ORDINANCE NO. 167
AN ORDINANCE REQUIRING THAT ALL OCCUPIED
BUILDINGS ACCESSIBLE TO THE SANITARY SEWAGE SYSTEM OF THE TOWNSHIP OF KENNETT,
CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, BE CONNECTED WITH THE PUBLIC SANITARY SEWAGE
COLLECTION SYSTEM; PROVIDING THAT COMMUNITY SEWAGE SYSTEMS MAY BE CONSTRUCTED
AND UTILIZED SUBJECT TO THE REGULATION OF THE TOWNSHIP; MAKING IT UNLAWFUL FOR
THE OWNER(S) OF A PROPERTY ACCESSIBLE TO THE KENNETT TOWNSHIP SANITARY SEWAGE
SYSTEM TO CONSTRUCT OR MAINTAIN PRIVIES, CESSPOOLS, SEPTIC TANKS OR OTHER
DEVICES FOR RECEIVING SEWAGE OR CONDUITS FOR THE DISCHARGE OF SEWAGE EXCEPT INTO
THE SANITARY SEWERS; PROVIDING FOR RULES AND REGULATIONS; IMPOSING SEWER
CONNECTION CHARGES AND SEWER RENTALS OR CHARGES FOR THE USE OF THE SEWERS AND
SEWER SYSTEM OF THE TOWNSHIP OF KENNETT UPON THE OWNERS OF PROPERTY SERVED, OR
TO BE SERVED, BY SUCH SEWERS AND SEWER SYSTEM; PROVIDING FOR THE COLLECTION
THEREOF AND THE FILING OF LIENS THEREFORE; AND PRESCRIBING PENALTIES.
THIS ORDINANCE SUPERSEDES ORDINANCE NO. 62 AND 131.
WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Kennett, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in order to promote and benefit the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and of the Township proposes to construct and/or own a sanitary sewer collection system in and for a portion of Kennett Township, which the Township will operate and maintain; and
WHEREAS,
the Board of Supervisors has
entered into an agreement with the Borough of Kennett Square in order to provide
for the conveyance and treatment of the sanitary sewage collected in said
system, which agreement imposes certain limitations and restrictions on the use
of the sanitary sewer system which Kennett Township is obliged to enforce by
ordinance and certain charges for the use of the Borough’s sewage collection and
treatment facilities, which Kennett Township must collect and pay over to the
Borough of
WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors, in order to promote the health, safety and welfare of the people of the Township and of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the purity of its water, believes it advisable to prohibit certain use of privies, cesspools, septic tanks and similar devices for receiving sewage within the Township, in that such use encourages the spread of disease and impairs public health, and to require connections to be made to the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system by the owners of occupied buildings on property adjoining, abutting on, adjacent or accessible to the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system in accordance with the Rules and Regulations which may from time to time be adopted by the Township as and when construction of the Sewer System has been completed by the Township;
AND WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Kennett has also provided in the approved Sewage Facilities Plan for Kennett Township for the construction and operation of individual on-lot disposal systems and community sewage systems when required for various land developments permitted under the Kennett Township Zoning Ordinance, and desires to regulate the design, construction and operation of these facilities to protect the public health;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Board of
Supervisors of the
Section 1. Definitions
The following words shall have the meanings indicated below, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
a. “Average Daily Flow” – average number of gallons per day of sanitary sewage determined by taking the total quantity of flow delivered to a point during an agreed period of time, and dividing by the number of days in the agreed period of time. The agreed period of time shall be ninety (90) days, and flow calculation shall be made as a running average.
b. “Billing Equivalent” – billing equivalent shall be equal to two hundred (200) gallons per day, or as hereinafter provided. With respect to single-family residential customers, each residence connected to a sewage collection system shall be considered a billing equivalent. With respect to non-single-family dwellings, flats, or apartments having the use of the sewage collection system through one sewer lateral, each and every residential unit, flat, or apartment shall be considered a billing equivalent as if each such unit had a direct and separate connection to the sewage collection system. For commercial or industrial properties, the number of billing equivalents shall be equal to the average daily flow divided by two hundred (200). The daily water usage shall be determined from metering or, where this is not possible, a mutually acceptable means of estimating daily water usage shall be determined by the Township.
