[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Pine 6-4-2001 by Res. No. 627. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
It is resolved by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Pine that
its policies and procedures for the creation of water districts and for the
payment, assessment and collection of the costs and expenses of construction
of certain of the improvements related thereto shall include, but not be limited
to, the following.
Except as otherwise may be provided herein, the Township of Pine shall
proceed in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Second Class Township
Code (Article XXVI; 53 P.S. § 67601 et seq.).
Upon the request, by written petition, of property owners representing
at least 51% of the property valuation (as such is assessed for real estate
tax purposes) of a defined area, the Board of Supervisors may provide access
to public water for the properties within such area through the construction/extension
of public main water lines and creation of a water district therefor.
The Board of Supervisors shall establish any water district by enactment
of an ordinance therefor.
Each property owner within a water district may be required to dedicate,
free of cost, a public right-of-way through such property to facilitate installation
of the main water line.
The Board of Supervisors may authorize West View Water authority, in
accordance with such authority's established procedures, to bid and to award
the contract for the construction and/or extension of the main water line
to provide public water service to the water district. Alternatively, the
Board of Supervisors may elect to directly bid and award the contract and
to construct such main water line pursuant to the established procedures of
the Township of Pine.
A.
The Township of Pine shall make the initial payment of
all necessary costs and expenses for the main water line's construction, including
engineering and legal fees, but excluding any service connection fees and/or
construction of service lines for individual properties.
B.
All property owners within the water district shall be
thereafter assessed by the Township of Pine for all such costs and expenses
previously paid by the Township in connection therewith by the use of one
of the two following methods:
(1)
By proportion of a property's frontage abutting on the
main water line (allowing for an equitable reduction for corner properties
or those that are unusually shaped); or
(2)
By an equal assessment on all properties abutting on
the main water line in proportion to the total costs and expenses paid by
the Township of Pine.
C.
Any owner of property so assessed by the Township of
Pine shall have the choice, within 60 days from receipt of the assessment
bill, of thereafter paying the assessment immediately in full or, alternatively,
by payment in three equal, annual installments with interest applied at the
rate of 6% per annum.
D.
A municipal lien shall be filed by the Township of Pine
against all properties within the water district for which the assessments
are not immediately paid in full in the amount of said assessment.
E.
Any additional costs attributable solely to providing
water service to individual properties (i.e., service line, service connection
fee, etc.) will be paid directly by the property owner and shall not be the
responsibility of the Township of Pine.
Property owners abutting on the main water line shall not be required
by the Township of Pine to connect thereto.
Petitions filed with the Township of Pine for creation of a water district
and the construction/extension of a main water line will be considered and
acted upon in the sole discretion of the Township's Board of Supervisors,
and such creation and construction shall be contingent upon the Township having
appropriate funds and/or financing available to it, as such is determined
by the Township's Board of Supervisors.
Attorneys' fees incurred on all accounts referred to the Township's
Solicitor for enforcement and collection shall, if not collected in due course
with the debt as by voluntary agreement, be included in all claims (including
liens) filed on behalf of the Township of Pine in the course of enforcement,
including (if accrued before liening) in any claim originally filed with the
Prothonotary and in accordance with Ordinance No. 281 of the Township of Pine.[1]
