Pursuant to said petition filed by certain citizens
and taxpayers owning property fronting upon Patsy Drive and Dennis
Drive in the Township of Pine and acting upon the authority conferred
by law upon the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Pine, the
Patsy and Dennis Drives Water District is hereby created by the Township
of Pine for the purpose of entering into construction contracts, installing
waterlines and making assessments upon the property owners abutting
said waterlines and benefiting therefrom, said assessments to be in
equal shares.
The geographic area to be constituted the Patsy
and Dennis Drives Water District shall include those properties (11
lots) fronting on Patsy Drive and upon Dennis Drive in the Township
of Pine, as designated by their lot and block number taken from Allegheny
County real estate tax records and as set forth on Appendix 2, attached hereto and made a part hereof. A plan of the
geographic area to be included within the Patsy and Dennis Drives
Water District shall also be on file at the Pine Township Municipal
Building and may be viewed and inspected during normal office hours.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Pine is hereby authorized to do all acts necessary to carry out the
terms of this article, including but not limited to the installation
of waterlines within the Patsy and Dennis Drives Water District, the
entering into necessary contracts therefor and the equal assessment
of abutting property owners in accordance with the provisions of the
taxpayers' petition (Appendix 1) and applicable law.
The costs of the construction and engineering
of the waterline are legally chargeable upon the properties accommodated,
improved or benefited thereby, and such properties are hereby assessed
at a rate not to exceed 100% of the total cost (construction and engineering)
of said waterline project, with each such property being assessed
in an equal amount as per the agreement of the petitioners as set
forth in their petition (Appendix 1 hereto).
Assessments against abutting property owners
shall be made as follows:
A. Whenever the construction of the waterlines within
the Patsy and Dennis Drives Water District has been completed and
approved by the Pine Township Engineer and West View has presented
its final bill for costs of the construction of the waterline project,
the Supervisors shall assess the properties accommodated, improved
or benefited by the construction of the waterline for the construction
and engineering costs there of; provided, however, that the aggregate
of such assessments shall not exceed the total construction and engineering
costs of the waterline project and the properties shall be assessed
equally in accordance with the agreement of the petitioners as set
forth in their petition (attached hereto as Appendix 1).
B. Assessment bills based upon the procedure set forth in Subsection
A of this section shall be prepared by the Township of Pine and signed by the Chairman and attested by the Secretary of the Board of Supervisors.
C. The Township shall forthwith serve the assessment
bills upon the owner or owners of such properties by certified mail,
return receipt requested. If such owner or owners cannot be found
within the Township, said notice may be served upon any agent or party
in possession of the premises or posted on the most public part of
the assessed premises.
All such above assessments shall be payable
forthwith to the Township Manager. Any owner of property so assessed
shall have the additional option of paying the assessment in three
equal, annual installments, with an annual interest rate of 6% paid
in the following manner:
A. The first installment shall be paid within 30 days
from receipt of the assessment bill, and each of the two remaining
annual installments, with interest thereon, shall be payable on the
same day and month of each of the two succeeding years.
B. Any notice of intention by the owner or owners to
exercise such installment option shall be filed, in writing, with
the Township Manager, no later than at the time payment of the first
such installment is due.
C. A municipal lien shall be duly filed by the Township
of Pine, in accordance with applicable law, against the affected properties
and owner for the amount of the remaining installments of the assessment,
which lien shall not be prosecuted so long as the installments are
duly paid in accordance with these provisions: Upon default on the
payment of a current installment, a penalty of 5% shall be charged
against such installment, and, upon default in the payment of more
than one installment, a penalty of 5% shall be charged on the entire
unpaid balance.
If any owner has not elected to pay by installments
and refuses or neglects to pay such assessment within 30 days from
receipt of the assessment bill, the Township shall file a municipal
lien, in accordance with applicable law, against the affected properties
and owner, also claiming interest thereon at the rate of 6% per annum
on the unpaid balance from the date of such assessment bill. The Township
Manager shall certify to the Township Solicitor all unpaid assessments,
and the Township Solicitor shall file municipal claims against the
property or properties and owner or owners upon which such assessments
shall have been made. The Township Solicitor shall thereupon proceed
to collect the assessment under the general law relating to the collecting
of municipal claims, including, if so directed by the Township, the
filing and prosecution of civil suits.