c. “Biochemical oxygen Demand (BOD)” – quantity of oxygen expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l), utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five (5) days at twenty (20) degrees Centigrade.
d. “Cesspool” – a covered subsurface pit with porous sides and/or bottom designed to receive treated or untreated sewage.
e. “Community Sewage System” – a sanitary sewage system, whether publicly or privately owned, intended to serve the sanitary sewage needs of two or more residences or the sanitary sewage needs of a non-residential use generating greater than four hundred (400) gallons per day flow, as calculated by the standards of Title 25, Chapter 73 of the Pennsylvania Code or the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Domestic Wastewater Facilities Manual, as applicable.
f. “Connection Unit” – with respect to single-family residential customer, each residence to a sewage collection system shall be considered a connection unit. With respect to attached dwelling units or dwelling units located as apartment, flats or other multi-family arrangements, each attached dwelling unit, flat, apartment or other multiple dwelling unit, whether connected through sewer laterals to each individual unit or a common lateral, shall be considered a connection as if each such unit had a direct and separate connection to the collection system.
With respect to non-single-family dwellings, flats, apartments, stores or offices having the use of the collection system through one sewer lateral, each and every residential unit, flat, apartment, store, or office shall be considered a connection unit as if each such unit had a direct and separate connection to the collection system. For purposes of clarification, a shopping center with ten (10) stores connected to a single lateral would be considered ten (10) connection units.
With respect to commercial or industrial properties, the number of connection units shall be equal to the average daily flow divided by two hundred (200). The daily water usage shall be determined from metering or, where this is not possible, a mutual acceptable means of estimating daily water usage shall be determined by the Township. If, after such an industrial or commercial building is fully occupied, or, if after a change in use of a commercial or industrial building is determined to have occurred by the Township, the Township shall, based upon water meter readings, review the number of connection units assessed upon initial connection of a building to make certain that the number of connection units actually in use by the customer are the same or less than those assessed. If the number of connection units exceeds those charged at the time of initial connection of the building as determined by comparison of meter readings as indicated above, the Township shall make an assessment of additional connection fees at a rate then in effect in the Township. For those commercial or industrial properties where there is no record of connection fees or allocated sewage flows ever having been collected or defined, the Township will establish the maximum sewage flows into the Township system based on historical data and any increase over that maximum sewage flow as established by the Township, will require the payment of additional connection fees at the then current rate.
g. “Domestic Waste” – customary wastes from kitchens, water closets, lavatories and laundries.
h. “Fats, Oils, and Greases (FOG)” – Organic Polar compounds derived from animal and/or plant sources that contain multiple carbon chain triglyceride molecules. These substances are detectable and measurable using analytical test procedures established in the United States Code of Federal Regulations 40 CFR 136, as may be amended from time to time.
i. “Food Service Establishments” – Commercial or institutional establishments primarily engaged in activities of preparing, serving, or otherwise making food available for retail sale and/or consumption by the public such as restaurants, commercial kitchens or caterers, and those portions of the following facilities engaged in similar activities: hotels, schools, hospitals, prisons, correctional facilities, and care institutions. These establishments use one or more of the following preparation activities: cooking by frying (all methods), baking (all methods), grilling, sautéing, rotisserie cooking, broiling (all methods), boiling, blanching, roasting, toasting, or poaching. Also included are infrared heating, searing, barbecuing, and any other food preparation activity that produces a hot, non-drinkable food product in or on a receptacle that requires washing.
j. “Individual On-Lot Disposal Systems” – for the purposes of this ordinance, individual on-lot disposal systems are those sanitary sewage systems designed to treat and dispose of sanitary sewage from one single family residence or a non-residential use generating a four hundred (400) gallon per day or less sewage flow, as calculated by the standards of Title 25, Chapter 73 of the Pennsylvania Code.
