[Adopted 5-15-1967 by Ord. No. 881]
[Amended 2-9-1976 by Ord. No. 1013; 4-8-1996 by Ord. No. 1279]
A. 
After August 1967, all properties in the Borough with buildings and improvements thereon and having a sanitary sewer available within 200 feet of a building or improvement shall be required to connect that building or improvement to the sanitary sewer system, and all buildings and improvements hereafter constructed on any property having a sanitary sewer available shall be connected to the sanitary sewer system within 45 days' notice from the Borough, provided that the owner of the property shall be responsible for making the connection, and if he or she shall fail to do so within the time limit herein prescribed, the Borough may make the connections and collect the cost thereof from the property owner by a municipal claim or by an action in assumpsit.
B. 
All future land developments or subdivisions before approval by Council shall provide extensions to the sanitary sewer system acceptable and approved by the Borough Engineer and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources.
C. 
Connection to sanitary sewer main lines where laterals have not been provided shall be made by the Borough at the property owner's expense pursuant to the fee schedule established from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The current fee schedule is on file in the office of the Borough Manager.
D. 
The Borough shall require compliance with Article VII, Industrial Waste Pretreatment, of this chapter for all owners of improved properties and all persons occupying such improved properties.
[Added 8-11-1997 by Ord. No. 1301]
A. 
Owners of all properties which are not improved with homes, commercial buildings or industrial buildings or owners of those portions of improved lots not used or maintained to service the home, commercial building or industrial building erected thereon or owners of lots or tracts used solely for storage or display purposes shall pay a quarterly ready-to-serve fee pursuant to the fee schedule established from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.[1] Corner lots shall be given an exemption of 140 feet of the long side of lots having sewer service available and ready to serve on both sides.
[Amended 4-8-1996 by Ord. No. 1279]
[1]
Editor's Note: The current fee schedule is on file in the office of the Borough Manager.
B. 
Developers providing sanitary sewer extensions shall be exempt from this fee so long as the land remains in their ownership, but not longer than 10 years after sewer was installed.
[Last amended 12-8-2008 by Ord. No. 1448; 12-11-2017 by Ord. No. 1539]
A. 
Effective January 1, 2018, the charge for sewage treatment shall be based on the customer's water consumption and billed in accordance with the following:
(1) 
Type of property.
(a) 
Residential: $3.65.
(b) 
Commercial: $6.47.
(c) 
Industrial: $15.53.
(2) 
Monthly customer charge.
(a) 
First 5,000 gallons at $0.00571 per gallon.
(b) 
Next 10,000 gallons at $0.00414 per gallon.
(c) 
Over 15,000 gallons at $0.00321 per gallon.
B. 
Effective January 1, 2018, the charge for sewage treatment for customers outside the Borough's limits shall be based on water consumption and billed in accordance with the following:
(1) 
Type of property.
(a) 
Residential: $6.22.
(b) 
Commercial: $15.53.
(c) 
Industrial: $26.09.
(2) 
Monthly customer charge.
(a) 
First 5,000 gallons at $0.00667 per gallon
(b) 
Next 10,000 gallons at $0.00494 per gallon
(c) 
Over 15,000 gallons at $0.00385 per gallon
Where sewage wastes are discharged into the sanitary sewer system other than from water used from the Borough water system, permission must be secured from the Borough Manager who may require a special meter to be installed or may negotiate an agreement for the determination of the charge, which shall be approved by Council. It is the intention that this will cover the discharge of well and spring water into the sanitary sewer system.
The sewer rental or charge shall be billed with water bills as a separate item and shall be subject to the same rules for payment as applies to water bills.
[Added 12-10-1990 by Ord. No. 1202; amended 12-6-2007 by Ord. No. 1439]
All bills remaining unpaid after the due date printed on the bill rendered, which shall not be less than 10 days after mailing of the same, will be assessed a penalty charge of 5% of the unpaid balance. Subsequent bills and late charges shall be calculated separately. A penalty fee will be added to the account of any customer whenever a check is returned to the Borough unpaid by a customer’s financial institution. The penalty fee shall be established from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.[1]
[1]
Editor’s Note: The current fee schedule is on file in the Borough offices.
[Amended 4-8-1996 by Ord. No. 1279; 12-9-1996 by Ord. No. 1293]
A. 
Connection fee. A connection fee shall be charged to each new customer based upon the average cost to install an individual four-inch sewer lateral ("standard connection fee") or the actual costs to install an individual sewer lateral for connection sizes greater than four inches. The connection fee shall be established from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.
B. 
Customer facilities fee. A customer facilities fee shall be charged to each new customer based upon the costs of inspection. The customer facilities fee shall be established from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.
C. 
Tapping fee. A tapping fee shall be charged to each new customer to recover the cost of existing or planned facilities necessary to serve those customers, excluding those costs recovered by other means. The tapping fee shall consist of the following component parts:
(1) 
Capacity component part. The capacity component part of the tapping fee is intended to recover from new customers their fair share of the cost of existing and planned capacity-related facilities which will provide them with service. The capacity component part of the tapping fee, per unit of capacity required by the new customer shall not exceed the applicable cost of such facilities divided by the design capacity of the facilities. The capacity component part of the tapping fee is established and set forth in the Code of the Borough of Ephrata, Chapter 259, § 259-34.2 et seq.
(2) 
Collection component part. The collection component part of the tapping fee is intended to recover the cost of the collection facilities required to provide service. The collection component part of the tapping fee shall not exceed the applicable cost of such facilities divided by the design capacity of the facilities. The collection component part of the tapping fee shall be established from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.
(3) 
Special purpose component part. The special purpose component part of the tapping fee is intended to recover the costs for supplemental facilities applicable to serving a particular group of new customers. The special purpose component part of the tapping fee shall be established from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.
(4) 
Reimbursement component part. The reimbursement component part of the tapping fee shall apply when an outside-development service lateral is directly connected to a developer-installed sewer connection. The total reimbursement shall not exceed the actual cost of the sewer extension, less the amount which would be chargeable to the developer based upon the collection component of the tapping fee applicable to all lands of the developer served directly or indirectly by the sewer extension if it were not funded by the developer.
[Amended 2-9-1976 by Ord. No. 1013]
If any property owner shall fail to comply with any provision of § 259-6, 259-7, 259-8 or 259-9 of this article, the Borough shall have authority to withdraw sewer service and to bill the owner of the property, who shall be held responsible for such failure to comply, for any amount due the Borough under said section and to place a lien upon the property pending payment.