[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Mansfield 2-28-2007
by Ord. No. 2007-7. Amendments noted where applicable.]
There is hereby created under the terms of this chapter a Sewer Utility
within the Township of Mansfield, in the County of Burlington, New Jersey,
which Utility shall be publicly owned and shall for accounting purposes be
a separate entity, having its own borrowing capacity, its own separate accounts
and its own separate property, whether it be real, personal or mixed. The
name by which it shall be known shall be the "Township of Mansfield Sewer
Utility."
The sewer system shall be operated by the Township as a municipal public
utility to be operated pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40A:26A. All
fees and charges shall be established under a fee ordinance as provided by
law. All fees and charges received by the Township in connection with the
Sewer Utility shall be deposited in a dedicated account designated as the
"Mansfield Township Sewer Utility Fund" and used only for the purposes of
such municipal utility pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:4-62.
It shall be the function of the Sewer Utility to own and operate all
sewer facilities, plants, lines and equipment pertaining to the handling of
sewage and the treating of sewage in and for the Township of Mansfield.
The Sewer Utility shall be governed by the ordinances and resolutions
adopted by the Committee. All appointments, as well as hiring and dismissal
of employees, shall be done according to the rules and regulations as adopted
by the Mayor and Committee.
The financial affairs of the Sewer Utility shall be governed by the
Mayor and Committee of the Township of Mansfield. The Sewer Utility shall
be from time to time authorized to borrow money on its own credit, by ordinances
adopted according to law by the Mayor and Township Committee of the Township
of Mansfield.
The Sewer Utility may from time to time acquire such real and personal
property as may be authorized by the Mayor and Township Committee of the Township
of Mansfield by duly adopted ordinance according to the laws of the State
of New Jersey.
The Mayor and Committee of the Township of Mansfield shall have full
authority to appoint and employ all necessary employees for the Sewer Utility;
however, the salary of said employees or appointments of the Sewer Utility
shall be paid from separate funds of the Utility.
The Sewer Utility shall at all times function and operate according
to the laws of the Township of Mansfield and State of New Jersey, and any
and all directives of the New Jersey State Department of Health or any of
the state governmental departments.
The Sewer Utility shall from time to time, when necessary, be permitted
to receive monies from the general funds of the Township of Mansfield, whether
by grant or loan.
The Sewer Utility shall have the authority to collect monies by levying
a sewer rental charge against the property owners of the Township of Mansfield
for the annual sewer service to said property owners; said monies shall be
used by the Sewer Utility to defray cost of construction and operation of
the sewer plant and all of its integral parts, including lines and equipment.
A.
Each customer shall pay for annual sewer service for
each 1,000 gallons of water consumed in accordance with the Annual Sewerage
Rate Resolution passed by the governing body of the Township of Mansfield,
and property connected or required to be connected shall be charged not less
than the minimum gallonage charge as set forth in the Annual Sewerage Rate
Resolution.
B.
Sewer service charges shall be paid in accordance with
the Annual Sewerage Rate Resolution passed by the governing body of the Township
of Mansfield.
C.
All service charges, connection charges and other costs
shall be paid to the utility at its office at 24548 East Main Street, Columbus,
New Jersey 08022, or such other locations as the Utility may from time to
time require.
Upon proof satisfactory to the Utility of the amount of water not discharged
into the sewerage facilities, the Sewer Utility shall, in its discretion,
adjust the customer's bill accordingly on the consumption charge.
If the sewer charge imposed herein is not paid on the date due, it shall
become delinquent and shall bear interest thereon at the rate of 8% per annum
on the first $1,500 of the delinquency and 18% per annum on any amount in
excess of $1,500, to be calculated from the date the sewer rental charge was
payable until the date of actual payment. Any unpaid charge shall become a
first lien or charge against the property benefiting therefrom consistent
with N.J.S.A. 40A:26A-12.
A.
Each property owner whose property was not scheduled
to be connected to the municipal sewer system under any sewer contract awarded
by the Township to construct any part of the municipal sewer system whose
property is connected to the municipal sewer system on or after January 1,
2007, and prior to January 1, 2008, shall pay a one-time connection fee to
be determined, if no special assessment takes place as permitted by law regarding
specific properties benefited by the improvements. Thereafter, a connection
fee shall be established annually in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A.
