As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
BOD (BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND)
The quantity of oxygen, expressed in mg/l, utilized in the
biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory
procedure for five days at 20° C. The standard laboratory procedure
shall be that found in the latest edition of Standard Methods for
the Examination of Water and Sewage, published by the American Public
Health Association.
CURBLINE
A location which, in the Town's judgment, is as near to the
curb of the street as is feasible to terminate its service connection
and/or install Town-owned facilities.
CUSTOMER
The applicant for service receiving sewer service at one
household or business.
HOUSE CONNECTION
The sewer line running from a building to the curbline and
connecting with the service connection.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
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 sewage and/or industrial wastes
shall be or may be discharged.
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any improved property used, in whole or in part, for manufacturing,
processing, cleaning, laundering or assembling any product, commodity
or article or from which any process waste, as distinct from sewage,
shall be discharged.
LATERAL
The line from the main to the property line.
MAIN
The Town-owned piping and fixtures, in or along public highways
and streets or along privately owned rights-of-way, used for supplying
sewer service to customers.
MG/L
A concentration given in milligrams per liter.
PERSON
Any person, firm, association or corporation.
PH
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen
ions, expressed in grams per liter of solution, indicating the degree
of acidity or alkalinity of a substance.
SERVICE CONNECTION
The sewer line extended from the curbline to the main or
lateral in the street.
SEWAGE
Normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from any
improved property.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
Solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension
in water, sewage or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory
filtration as determined by the procedure set forth in the latest
edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Sewage,
published by the American Public Health Association.
TOWN
The Town of Rock Hall or its duly authorized officers or
agents.
[Amended 8-10-1979 by Ord. No. 79-6]
The rates and charges for sewer connections as well as user charges for residents within the Town limits shall be as provided for in Chapter
102, Fees.
[Amended 2-4-1988 by Ord. No. 88-2; 12-6-1990 by Ord. No.
90-2]
The following rates shall apply to consumers
living outside the corporate limits of the Town:
A. Residential: a sewer service fee to be two times the
in-Town rate.
B. Commercial: a sewer service fee to be two times the
in-Town rate.
[Amended 5-7-1992 by Ord. No. 92-6]
A. Each user of the Town's sewerage system shall be notified
annually in conjunction with a quarterly user charge bill of the rate
and the portion of the user charge that is attributable to operation
and maintenance of the system.
B. All funds generated by the portion of the user charge system described under Subsection
A shall be used solely for operation and maintenance of the Town's sewerage system.
C. The user charge rate will be adjusted annually, as
required, based on a budget of projected operation and maintenance
costs such that revenues generated by the system approximately equal
operation and maintenance costs.
[Amended 8-11-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-02; 10-10-2013 by Ord. No.
2013-02]
A. Bills will
be rendered quarterly and are payable 30 days after the date of the
bill. All bills unpaid after 30 days shall be subject to a late fee
of 5% of the total bill. All bills and late fees unpaid after 60 days
from the date the bill was sent shall be collectible from the owner
of the property served in the same manner and subject to the same
interest as taxes are collectible in the Town and shall be a first
lien on the property served.
B. The Utilities Board, in its sole discretion and upon such terms and
conditions as the Council may adopt from time to time by resolution,
may grant full or partial relief from any quarterly user charge bill.
[Amended 9-3-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-10]
[Amended 8-11-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-02]
The sewer and water service may be shut off from any premises for which the sewer and water bill remains unpaid for a period of 30 days after the bill is rendered. Before disconnecting sewer and water service under this section, the Town shall provide notice by mail sent to the last known address of the owner of the property or by posting notice on the premises of the property served. When shut off, service shall not be turned on except upon payment of a uniform fee to be set by the Town as set forth in §
184-7C. If any additional expenses are incurred by the Town by the discontinuance of service, service shall not be reinstated until the costs of discontinuance and reinstallation of services are paid.
[Amended 4-23-1981 by Ord. No. 81-2]
A. Title to all services from the main to the property
line is vested in, and the same shall at all times remain the sole
property of, the Town and shall not be trespassed upon or interfered
with in any respect. This property shall be maintained by the Town.
B. The house connection between the property line and
the building and all piping and fixtures on or in the building of
the owner or applicant shall be maintained by him/her, and the work
shall be performed by a competent person satisfactory to the Town.
The owner/applicant shall be responsible for any and all damages to
the sewer connection, piping and fixtures between the property line
and the building and in the building, to include breakage due to any
cause, natural causes or causes beyond his/her control, leakage, stoppage
and any other causes which could stop the system from working. The
owner/applicant is responsible for all charges resulting from any
problem with the sewer system on his/her property or in his/her building,
as well as the normal charges. Such charges shall become a lien against
the property, collected in the same manner as delinquent taxes.
C. The sewer policy manual of the Town of Rock Hall shall
be incorporated as a part of this chapter, and all regulations, restrictions
and rules set forth in the manual shall be in effect until changed
or repealed.