k. “Industrial Waste” – any solid, liquid or gaseous substance discharged, permitted to flow or escaping in the course of any industrial, manufacturing, trade or business process or in the course of the development, recovery or processing of natural resources, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
l. “Kennett Township Sanitary Sewage System” – a sanitary sewage system owned and operated by Kennett Township and served by a public sewage treatment plant either located in Kennett Square, East Marlborough Township, or hereinafter to be constructed, owned and/or operated by Kennett Township.
m. “Occupied Building” – any building used for one or more dwelling or household units, stores, shops, offices, businesses, commercial or industrial units, erected and intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sanitary sewage and industrial wastes, or either thereof, is or may be discharged.
n. “Person” – any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group.
o.
“Plan, Official” – a sewage facilities plan for the
p. “pH” – logarithm of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ion, indicating the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a substance.
q. “Privy” – a tank or receptacle designed to receive sewage where water under pressure is not available or utilized for the purposes of sewage disposal.
r. “Property Accessible to the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system” – improved property which abuts on, or has access to the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system and whose principal building is within one hundred fifty (150) feet of said System.
s. “Sanitary Sewage” – all water-carried domestic and industrial sanitary waste from residences, offices, hotels, stores, restaurants, commercial establishments, industrial establishments, and similar users within the Township.
t. “Sanitary Sewage System” – all facilities, as of any particular time, for collecting, pumping, transferring, treating and disposing of sanitary sewage and industrial waste.
u. “Septic Tank” – a water tight tank designed to retain sewage long enough for satisfactory bacterial decomposition of the solids prior to discharge of the sewage for disposal or further treatment.
v. “Slug” – any sanitary sewage discharge which, for a period of fifteen (15) minutes, shall exceed five (5) times the average daily flow. The term particularly applies to the sudden emptying of large vats, tanks or swimming pools into the sanitary sewerage system.
w. “Spray Irrigation” – the disposal of treated sewage by spraying on the surface of the ground, designed and permitted in accordance with the regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
x. “Standard Laboratory Procedure” – for any laboratory analyses herein listed, it shall be that found in the latest edition of “Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Sewerage” published by the American Public Health Association.
y. “Stream Discharge” – the discharge of treated sewage wastes to the surface waters of the Commonwealth, designed and permitted in accordance with the regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
z. “Subsurface Disposal System” – the discharge and disposal of sewage wastes treated by septic tank or other means through a buried piping system and directly into the soil beneath the surface of the ground.
aa. “Total Kieldahl Nitrogen (TKN)” – sum of ammonia and organic nitrogen compounds which are converted to ammonium sulfate, as determined by Standard Laboratory Procedure; it does not include nitrite and nitrate nitrogen.
bb. “Total Solids” – solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension or dissolved in water, sanitary sewage or other liquids, as determined by Standard Laboratory Procedure.
cc. “Total Suspended Solids” – quantity of material deposited when a quantity of sanitary sewage is filtered according to Standard Laboratory Procedure; it includes settle able and all suspended solids.
dd.
“Township” – means the
ee.
“Treatment Plant” – existing sewage treatment plant and
facilities owned and operated by the Borough of Kennett Square, or treatment
facilities provided by
Section 2.
Methods of Disposal:
The official
plan for
A. Individual On-Lot Disposal Systems.
It shall
be the responsibility of the owner or owners of such systems to design,
construct and maintain individual on-lot disposal systems, in accordance with
the Official Plan of the Township and the regulations of the Chester County
Health Department and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Such design, construction, and maintenance may, however, be subject to
the inspection and approval of
B. Community Sewage Systems.
1.
