[Adopted 8-15-1996 by Ord. No. 1996-3]
Unless the context specifically and clearly
indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms and phrases used in this
article shall be as follows:
The Lehigh Township Municipal Authority, a municipality authority
organized and existing under the laws of the commonwealth.
The sewage drainage system from a building constructed on
any improved property to the lateral serving such improved property,
including any grinder pump or pressure sewer or similar apparatus
or facilities installed by the Township or the owner and which are
located on such improved property.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Any property upon which there is erected a structure intended
for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy or use by human beings
or animals and from which structure sanitary sewage and/or industrial
wastes shall be or may be discharged.
Any improved property located in this Township used or intended
for use, wholly or in part, for the manufacturing, processing, cleaning,
laundering or assembling of any product, commodity or article, or
any other improved property from which wastes, in addition to or other
than sanitary sewage, shall be discharged.
Any and all wastes discharged from an industrial establishment,
and/or wastewater having characteristics which may have the potential
to be detrimental to the sewer system.
That part of the sewer system extending from a sewer to the
curbline, or if there is no curbline, to the property line, or if
no such extension is provided, then "lateral" shall mean that portion
of, or place in, a sewer that is provided for connection of any building
sewer.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any improved property.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, society,
trust, corporation, municipality, municipality authority or other
group or entity.
Normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from any
improved property.
Any pipe or conduit constituting a part of the sewer system,
used or usable for sewage collection purposes.
All facilities of the Authority, as of any particular time,
for collecting and transmitting sanitary sewage and/or industrial
wastes discharged by an improved property within the Township, other
than a building sewer or a lateral.
Includes any street, road, lane, court, cul-de-sac, alley,
public way or public square.
The Township of Lehigh, Northampton County, Pennsylvania,
a political subdivision of the commonwealth, acting by and through
its Board of Supervisors, or, in appropriate cases, acting by and
through its authorized representatives.
A.
Connection.
(1)
The owner of any improved property located in this
Township and which is adjoining and adjacent to the sewer system,
or the principal building of which is within 150 feet of the sewer
system, shall connect such improved property with and use such sewer
system, in such manner as this Township and the Authority may require,
within 60 days after notice to such owner from this Township to make
such connection, for the purpose of discharging all sanitary sewage
and industrial wastes from such improved property; subject, however,
to such limitations and restrictions as shall be established herein
or otherwise shall be established by this Township and the Authority,
from time to time.[1]
(2)
Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A(1), this Township shall not require any commercial or industrial business to connect to the sewer system when such commercial or industrial business is operating a sewer treatment plant under mandate of any agency of the federal or state government. This exemption shall last as long as such sewer treatment plant continues to meet the specifications and standards mandated by such federal or state agency and for 45 days thereafter. If, during the days immediately subsequent to the day a business' sewer treatment plant is determined to be below federal or state mandates, repairs cannot be made to bring the system back up to satisfactory condition, this Township may require such business to connect to the sewer system. In such case, the full costs of connection to, and any necessary refurbishing of, the sewer system shall be borne by such business.
(3)
The exemption provided for in Subsection A(2) shall not be available in any situation where the business seeking to use it had notice, either actual or constructive, prior to construction of such sewage treatment plant, of this Township's or the Authority's intention to construct a sanitary sewer system, and to require that business to connect with the sewer system.
B.
All sanitary sewage and industrial wastes from any improved property, after connection of such improved property with a sewer, as required under Subsection A, shall be conducted into such sewer; subject, however, to such limitations and restrictions as shall be established herein or otherwise shall be established by this Township, from time to time.
C.
D.
Privy vaults, cesspools, sinkholes, septic tanks or
similar receptacles prohibited.
(1)
No privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle shall be used or shall be maintained at any time upon an improved property that has been connected to a sewer or that is required under Subsection A to be connected to a sewer.
(2)
Every such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic
tank or similar receptacle in existence shall be abandoned and, at
the discretion of this Township and the Authority, shall be cleansed
and shall be filled with a noncompactable material (e.g., sand), at
the expense of the owner of such improved property, under the direction
and supervision of this Township and the Authority; and any such privy
vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle not so
abandoned and, if required by this Township or the Authority, not
cleansed and filled, shall constitute a nuisance, and such nuisance
may be abated, as provided by law, at the expense of the owner of
such improved property.
E.
No privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or
similar receptacle at any time shall be connected to a sewer.
F.
The notice by this Township, or the Authority on its behalf, to make a connection to a sewer, referred to in Subsection A, shall include a reference to this article and a written or printed document requiring the connection in accordance with the provisions of this article and specifying that such connection shall be made within the time limitations described herein. Such notice may be given or served at any time after a sewer is in place that can receive and can convey sanitary sewage and industrial wastes for treatment and disposal from the particular improved property. Such notice shall be by personal service or by registered mail.
G.
No person
shall connect to the sewer system or use any building floor drain,
sump pump, drain spout or any other device which permits stormwater,
water table or surface water to enter the sewer system.
[Added 6-14-2016 by Ord.
No. 2016-3]
A.
No person shall uncover, shall connect with, shall
make any opening into or shall use, shall alter or shall disturb,
in any manner, any sewer or any part of the sewer system without first
obtaining a permit, in writing, from the Authority.
