No person shall uncover, make any connections
with or opening into, use, alter, disturb or discharge into any public
sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit
from the Administrator or Village Board where designated.
There shall be two classes of building sewer
permits: for residential and commercial service; and for service to
establishments producing industrial wastes. In either case, the owner
or his agent shall make application on a special form furnished by
the Administrator. The permit application shall be accompanied by
plans, profiles, specifications or other information considered pertinent
by the Administrator. All permit applications for service to establishments
producing industrial wastes shall be subject to Village Board approval
after a public hearing. A permit and inspection fee for a residential
or commercial building sewer permit or for an industrial building
sewer permit in the amount prescribed in a fee schedule adopted by
the Village Board shall be paid to the Village at the time that the
application is filed.
All costs and expenses in installing and connecting
a public sewage system or building sewer to the Village sewer system
shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the Village
for any loss or damage that might be occasioned by the installation
and connection of such public sewage system or building sewer.
A separate and independent building sewer shall
be provided for every building, except where one building stands at
the rear of another on a separate interior lot, and no 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.
Existing building sewers may be used in conjunction
with new buildings only when they are found, upon inspection and testing
by the Administrator, to meet all requirements of this article and
any other specifications adopted by the Administrator.
The size, slope, alignment, materials or construction
of a building sewer, appurtenances and the methods to be used in excavating,
placing of the building sewer pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling
the trench shall conform to the requirements of the specification
for the installation of building sewers as adopted by the Village
Board and all applicable provisions of any other rules and regulations
of the Village of Liberty, or of the County of Sullivan and the State
of New York, whichever requirement is more strict. In the absence
of any requirements, or in amplification thereof, the materials and
procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the American
Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and Water Pollution Control
Federation (WPCF), Manual of Practice No. 9 shall apply. All connections
of building sewers to a public sewage system shall be gastight and
watertight. Any deviations from the prescribed materials and construction
procedures must be approved by the Administrator prior to installation.
Whenever possible, the building sewer shall
be brought to the building at an elevation below the basement floor.
In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit
gravity flow to the public sewer, sewage carried by such building
drain shall be lifted by a method approved by the Administrator and
discharged to a gravity flow building sewer.
No person shall make a connection of roof downspout,
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 to a public sanitary sewer.
The applicant for the connection of any building
sewer to a public sewage system owned or maintained by the Village
shall notify the Administrator when the building sewer is ready for
inspection and connection to the public sewer. In no case shall any
underground portions of the building sewer be covered or connection
to the public sewer made without the approval and/or supervision of
the Administrator or his representative. Permission to activate the
building sewer will be given only after satisfactory final inspection
has been made and approval given by the Administrator.
All excavations for building sewer excavations
shall comply with all federal, state and local safety regulations
and shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to
protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways and other
public property disturbed in the course of work shall be restored
in a manner satisfactory to the Administrator and appropriate municipal
authorities.
[Amended 7-11-2016 by L.L. No. 2-2016]
A.
The owner of the property served by the public sewer system from the curb of the adjoining street or, if there is no curb, from the edge of the pavement of the adjoining street, to the building of the owner of the property. In the event that a property is unable to discharge sewage into the public sewer system, it will be presumed that the fault is in that portion of the public sewer system which the property owner is obligated to maintain, service and repair, as set forth above, unless contrary evidence establishing otherwise is known or made known to the Village. Evidence of willful damage to that portion of the public sewer system which the property owner is obligated to maintain, service and repair, as set forth above, shall be considered a violation of this chapter and enforced in accordance with Article XI of this chapter.
B.
In the event that a property owner, resident or occupant of a building
or real property located in the Village of Liberty which is connected
to the public sewer system of the Village contacts the Sewer Department
of the Village and requests that a representative attend at the property
due to a claimed problem with the sewer, such resident or occupant
(if applicable), and in all cases, the property owner, shall be charged
a service charge under the following circumstances:
(1)
If the service call is responded to by a representative of the Sewer
Department of the Village during its normal hours of operation (which
hours may be subject to change), there shall be no charge for the
service call if:
(a)
It is determined that the problem was caused or is as a result
of that portion of the public sewer system which the property owner
is not responsible to maintain, service and repair, as set forth above;
or
(b)
It is determined that the problem with the public sewer system
is caused or is as a result of that portion of the public sewer system
which the property owner is required to maintain, service and repair,
as set forth above, and the service call is solely for the purpose
of determining whether the problem is caused or is a result of that
portion of the public sewer system for which the Village is responsible
or that portion for which the property owner is responsible.
(2)
If the service call is responded to outside of the normal working
hours of the Sewer Department of the Village, the Village shall charge
the resident or occupant (if applicable), and, in all cases, the property
owner, a service charge, comprised of (x), a flat service charge fee
to be set by the Village Board by resolution, plus (y), the actual
wages and remuneration (including, but not limited to, overtime pay
and benefits) which the Village is obligated to pay those representative(s)
of the Sewer Department of the Village who attend the service call
for the time spent on such service call, plus (z), the cost to the
Village of all equipment and material utilized by the representatives
of the Sewer Department of the Village in connection with such service
call.
(3)
The property owner shall at all times remain fully responsible and liable for all service charges incurred or charged as set forth above, even if the service call has been made by a resident or occupant of the property. Any service charge not paid within 30 days of written demand therefor by the Village may be recovered by the Village in accordance with Article XI of this chapter.
Before any building whose building sewer is
connected to a public sewer is demolished, the owner thereof shall
conform to the requirements established by the Administrator. The
cutoff or plugging of the building sewer shall be done with the permission
and under the supervision of the Administrator.
