Township of West Lampeter, PA Operation and Maintenance (O&M)

The landowner shall keep on file with the Township the name, address and telephone number of the person or company responsible for maintenance activities; in the event of a change, new information will be submitted to the Township within 10 days of the change.

The landowner shall enumerate permanent SWM facilities as permanent real estate appurtenances and record as deed restrictions or easements that run with the land.

The record owner of the development site shall sign and record an operation and maintenance (O&M) agreement covering all SWM facilities, including riparian buffers and riparian forest buffers, which are to be privately owned. Said agreement, designated as Appendix D, is attached and made part hereto.[1] The O&M plan and agreement shall be recorded as a restrictive covenant agreement that runs with the land.

[1]

Editor's Note: Said appendix is included as an attachment to this chapter.

The Township may take enforcement actions against a landowner for any failure to satisfy the provisions of this chapter.

[Added 9-12-2022 by Ord. No. 268]

§ 230-62 Operation and maintenance agreements.

The operation and maintenance agreement shall be subject to the review and approval of the Township Solicitor and Board of Supervisors.

§ 230-63 Operation and maintenance (O&M) plan contents.

The O&M plan shall clearly establish the operation and maintenance necessary to ensure the proper functioning of all temporary and permanent SWM facilities and erosion and sedimentation control facilities.

The following shall be addressed in the O&M plan:

(1)

Description of maintenance requirements, including, but not limited to, the following:

(a)

Regular inspection of the SWM facilities. To assure proper implementation of BMPs, maintenance and care SWM BMPs should be inspected by a qualified person, which may include the landowner, or the owner's designee, according to the following minimum frequencies:

[1]

Annually for the first five years.

[2]

Once every three years thereafter.

[3]

During or immediately after the cessation of a ten-year or greater storm.

[4]

As specified in the O&M agreement pursuant to § 230-62.

(b)

All pipes, swales and detention facilities shall be kept free of any debris or other obstruction and in original design condition.

(c)

Removal of silt from all permanent structures which trap silt or sediment in order to keep the material from building up in grass waterways, pipes, detention or retention basins, infiltration structures, or BMPs, and thus reducing their capacity to convey or store water.

(d)

Re-establishment of vegetation of scoured areas or areas where vegetation has not been successfully established. Selection of seed mixtures shall be subject to approval by the Township.

(2)

Riparian forest buffer management plan prepared in accordance with 25 Pa. Code Chapter 102, § 14(b)(4), if required.

(3)

Identification of a responsible individual, corporation, association or other entity for ownership and maintenance of both temporary and permanent stormwater management and erosion and sedimentation control facilities.

(4)

Establishment of suitable easements for access to all facilities.

(5)

Two copies of inspection reports, as required by § 230-63B(1)(a) above, shall be provided to the Township within 90 days following completion of reports.

§ 230-64 Maintenance of facilities accepted by Township.

The Township reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal to dedicate ownership and operating responsibility of any SWM facilities to the Township.

If SWM facilities are accepted by the Township, the landowner/developer shall be required to pay a specified amount to the Municipal Stormwater Maintenance Fund to defray costs of periodic inspections and maintenance expenses. This fee shall be provided to the Township prior to acceptance of the SWM facilities. The amount of the deposit shall be determined as follows subject to the approval of the Board of Supervisors:

(1)

The deposit shall cover the estimated costs for maintenance and inspections for 25 years. The Township will establish the estimated costs according to the O&M requirements outlined in the approved O&M plan.

(2)

The amount of the deposit to the fund shall be converted to present worth of the annual series values.

(3)

If a storage facility is proposed that also serves as a recreation facility (e.g., ballfield, lake), the Township may reduce or waive the amount of the maintenance fund deposit based upon the value of the land for public recreation purpose.

If at any time a dedicated storage facility is eliminated due to the installation of storm sewers or other storage facility such as a regional detention facility, the unused portion of the maintenance fund deposit will be applied to the cost of abandoning the facility and connecting to the storm sewer system or other facility. Any amount of the deposit remaining after the costs of abandonment are paid will be returned to the depositor.

Maintenance and inspection shall be conducted as necessary to provide for the continued costs of inspections, maintenance and repairs are recoverable from the Municipal Stormwater Maintenance Fund.

[Amended 9-12-2022 by Ord. No. 268]

§ 230-65 Maintenance of existing facilities/BMPs.

SWM facilities existing on the effective date of this chapter, which have not been accepted by the Township or for which maintenance responsibility has not been assumed by a private entity such as a homeowners' association, shall be maintained by the individual landowners. Such maintenance shall include at a minimum those items set forth in § 230-63B(1) above. If the Township determines at any time that any permanent SWM facility has been eliminated, altered, blocked through the erection of structures or the deposit of materials, or improperly maintained, the condition constitutes a nuisance and the Township shall notify the landowner of corrective measures that are required, and provide for a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 30 days, within which the landowner shall take such corrective action. If the landowner does not take the required corrective action, the Township may either perform the work or contract for the performance of the work and bill the landowner for the cost of the work plus a penalty of 10% of the cost of the work. If such bill is not paid by the landowner within 30 days, the Township may file a municipal claim against the property upon which the work was performed in accordance with the applicable laws. The Township shall have the right to choose among the remedies and may use one or more remedies concurrently.

§ 230-66 Maintenance of stormwater management facilities during development.

Maintenance of SWM facilities during development shall be the responsibility of the developer and shall include, but not be limited to:

Removal of silt from all debris basins, traps or other structures or measures when 60% of capacity is filled with silt.

Periodic maintenance of temporary control facilities such as replacement of straw bale dikes, straw filters or similar measures.

Establishment or reestablishment of vegetation by seeding and mulching or sodding of scoured areas or areas where vegetation has not been established.

Installation of necessary controls to correct unforeseen problems caused by storm events within design frequencies.

The contractor or developer shall be responsible for removal of all temporary measures and installation of permanent measures upon completion of the development.

§ 230-67 O&M verification forms.

[Added 9-12-2022 by Ord. No. 268]

The Township is subject to the terms and conditions of an issued MS4 permit. One condition included in the permit requires the Township to ensure stormwater management facilities and BMPs are operating as intended/designed and maintained as required. To meet this condition, the Township requires the completion and return of an O&M verification form for each stormwater management facility and BMP owners annually verifying inspections and maintenance is occurring.

§ 230-68 through § 230-70. (Reserved)