[Adopted 10-5-2005 by Ord. No. 326]
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise,
the meaning of the terms used in this article shall be as follows:
The Doylestown Township Official Plan as defined in the Pennsylvania
Sewage Facilities Act, Act of January 24, 1966 P.L. 1535 (1965), No.
537, as amended, 35 P.S. §§ 750.1-750.20a ("Sewage
Facilities Act" or "Act 537").
The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, as defined by
the Municipality Authorities Act of 2001 (2001, June 19, P.L. 287,
No. 22, and as amended thereafter, 53 Pa.C.S. § 5601 et
seq.).
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Any electric-motor-driven, submersible, centrifugal pump
capable of macerating all material found in normal domestic sanitary
sewage, including reasonable amounts of objects, such as plastics,
sanitary napkins, disposable diapers, rubber and the like, to a fine
slurry, and pumping this material through a small diameter discharge.
Any property within Doylestown Township upon which there
is erected a structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation,
occupancy or use by human being or animals and from which structure
sewage shall or may be discharged.
A change in Doylestown Township's Act 537 Plan to provide
for additional or newly identified future of existing sewage facilities
needs, as defined fully in Section 1 of the Sewage Facilities Act,
35 P.S. § 750.1.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in Doylestown Township.
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or
excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals
and any noxious or deleterious substance being harmful or inimical
to the public health or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of
water for domestic water supply or for recreation or any substance
which constitutes pollution under the Clean Stream Law, 35 P.S. §§ 691.1-691.1001,
as amended.
Doylestown Township and/or its Board of Supervisors.
The connection of existing properties or proposed
new land development to an existing or proposed sewerage system through
the use of sewage grinder pumps, their associated force mains, or
low-pressure laterals shall occur only after an Official Plan Revision
to the Township's Act 537 Plan, approved by Doylestown Township, and
the development designates that the proposed properties be served
by such a connection.
The Authority and the Township are hereby authorized
and empowered to adopt such rules and regulations concerning sewage
which it may deem necessary from time to time to effect the purposes
herein. The Authority and the Township are further authorized and
empowered to take such other actions as are necessary, including but
not limited to entering into agreements with property owners that
assure proper operation and maintenance of sewage facilities within
Doylestown Township's borders, including but not limited to sewage
grinder pumps and any associated force mains or low-pressure laterals.
A.
The Authority and the Township shall exercise their
powers and legal authority set forth herein and under all applicable
statutes, ordinances and other laws to effect the purposes of this
article.
B.
The Authority and the Township may enter into an agreement
with each property owner proposing to install or who has installed
a sewage grinder pump or low-pressure sewage system to assure the
short- and long-term operation and maintenance, use, service, repair
or replacement of such systems.
C.
All grinder pumps and low-pressure sewer systems (and
the installation, use, operation, maintenance, service, repair and
replacement thereof) shall comply with the rules and regulations of
the Authority and the Township in effect from time to time.
D.
All grinder pumps and low-pressure sewer systems shall
be connected to the sewage collection and conveyance system in full
compliance with the rules and regulations of the Authority and the
Township in effect from time to time.
E.
The Authority and the Township shall maintain control
over the type of grinder pumps used and the Authority shall maintain
extra grinder pumps units or replacement parts for emergency repairs
or replacements on short notice.
F.
Neither the Authority nor the Township shall bear
any responsibility for the purchase, installation, use, operation,
maintenance, service, repair, or replacement of the grinder pump and/or
its low-pressure force main or lateral, except as otherwise set forth
herein.
A.
Each property owner served by a grinder pump shall
bear full responsibility for providing, installing, using, operating,
maintaining, servicing, repairing and replacing his/her grinder pump
and/or its low-pressure force main or lateral, unless otherwise set
forth herein.
B.
Each property owner served by a grinder pump shall
have full responsibility for using the pump consistent with the manufacturer's
instructions and shall avoid introducing into the sewerage system
materials that may damage the impellers on the pump, including but
not limited to items designated as biodegradable in septic tanks.
C.
Each property owner served by a grinder pump shall
close the sewage system and cease operations during any period when
the grinder pump and/or low-pressure system serving a property is
inoperable for more than two days.
D.
Where the low-pressure force main or lateral is shared
between property owners, they shall submit to the Authority and the
Township a declaration of easements, covenants and restrictions in
recordable form, setting forth the agreement of each benefited property
owner with respect to the installation, use, operation, maintenance,
service, repair and replacement of the low-pressure sewer system,
which agreement shall bind all future property owners. Following the
approval of the low-pressure system by all applicable agencies, the
Authority and the Township will not issue a permit for its installation
until evidence is presented that the agreement has been recorded in
the Office for the Recording of Deeds, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violation of § 136-49 above shall constitute a nuisance and shall be abated by the Authority and Township by either seeking mitigation of the nuisance or appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the
Authority and Township to effectuate this article shall be in conformity
with the provisions herein, all other ordinances or resolutions of
the Authority and Township, and all applicable laws, and applicable
rules and regulations of administrative agencies of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