[Amended 8-11-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-02]
Unless otherwise provided for herein, all rates
and/or charges referred to in this chapter hereinbefore or hereinafter
mentioned shall constitute a lien on the real estate served, collectible
in the same manner as Town taxes or by a suit at law.
[Amended 8-10-1979 by Ord. No. 79-6]
It shall be unlawful to discharge rainwater or other wastewater usually conveyed by storm sewers into the sanitary sewer system of the Town of Rock Hall and violators shall be subject to a fine as provided in §
184-17 of this chapter.
[Added 10-12-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-07]
A. Pretreatment facilities. Industrial and commercial users shall provide necessary wastewater treatment as required to comply with this chapter and shall achieve compliance with all federal categorical pretreatment standards, local limits and the prohibitions set out in §
184-16D of this chapter. Any facilities required to pretreat wastewater to a level acceptable to the Town shall be provided, operated and maintained at the industrial or commercial user' s expense. Detailed plans showing pretreatment facilities and operating procedures shall be submitted to the Town for review and approval before construction of the facility. Such review and approval shall not relieve the industrial or commercial user from the responsibility of modifying the facility as necessary to produce a discharge acceptable to the Town under the provisions of this chapter. Any subsequent changes in the pretreatment facility or operating procedures shall be reported to the Town for review and approval prior to the user' s initiation thereof.
B. Additional
pretreatment measures.
(1) Whenever
deemed necessary, the Town may require industrial or commercial users
to restrict their discharge, designate that certain wastewater be
discharged only into specific sewers, relocate and/ or consolidate
points of discharge, separate sewage waste streams from industrial
or commercial waste streams, and such other conditions as may be necessary
to protect the Town's sewerage and wastewater treatment systems and
facilities and determine the industrial or commercial user' s compliance
with the requirements of this chapter.
(2) An
industrial or commercial user may be required, at the direction of
the Town, to maintain, on the user' s property and at the user's expense,
a suitable storage and/or flow control facility to ensure equalization
of flow over a twenty-four-hour period.
C. Monitoring
facilities. The Town may require to be provided and operated, at the
user's expense, monitoring facilities to allow inspection, flow and/or
pH measurement and sampling of the discharge from the building sewer
and/ or internal drainage systems. Detailed plans shall be submitted
to and approved by the engineer prior to construction of the required
monitoring facility. The monitoring facility shall provide ample room
to allow accurate sampling of the discharge and at all times shall
be maintained in a safe and proper operating condition. The monitoring
facility shall comply with all applicable Town requirements and all
applicable state and local construction standards and specifications.
D. Accidental
discharge/slug control plans. To provide protection from accidental/slug
discharge of prohibited materials or other substances regulated by
this chapter, the Town may require any industrial or commercial user
to develop and implement an accidental discharge/slug control plan.
At least once every two years, the Town shall evaluate whether each
significant industrial or commercial user needs such a plan. Any industrial
or commercial user required to develop and implement an accidental
discharge/slug control plan shall submit a plan to the Town for review
and approval which addresses, at a minimum, the following:
(1) Procedures
and/or facilities to prevent accidental/slug discharge, including,
but not limited to, inspection and maintenance of storage areas, handling
and transfer of materials, loading and unloading operations, control
of plant site runoff, worker training building of containment structures
or equipment, measures for containing toxic organic pollutants (including
solvents) and/or measures and equipment for emergency response;
(2) Description
of industrial or commercial user discharge practices, including nonroutine
batch discharges;
(3) Description
and listing of stored chemicals;
(4) Procedures for immediately notifying the Town of any accidental or slug discharge, including the location of discharge, type of waste, concentration and volume of discharge and corrective measures being taken. Such notification procedures must be posted in a prominent place within the industrial or commercial user' s facility to advise employees of the proper actions in the event of an accidental/ slug discharge. The industrial or commercial user shall ensure that all employees who may cause or suffer an accidental/slug discharge to occur are advised of the notification procedures. Such notification procedures shall also apply to any discharge which violates any of the prohibited discharges in §
184-16 of this chapter; and
(5) Written
notification of an accidental/slug discharge, which shall be submitted
to the Town's Department of Public Works within five days following
the event, including a description of the discharge, corrective and
cleanup measures and measures initiated to prevent similar future
occurrences. Such notification does not relieve the user of any expense,
loss, damage or other liability which may be incurred as a result
of damage to the Town's sewerage and wastewater treatment systems
and facilities, fish kills or any other damage to person or property,
nor shall such notification relieve the user of any fines, civil penalties
or other liability which may be imposed by this chapter or other applicable
federal, state or local regulations and/or laws.
E. Tenant
responsibility. Where an owner of property leases premises to any
other person as a tenant under any rental or lease agreement, if either
the owner or the tenant is an industrial or commercial user, either
or both may be held responsible for compliance with the provisions
of this chapter.
[Amended 8-10-1979 by Ord. No. 79-6]
Any person violating any of the provisions of
this chapter shall be considered guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction, may be fined $100 or imprisoned in the county jail for
30 days, or both.