B.
Application for a permit required under Subsection A shall be made by the owner of the improved property served or to be served or by the duly authorized agent of such owner.
C.
No person shall make or shall cause to be made a connection
of any improved property with a sewer until such person shall have
fulfilled each of the following conditions:
(1)
Such person shall have notified a designated representative
of the Authority of the desire and intention to connect such improved
property to a sewer;
(2)
Such person shall have applied for and shall have obtained a permit as required by Subsection A;
(3)
Such person shall have given such designated representative
of the Authority at least 24 hours' notice of the time when such connection
will be made so that the Authority may supervise and inspect or may
cause to be supervised and inspected the work of connection and necessary
testing; and
(4)
If applicable, such person shall have furnished satisfactory
evidence to the designated representative of the Authority that any
tapping fee, and any other applicable fee or charge that may be charged
and imposed by the Authority and payable by the owner of each improved
property who connects such improved property to a sewer, has been
paid.
D.
Except as otherwise provided in this Subsection D, each improved property shall be connected separately and independently with a sewer through a building sewer. Grouping of more than one improved property or buildings with independent uses on one building sewer shall not be permitted, except under special circumstances and for good sanitary reasons or other good cause shown, but then only after special permission of the Authority, in writing, shall have been secured and only subject to such rules, regulations and conditions as may be prescribed by the Authority.
E.
All costs and expenses of acquisition, construction,
operation and maintenance of a building sewer and of the lateral serving
any improved property, shall be borne by the owner of the improved
property served thereby, unless otherwise provided by the Authority.
All costs and expenses of connection of a building sewer to a lateral,
and connection of a lateral to a sewer, including such costs and expenses
of acquiring, installing, operating and maintaining a grinder pump
or similar apparatus approved by the Authority, shall be borne by
the owner of the improved property so connected, unless otherwise
provided by the Authority. Each such owner shall indemnify and shall
save harmless this Township and the Authority from all loss or damage
that may be occasioned, directly or indirectly, as a result of construction,
connection, operation or use of a building sewer or of a lateral.
F.
Point of connection.
(1)
A building sewer and the appropriate lateral shall
be connected to a sewer at the location designated by the Authority.
If the Authority furnishes the lateral, the building sewer shall be
connected to the sewer at the place where the lateral is located.
The owner of each improved property shall provide the Authority any
information requested pertaining to the existing or proposed location
of a building sewer and of the lateral.
(2)
The invert of a building sewer at the point of connection
shall be at the same or a higher elevation than the invert of the
sewer. A smooth, neat joint shall be made and the connection of a
building sewer and lateral, or other designated point of connection,
shall be made secure and watertight.
G.
If the owner of any improved property located within this Township and which is adjoining and adjacent to the sewer system, or whose principal building is within 150 feet from a sewer, after 60 days notice from this Township, or the Authority on its behalf, requiring the connection of such improved property with a sewer, in accordance with § 126-5A, shall fall to connect such improved property and use the sewer system, as required, this Township, or the Authority on its behalf, may enter upon such improved property and construct such connection and may collect from such owner the costs and expenses thereof in the manner permitted by law.
A.
Where an improved property, at the time connection
to a sewer is required, shall be served by its own sewage disposal
system or sewage disposal device the existing house sewer line shall
be broken on the structure side of such sewage disposal system or
sewage disposal device and attachment shall be made, with proper fittings
to continue such house sewer line as the building sewer and from there
to the lateral and the sewer, in the manner approved by the Authority.
B.
No building sewer or any lateral constructed by the
owner, shall be covered until it has been inspected and approved by
the Authority. If any part of a building sewer or lateral is covered
before so being inspected and approved, it shall be uncovered for
inspection at the cost and expense of the owner of the improved property
to be connected to a sewer.
C.
Every building sewer and every lateral serving any
improved property shall be operated and maintained by the owner of
such improved property, in a sanitary and safe operating condition
to the continuing satisfaction of the Authority.
D.
Every excavation for a building sewer or for a lateral,
shall be guarded adequately with barricades and lights to protect
all persons from damage and injury. Any street, sidewalk and other
property disturbed in the course of installation of such facilities
shall be restored, at the cost and expense of the owner of the improved
property being connected, in a manner satisfactory to the Authority.
E.
If any person shall fail or shall refuse, upon receipt
of a written notice of the Authority, to remedy any unsatisfactory
condition with respect to a building sewer or with respect to a lateral,
within 60 days of receipt of such notice, the Authority may refuse
to permit such person to discharge sanitary sewage and industrial
wastes into the sewer system until such unsatisfactory condition shall
have been remedied to the satisfaction of the Authority. In the event
of a condition with respect to said facilities which threatens health
or property, this Township or the Authority may specify a lesser time
or other manner of notice of such condition.
F.
This Township reserves the right to adopt, from time
to time, additional rules and regulations as it shall deem necessary
and proper relating to connections with a sewer and with the sewer
system, which additional rules and regulations, to the extent appropriate,
shall be and shall be construed as part of this article.
It is declared that enactment of this article
and the provisions hereof are necessary for the protection, benefit
and preservation of the health, safety and welfare of inhabitants
of this Township.
