAD may facilitate your use of third party services not provided by GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions ("Third Party Services"). GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions make no representations or warranties regarding the performance of Third Party Services, their compliance with applicable laws and regulations, or any other aspects of such Third Party Services. Your use of Third Party Services is at your own risk and you are solely responsible for complying with all legal and contractual requirements necessary for using Third Party Services.

14. 12. GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions’ Proprietary Rights

    You acknowledge and agree that AAD contains proprietary and confidential information that is owned by GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions and protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws. You will not use such proprietary information in any way whatsoever except for use of AAD in compliance with the provisions of this Agreement.

15. 13. Disclaimer of Warranties

    You expressly understand and agree that:

    a. Your use of AAD is at your sole risk. The application is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.

    b. GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, employees, agents, partners, and licensors make no warranty that:

    • AAD will meet your requirements;

    • AAD will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free;

    • The results that may be obtained from the use of AAD will be accurate or reliable;

    • Any errors in the software will be corrected;

    • AAD will be free from corruption, viruses, hacking, or other security intrusion.

16. 14. Limitation of liability

    a. You expressly understand and agree that GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions shall not be liable to you for any punitive, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, including, but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data, or other intangible losses including but not limited to those resulting from:

    • Your access to or use of or inability to access or use the services;

    • Any conduct or content or any third party on the services, including, without limitation, any defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct of other users or third parties;

    • Any content obtained from the services;

    • Unauthorized access, use or alteration of your transmissions or content, whether based on warranty, contract, tort (including negligence) or any other legal theory, whether or not GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions have been informed of the possibility of such damage, and even if a remedy set forth herein is found to have failed of its essential purpose.

    b. You expressly agree that GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions are not responsible for any contact or interaction between you and any other user of AAD and that you bear the sole risk of transmitting through the application any content, including information which identifies you or your location.

    c. You agree that the negation of damages set forth above is a fundamental element of the basis of the bargain between GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions and you and that the foregoing limitation of liability is an agreed upon allocation of risk between you and GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions. You acknowledge that absent your agreement to this limitation of liability GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions would not provide AAD to you.

17. 15. Notices & Changes to Terms of Use

    a. GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions may provide you with notices regarding AAD, including changes to this Agreement, by email, postings on AAD, or any other reasonable means now known or hereafter developed. Notices shall be effective immediately.

    Such notices may not be received if you violate this Agreement by accessing the AAD in an unauthorized manner. You agree that you will be deemed to have received any and all notices that would have been delivered had you accessed AAD in an authorized manner.

    b. We may revise and update these Terms of Use from time to time in our sole discretion. All changes are effective immediately when we post them and apply to all access to and use of the Website and AAD thereafter. However, any changes to the dispute resolution provisions set out in Governing Law and Jurisdiction will not apply to any disputes for which the parties have actual notice on or before the date the change is posted on the Website.

    Your continued use of the Website and AAD following the posting of revised Terms of Use means that you accept and agree to the changes. You are expected to check this page from time to time so you are aware of any changes, as they are binding on you.

18. 16. Release and Indemnification

    a. The participant acknowledges that he/she is 18 years of age or older. The participant hereby releases GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions, Grand Valley Metro Council, and all private and public parties whose property may be crossed by the drain or used for access to the drain, and their officials, employees, agents and volunteers (the “released parties”) from any claim of liability for personal injury, death or property damage, and waives any and all claims or legal causes of action for damages for such injury to me arising out of, or in any way connected with, my participation in the activities of the AAD program.

    b. I further agree to indemnify, hold harmless and reimburse GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions, and all private and public parties whose property may be crossed by the drain or used for access to the drain, and their officials, employees, agents and volunteers (the “indemnified parties”) for all expenses, including judgments, settlements, attorney fees and other defense costs, incurred by the indemnified parties in connection with any claim brought against the indemnified parties for personal injury, death or property damage arising out of my performance under the AAD program, such as damage to the drain or its facilities, flooding, injury to other participants, or any other cause whatsoever for which a claim is asserted against the indemnified parties identified herein.

    c. If this agreement is being signed by an organization arranging volunteers for the AAD project, then we agree that no volunteer will be permitted to participate unless that volunteer has separately and individually acknowledged and agreed to all of the herein, including the terms of the release and indemnity above. In addition, this organization hereby releases, and agrees to indemnify the released and indemnified parties on the terms and conditions above.

    d. It is acknowledged that this release and indemnity in no way implies any waiver or reduction of the protection of governmental immunity that may be afforded by law to the released and indemnified parties.

    e. I agree that this agreement may be electronically signed, and that my electronic signature is the same as my handwritten signature for the purpose of validity, enforceability, and admissibility. By signing and submitting this agreement, I agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.

19. 17. Governing Law and Venue

    This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Michigan without regard to any conflict of law provisions. You agree that any claim or dispute with GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions relating in any way to your use of AAD shall be brought exclusively before a state or federal court sitting in GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions, Michigan, and you irrevocably waive any GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictional, venue, or inconvenient forum objections to such courts.

20. 18. Miscellaneous

    a. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions with respect to your use of AAD, superseding any prior version of this Agreement between you and GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions with respect to AAD.

    b. If any provision of this Agreement shall be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severed from this Agreement and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Agreement.

    c. GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions’ failure to assert any right or provision under this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

    d. You agree that any cause of action arising out of or related to your use of AAD must commence within one year after the cause of action accrues. Otherwise, such cause of action is permanently barred.

    e. The section titles in this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

    Last updated March 28, 2019.

Thank you for your interest in adopting one or more of the Lower Grand River Watershed’s storm drains. By pledging to keep your drain free of leaves and debris, you are joining your neighbors in helping to protect the environment, manage stormwater, and minimize flooding.

How to Care For Your Adopted Drain

• Check the weather report weekly. If possible, clear leaves and debris off the drain before it starts raining and shovel snow off the drain in winter to keep water flowing.
• Remove leaves, other natural materials, and trash. Compost if possible or dispose of them according to your community’s guidelines.
• Clear about 10 feet on both sides of the drain.
• Did you find medical waste or needles? Construction debris? Toxic materials? Follow your community’s instructions for disposal guidelines. For more information, click HERE.

Drain Cleaning Safety Tips

• Please stay out of the street as much as possible. Place yourself in the right of way (the area between the sidewalk and the street) to clear the drain.
• Always wear gloves and be careful of sharp objects!
• Use a rake, broom, or shovel if possible.
• Never try to lift/remove the drain grate.
• Wear reflective clothing so vehicles can see you.
• Dispose of waste appropriately. Visit www.LGROW.org to find out how to properly dispose of yard and household hazardous wastes in your community.

Remember, GVMC & Sponsoring Jurisdictions won't be held responsible for anything that happens to you or others in service of maintaining your drain. Please be careful!

Spread the Word!

Excited about the Adopt a Drain program? Want to encourage your coworkers, friends, and neighbors to participate? Share Adopt a Drain on social media to spread the word!

Be sure to tag us @lgrow_org on Instagram and @LGROW.org on Facebook. Use the hashtags #LGROW, #KeepYourLakesGreatandRiverGrand, and #AdoptaDrainGrandRiver in your posts.

Volunteer Developer Opportunities

Are you a programmer with Ruby on Rails experience who wants to help improve and maintain the Adopt a Drain application? Don't be shy! We're always seeking assistance with the code! Get involved with Citizen Labs HERE.

Contact Us

Email questions and feedback to adoptadrain@lgrow.org. We'd love to hear from you!