It shall be the
responsibility of the owner or owners of community sewage systems serving two
residences or non-residential flows of less than 1,000 gallons per day to
design, construct and maintain said systems, in accordance with the Official
Plan of the Township and the regulations of the Chester County Health Department
and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Such design, construction, and maintenance may, however, be subject to
the inspection and approval of
2. The design of
community sewage systems serving three or more residences or non-residential
flows greater than or equal to 1,000 gallons per day shall be subject to the
review and approval of Kennett Township, and the community sewage system shall
be continuously offered for dedication to the Township of Kennett but the
Township shall not be obliged to accept such an offer.
If a community sewage system is accepted by Kennett Township, it shall
become a part of the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system as defined by this
ordinance; otherwise the operation and maintenance of such systems shall be the
responsibility of an individual person, partnership or corporation or
homeowners’ association subject to the review and approval by Kennett Township
of the form and organization of the entity designated for the maintenance and
operation of the facility.
C.
Connection to the
In
regulating the design, construction and operation of sewage facilities in
Section 3.
Notice of Requirement for Connection
Whenever the
Kennett Township sanitary sewage system or any usable portion thereof is
completed and ready for public use, the Township shall give notice of the fact
by certified mail and such notice shall state that the Kennett Township sanitary
sewage system, or usable portion thereof, shall be used by all persons owning
occupied buildings on property accessible to the Kennett Township sanitary
sewage system or such usable portion thereof, subject to the payment of any
connection charges, of annual sewer rentals in amounts as may from time to time
be fixed by the Township, and of any assessments made pursuant to Resolution of
the Township.
Issuance of a notice of requirement for connection
may be subject to and/or limited by availability of sufficient capacity in the
Section 4.
Accessible Properties Required to Connect
The
following regulations shall apply to connections to the
a. All persons owning any occupied building now erected upon property accessible to the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system, or usable portion thereof, and where said building is within one hundred fifty (150) feet from the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system, shall at their own expense, connect such building with the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system, or usable portion thereof, within one hundred eighty (180) days of the notice specified in Section 3.
b. All persons owning any property accessible to the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system upon which an occupied building is hereafter erected, and where said building is within one hundred fifty (150) feet from the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system, shall, at the time of erection of such building and at their own expense, connect such building with the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system.
c. All persons owning any occupied building upon property which hereafter becomes accessible to the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system, or usable portion thereof, and where said building is within one hundred fifty (150) feet from the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system, shall at their own expense, connect such building with the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system within one hundred eighty (180) days after notice to do so from the Township.
d. Where a community sewage
system is provided, connection shall be required to all buildings within the
proposed development served by the community sewage system, but existing
properties, not a part of the proposed development,
may not be required to connect.
If such a community sewage system is offered for dedication to the
Township and accepted by
e.
Upon connection to the
Section 5.
Privies, Cesspools, etc. Prohibited
It shall be unlawful for any person owning any property accessible to the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system to erect, construct, use or maintain or cause to be erected, constructed, used or maintained any privy, cesspool, septic tank or other receptacle on such premises or otherwise for receiving sanitary sewage after the expiration of the particular period specified in Section 4 hereof, or otherwise at any time to erect, construct, use or maintain any pipe, conduit, drain or other facility for the discharge of sanitary sewage into the gutters of the Township, the storm sewers of the Township, or upon public or private property or otherwise, except into the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system.
Section 6.
Privies, Cesspools, etc. A Violation
Any person who erects, constructs, uses or maintains a privy, cesspool, or septic tank on any property accessible to the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system, or otherwise erects, constructs, uses or maintains any pipe, conduit, drain or other facility for the discharge of sanitary sewage in violation of this ordinance shall be deemed and be declared to be erecting, constructing, using and maintaining a nuisance which the Township is hereby authorized and directed to abate in the manner provided by law.
Section 7.