40A:26A-11 and this section. However, this section shall not apply to any
property to which a sewer allocation permit was granted pursuant to this chapter
prior to January 1, 2007.
B.
The procedure for determination of connection fees shall
be as follows:
(1)
The amount representing all debt service, including principal
and interest paid by the sewer utility for capital improvements, including
a pro-rata portion of the annual service charge paid by the Township to the
MSA, shall be calculated as of the end of the immediately preceding calendar
year.
(2)
An equivalent dwelling unit (EDU) shall be defined as
a single-family residential dwelling unit. The wastewater flow generated from
a single-family residential dwelling unit shall be assigned a value of 1.00
EDU and the rate flow in gallons is 200 gallons per day.
(3)
The number of equivalent dwelling units (EDU), as of
the end of the immediately preceding calendar year, serviced by the utility
shall be calculated by dividing the average daily wastewater flow, contributed
by its users, by the rate of flow assigned to 1.00 EDU.
(5)
The connection fee for a single-family residential dwelling
unit shall be that for 1.00 EDU.
(6)
For connectors, other than single-family residential
dwelling units, the number of EDUs attributed to that connector shall be calculated
by dividing the estimated average daily flow of sewage for the connector by
the average daily flow of sewage from an average single-family residential
dwelling unit, as defined herein.
(7)
The estimated average daily flow of sewage for the connector
shall be based upon metered water usage for the prior two years. If metered
water usage is not available, sewage flow shall be estimated (based upon sound
engineering criteria and judgment by the Township Engineer).
Consumption charges shall be reviewed annually. The consumption charge
system will be revised, if necessary, at such time to accomplish the following:
A.
Maintain the proportionate distribution of operation
and maintenance cost among users, as well as those costs billed to the utility
by Applied Wastewater Management.
B.
An inspection fee shall be charged for each connection
to the sewer mains that is or will become the responsibility of the Township
of Mansfield.
C.
Exception. If a performance bond is required, the Township
Engineer will perform the inspection and associated costs will be charged
through the escrow account.
All utility users shall comply with the current United States Environmental
Protection Agency rules and regulations regarding the sewer systems.
A.
Municipal. The Township shall have ownership and be responsible
for the maintenance of all sanitary sewer (public sanitary sewer systems)
mains, manholes, cleanouts and laterals within its right-of-way or within
the right-of-way of governmental agencies. Any breaks, leaks or blockages
in the right-of-way shall be the responsibility of the Township.
B.
Nonmunicipal. The local property owner shall have ownership
and be responsible for all sanitary sewer mains, manholes, cleanouts and laterals
within private property (nonpublic sanitary sewer system or building lateral),
and any breaks, leaks, or blockages on private property shall be the responsibility
of the property owner.
C.
Municipal maintenance responsibility. The Township shall maintain its sanitary sewer system, as defined in Subsection A, in good working order. In no event shall the Township provide any labor or material to clear or remove obstructions from a blocked nonmunicipal sanitary sewer system as defined in Subsection B, and said work shall be the sole and exclusive responsibility of the property owner with the dividing line of responsibility being the property line between the public right-of-way and the private property.
D.
Developer obligation. Nothing contained herein shall
alleviate the obligation and responsibility of the property owner or applicant
for a sanitary sewer line as part of a new development during the performance
bond and/or maintenance bond period.
A.
Property owner obligation. Should the property owner
or tenant contact the Township and advise of an obstruction in the sanitary
sewer system and request the Township to call out an employee or plumber to
investigate the blockage, and the blockage is determined to not be in an area
that is defined as the Township sanitary sewer system as set forth hereinbefore,
the property owner shall be assessed a fee by the sewer utility not to exceed
$250 for the reasonable expenses associated with the inspection and determination.
B.
Fee assessment. The assessment for the call-out and investigation
of a blockage that is determined not to be in an area that is defined as the
Township sanitary sewer system shall be included in the next quarterly bill
that the property owner receives and is to be paid timely with the sewer utility
bill.
