No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with or opening
into, use, alter, or disturb any public sewer or appurtenances thereof without
first obtaining a written permit from the Board or authorized agent. Any person
proposing a new discharge into the system or a substantial change in volume
or character of pollutants that are being discharged into the system shall
notify the Board at least 45 days prior to the proposed change or connection.
There shall be two classes of building sewer permit applications: (1)
for residential and commercial services; and (2) for establishments producing
industrial wastes. In either, the owner or agent shall make application on
a special form furnished by the Town. The permit application shall be supplemented
by any plans, specifications or other information considered pertinent in
the judgment of the Board. A permit and inspection fee established by the
Board shall be paid to the Town Treasurer at the time the application is filed.
Each person shall be responsible at his own expense to collect and discharge
his wastewater from the property into the facilities provided by the Town,
all in acceptable manner and with prior approval of the Town.
A sewer user fee shall be charged to all buildings connected to the
public sewer system. The Board shall set the rates proportional to the cost
for the operation and maintenance of all sewer-related facilities.
Sewer user fees shall be charged on the volume of the water meter reading.
In the event that the buildings connected to the public sewer system have
a private water source, the sewer user fee shall be calculated on 60% of the
design volume in accordance with Title 5 estimated flow values. Billing periods
shall be consistent with periods established by the Town Water Department.
Sewer payments shall be submitted to the Town Collector. Uncollected sewer
user fees shall be billed in accordance to MGL c.83, §§ 16A
through 16G, adopted by the Town under Article 34 of the May 1995 Annual Town
Meeting.
All costs and expenses incident to the installation, connection, operation
and maintenance of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner. The owner
shall indemnify the Town for any loss, damage or services performed that may
directly or indirectly be occasioned on the Town's main sewer interceptor
by the installation or maintenance of the building sewer. The building sewer
shall mean the extension from the building to the public sewer or main interceptor
or other place of disposal located within the roadway and or including any
rights-of-way. When any service is to be performed on an existing building
sewer, the owner must notify and obtain a permit from the Town's Sewer
Department prior to the work being performed. There will be no charge for
the permit.
A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every
building, except where one building stands at the rear of another or on an
interior lot and no private sewer is available or can be constructed to the
rear building through an adjoining alley, court, yard, or driveway; the building
sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the
whole considered as one building sewer.
Old building sewers may be used in connection with the new buildings
only when they are found, on examination and test by the Town, to meet all
requirements of this chapter.
The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building
sewer, and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing,
testing, and backfilling the trench, shall all conform to the requirements
of the building and plumbing code or other applicable rules and regulations
of the Town defined as minimum Town standards. In the absence of code
provisions or in amplification thereof, materials and procedures set forth
in appropriate specifications of the ASTM and WPCF Manual of Practice No.
9 shall apply.
Whenever possible, the sanitary sewer shall be brought to the building
at an elevation below the basement floor. No building sanitary sewer shall
be laid parallel to or within three feet of any bearing wall except for purposes
of crossing a bearing wall. The depth shall be sufficient to afford protection
from frost. The sanitary sewer shall be laid at uniform grade and in straight
alignment insofar as possible. Changes in direction shall be made only with
properly curved pipe and fittings or manholes.
In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit gravity
flow to the public sewer, sanitary wastewater carried by such drain shall
be lifted by approved artificial means and discharged to the same building
sewer.
The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the Town when
the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer.
No public sewer shall be disturbed or broken into or connection made except
under the supervision of the Town. The Town shall be available to supervise
and inspect the connection within a minimum 48 hours of notification of readiness.
All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately
guarded by the applicant with barricades and lights so as to protect the public
from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways and other public property disturbed
in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the
Town.
No person shall make connection of roof, downspouts, exterior foundation
drains, areaway drains, or other sources of surface runoff or groundwater
to a building sewer or building drain, which in turn is connected directly
or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer.
A.
The applicant requesting sewer abatement must complete
a form approved by the Board and submit that form to the Board or designee,
within 30 days after the billing period. The applicant must provide a written
description as to the reasons why he/she feels the abatement should be granted.
B.
A processing fee as set from time to time by the Board
shall be charged for all sewer abatement applications submitted for consideration.
The fee shall be attached to the application and shall not be refundable if
the application is denied.
[Amended 5-2-2005 ATM, Art. 11, approved 8-4-2005]
Sewer abatements will not be granted for the following uses:
A.
Agriculture or horticulture use. Water not discharged
to the sewer system. Abatement requests are considered for dwellings that
are designated as agriculture or horticulture facilities and are used for
the purpose of raising animals or commercial crops when a common water meter
is used for the purpose of the farmhouse and livestock watering. The sewer
user fee will be based on an average home of similar size and usage, or the
Board may require action under § 164-19.
B.
Filling swimming pools and ponds. Sewer abatements for
the purpose of filling swimming pools or ponds may be granted by the Board
if the abatement value is greater than the cost associated for the Town to
process the abatement. Abatements shall not be granted if the calculated abatement
is less than $10. The Water Department may charge a service fee for meter
readings and man-hours associated with the request for sewer abatement.
C.
Excessive usage from broken water pipes. In the event
a meter reading is excessive due to broken water pipes, the homeowner may
request a sewer abatement if he/she can prove within a reasonable doubt that
the excess water did not enter the sewer system.
D.
Inaccurate readings sewer abatements for inaccurate readings
shall be subject to the Water Department confirming the error, and the sewer
fee charged will be proportional to the corrected water meter reading or estimate.
A.
Outside water meters for the purpose of metering water
not entering the sewer system shall be allowed only if the facility meets
all of the following qualifications:
B.
The homeowner, at his/her own expense, shall pay all
associated costs for the meter unit, operation, maintenance, and installation.
C.
The homeowner shall not read his or her private meter
for the purpose of abating the sewer user fee.
D.
The homeowner shall pay a service fee quarterly, proportional
to Water Department charges for the reading of that meter.
[Added 3-17-2004]
Municipal buildings, departments and schools may be exempt from paying
for water used, which does not enter the sewer system. The municipal entity
shall meter separately any water used for this exemption. The Board of Selectmen/Sewer
Commissioners shall approve all requests for this exemption, before receiving
such exemption.