Regulations Regarding Connections
No connection shall be made to the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system or community sewage system except in compliance with the following, as well as such rules and regulations as may, from time to time, be enacted, adopted, approved or promulgated by the Township.
a. Where more than one dwelling unit is contained in a single structure, a common connection to the lateral of the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system shall be permitted for accommodating all units contained in such structure, provided that separate connections shall be required for each semi-detached or row-type house or structure.
b. Before making any connection to the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system, the persons owning the property intended to be connected shall make application on a form provided by the Township, stating the name, address and telephone number of the applicant, the location of the property to be connected, the number of connection units and the estimated number of billing equivalents proposed to be connected, the nature of the waste, whether domestic or industrial; and if industrial waste is proposed to be discharged, the composition of such waste.
c. The Township and owners of a community sewage system shall be notified, in writing, when it is contemplated that the character of a waste will be altered from that previously discharged into the Township sanitary sewage system or community sewage system. Such notification shall be made prior to such change to enable the waste to be analyzed by the Township to determine its acceptability before such change takes place, and such discharge shall not occur prior to the granting of approval by the Township.
d. The Township reserves the right to refuse acceptance, and the Township will not connect to its sanitary sewage system nor will it permit connection to a community sewage system, any industrial or other process waste whose quality may be deemed to have a harmful effect on the sewage treatment or sludge handling process which cannot be processed by the treatment plant in the normal and ordinary course of operation.
e. No matter having any one
of the following characteristics shall be discharged into the
1) Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher that 150° F.
2) Any water or waste which may contain more than 100 milligrams per liter of fat, oil, and/or grease.
3) Any gasoline, fuel oil, and other hydrocarbons, inflammable or explosive liquid, solid, or gas.
4) Any ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, paunch manure, or any other solid or viscous substance capable of causing obstruction to the flow in the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system or community sewage system or other interference with the proper operation of the sewage collection, conveyance, or treatment systems.
5) Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 6.5 or higher than 9.5, or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment, or personnel of the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system or community sewage system.
6)
Any waters or wastes containing a toxic or poisonous
substance in sufficient quantity to injure or interfere with any sewage
treatment process or constitute a hazard in the receiving waters of the
7) Any waters or wastes containing pollutants of such character and quantity that unusual attention or expense is required to collect, convey, treat, or dispose of such materials.
8) Any noxious or malodorous gas or substance capable of creating a public nuisance.
9) Any rates of flow taking on the properties of a slug.
10) Any radioactive materials.
11) Any colored wastewaters.
12) Any matter prohibited by the Borough of Kennett Square Sewer Use Ordinance.
f. The construction,
installation, or use of any facility which causes surface and/or subsurface
stormwater or groundwater to be discharged to the
g. The discharge of industrial wastes having the characteristics listed in Subparagraph e. above into a sanitary sewage system serving single properties shall be subject to obtaining the required permit from the Department of Environmental Protection and the review and approval of the Township.
Section 8.
Connection Fees
There is hereby imposed upon each owner of any property connecting such property
with the
Section 9.
Charges for Connection Costs
Construction of lateral connections to the
Where construction of a lateral connection is to be completed by the Township, a
deposit shall be submitted to the Township at the time an application is
submitted to make a connection to the
Section 10.
Sewer Rates
There is hereby imposed upon each owner of property served by the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system and having the use thereof, an annual sewer rental, payable as hereinafter provided, for the use, whether direct or indirect, of the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system. The annual charge shall be fixed by Resolution adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
Section 11.
Determination of Flows
The sewer rate shall be based upon the number of billing equivalents contributing to the wastewater flow at a given location, or upon the quantity of water used as evidenced by water meter readings or on the amount of sewage discharged into the Township sanitary sewage system as evidenced by sewer meter readings. The use of billing equivalents or meter readings for determining the sewer rate shall be at the discretion of the Township.
Where the sewer rate is based upon water or sewer meter readings, and not upon billing equivalents, the following shall apply:
a. All persons and properties discharging sewerage into the Township sewage system or being served thereby, not having water meters installed on the water lines serving each persons or properties shall have water meters installed on such water lines at their expense.
b. All sewer rentals and/or charges shall be based on metered water usage;
except as may be otherwise determined by the Township in cases of certain industrial and/or commercial users not discharging all of such user’s sewerage effluent into the Township sewage system, or not returning all of the water used to the Township sewer system, in which cases sewer rentals and/or charges shall be based on sewerage discharged into the sewer system by determining the differences between the water meters or by the metered sewerage, whichever method is applicable, as determined by the Township.
c. The Township reserves the right to compel any person or property discharging sewerage into the Township sewage system to install sewer meters at the expense of such person and to base all sewer rentals and/or charges on metered sewerage usage.
d. All meters or other measuring devices and effluent sampling devices installed or required to be used under the provisions of the ordinance shall be installed at a location approved by and accessible to the Township, and the Township shall be responsible for the reading thereof.
e. All meters or other measuring devices and effluent sampling devices installed or required to be used under the provisions of this ordinance shall be approved by the Township, and shall be tested, inspected, and repaired as necessary at a minimum of every six (6) months, and all testing, inspection and repairs of such measuring device shall be made at the expense of the property owner. The owner of the property upon which such measuring device is installed shall be responsible for its maintenance and safe keeping.
f. In the case of missing flow records due to faulty meter registration or otherwise, an estimate of flows will be made for the purposes of determining volume of sewage discharged. This estimate will be based on an evaluation of past flow records as applied to present conditions and as reviewed and approved by the sewer engineer for the Township.
Section 12.
Industrial Wastes
Industrial wastes are not allowed to be discharged into the
Section 13.
Specific Local
Pollutant Limitations
Section 2.6, Specific Local Pollutants, of the Borough of Kennett Square Sewer Use Ordinance No. 999, as may be amended, and the “Kennett Township Rules and Regulations Governing Construction of and Connection to Sanitary Sewerage Facilities” shall govern the specific pollutants that may be discharged into the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system. Should any discrepancy exist between the standards of these two documents, the more stringent standard shall apply.
Section 14.
Fats, Oil, and
Grease (FOG) Control
Section 2.13, Fats, Oil, and Grease (FOG) Control, of the Borough of Kennett Square Sewer Use Ordinance No. 999, as may be amended, and the “Kennett Township Rules and Regulations Governing Construction of and Connection to Sanitary Sewerage Facilities” shall govern all food service establishments or other properties determined by the Township to be discharging FOG into the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system in sufficient quantities to require control. Should any discrepancy exist between the standards of these two documents, the more stringent standard shall apply.
Section 15.
Sampling
Samples of domestic or industrial waste may be obtained and analyzed by the Township at any place and at any reasonable time in order to insure compliance with the terms of this ordinance.
The Township may request, in writing, the collection and analysis of samples of industrial wastes. This collection and analysis shall be made by or under the supervision of a professional sanitary engineer acceptable to the Township. If results of the analysis show that the user is in violation, then the cost of all analyses should be borne by that user.
The owner of any property discharging acceptable industrial wastes into the Township’s system shall install a suitable control manhole in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling, and measurement of the waste. The manhole shall be installed by the property owner, at his expense, and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the Township, and shall be maintained by him in such a manner as to be safe and accessible at all times. The installation of said manhole may be waived by the Township where not warranted by the nature or volume of flow.
Section 16.
Damages
The owner of any occupied building from which discharges of improper sanitary sewage are made shall be responsible for damages to the sanitary sewage system resulting from the discharge of such improper sanitary sewage by way of the collection system of the Township to the sewage treatment plant of the Borough of Kennett Square, or any sewage treatment plant which the Township may hereinafter provide.
Section 17.
Time and Method of Payment
Sewer usage charges shall be paid quarterly based on water and/or sewer meter
readings or system operation and maintenance costs as determined by the
Township. Quarterly billings for
sewer usage charges shall be made by bills dated on the first days of January,
April, July and October. Sewer
usage charges shall be billed to owners of property required to connect to the
Section 18.
Penalties, Delinquent Rentals and Liens
Quarterly charges for sewer service, if not paid within thirty (30) days after they are billed, shall be delinquent and shall be subject to payment of a penalty of five percent (5%) per quarter. Once a line has been put into service, the quarterly EDU base rate is the minimum amount payable regardless of the actual flow rate or lack thereof. Failure to pay the minimum fee for one year, when there is no discharge, will result in forfeiture of allocation back to the Township with no reimbursement. Additionally, the line must immediately be disconnected from the sewer main by the owner. If the connection fee has been paid, but never put in service, after five years the owner must pay the minimum quarterly base rate or return the allocation to the Township. Any reimbursement will depend upon proof of purchase price. Failure to pay the connection fee within three years of notification of availability will result in revocation of the allocation. The sewer usage charges imposed by this ordinance shall be a lien on the properties served from the date the charge thereof first becomes due and payable. If such sewer usage charges are not paid, the Township shall file such liens and collect such sewer usage charges by action in assumpsit in the name of the Township against the owner of the property served or the user of the service.
Payments mailed, as evidenced by the United States Post Office mark, on or previous to the end of the period during which the bills are payable will be deemed to be payment within such period.
Section 19.
Segregation of Sewer Revenues
The funds received by the Township from the collection of sewer usage charges and all penalties thereon as herein provided for shall be segregated and kept separate and apart from all other funds of the Township and shall be used only for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the Township in the operation, maintenance, repair, alteration, inspection, depreciation or other expenses in relation to such Kennett Township sanitary sewage system and as may be permitted, and of, or in connection with, the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system and for and toward such payments as the Township may be required to make under any such lease or agreement, including the treatment of sewage by others.
Section 20.
Rules and Regulations
The Township reserves the right to, and may from time to time, adopt, revise, amend and readopt such Rules and Regulations as it considers necessary and proper for the design, construction, use, maintenance and operation of individual on-lot disposal systems, community sewage systems, and the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system and all such Rules and Regulations shall be and become a part of this ordinance.
Section 21.
Penalties
The provisions of this ordinance are declared to be for the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Township and persons violating any provisions of the ordinance, upon conviction before any District Justice of Chester County, shall be fined Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and costs. Each ninety (90) day period during which such violation of such provisions shall continue shall be considered a separate offense. Each occupied building, whether or not the owners thereof shall be permitted to connect two or more occupied buildings or units by a single common connection to a lateral of the Kennett Township sanitary sewage system or shall be required to make separate connections for each occupied building or unit, shall constitute a separate unit under the provisions of this ordinance and the persons owning occupied buildings, consisting of multiple billing units contained in the same structure, who violate any of the provisions of this ordinance, shall be subject to the aforesaid fine for each and every one of such occupied buildings or billing units which are in violation of the provisions of this ordinance.
The Township Engineer and other duly authorized employees of the Township, bearing proper credentials and identifications, shall be permitted to enter upon all properties for the purpose of inspection, observation, measurements, sampling and testing, as may be necessary.
Section 22.
Extensions and Modifications to
The Township may, from time to time, extend the sewage collection lines and may, subject to its agreement with the Borough of Kennett Square, construct independent sewage treatment facilities to serve properties within the Township.
Section 23.
Effective Date
This ordinance and any Rules and
Regulations hereunder shall become effective at once and shall be applicable to
all properties as soon as they become connected with, and have the right to use,
the
Section 24.
Construction and Severability
If any provision, sections, sentences, clauses or parts of this ordinance or the application of any provision hereof shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect or impair any of the remainder of this ordinance, it being the intention of the Township that such remainder shall be and remain in full force and effect.
Section 25.
Repealer
All ordinance or parts of ordinances in
conflict or inconsistent with this ordinance, be and the same hereby are
repealed.
DULY ENACTED AND ORDAINED THIS 19th day of March, 2007
_____________________________
Michael E. Elling, Chairman
_____________________________
Robert A. Hammaker, Vice-Chair
_____________________________
Allan F. Falcoff, Supervisor
ATTEST:
___________________________
Lisa M. Moore, Secretary-Treasurer