[Adopted 7-23-1997 by Ord. No. 70-1997[1]]
Unless the content specifically and clearly indicates otherwise, the
meaning of the terms used in this article shall be as follows:
The Sewer Authority of the City of Scranton, Pennsylvania, a Pennsylvania
municipality authority.
The Borough of Dunmore, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.
The City of Scranton, Lackawanna County, or its duly authorized representatives
or agents. Such agents may include but shall not be limited to the Sewer Authority
of the City of Scranton, Pennsylvania, as appropriate.
A collective body of related persons living together.
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substances, waterborne waste or form
of energy discharged or escaping in the course of an industrial, manufacturing,
commercial, trade, business or research process or in the course of development,
recovering or processing of natural resources, but not sanitary sewage.
Any establishment now or hereafter served by the sewer system other
than a residential establishment.
Any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation,
association, joint-stock company, trust, estate, government entity or any
other legal entity or their legal representatives, and shall include schools,
churches, hospitals and all agents or assigns, charitable institutions. The
masculine gender shall include the feminine; the singular shall include the
plural where indicated by the context.
Any establishment used wholly or in part for residential purposes.
The normal water-carried household and toilet waste from residential
establishments and nonresidential establishments, excluding, however, the
effluent from septic tanks or cesspools, rain, stormwater and groundwater,
as well as roof or surface water, drainage or percolating or seeping waters,
or accumulation thereof, whether underground or in cellars or basements.
For sewer service charges purposes, the length of time for which
sewer service charges are billed.
All the facilities now or hereafter owned by the Authority and now
existing or hereafter to be constructed in the City and the borough for collection
and treatment of sanitary sewage and acceptable industrial wastes emanating
from the City and borough. For the purposes of this article, sewer system
shall also include any sewers that convey wastewater to the sewer system from
persons who are, by contract or agreement with the City or Authority, users
of the sewer system.
A person or persons living in a defined area which is owned by another
by the terms of an agreement or contract.
The Pennsylvania American Water Company serving water in Scranton
and Dunmore.
Sewer service charges effective for periods noted in this section are hereby imposed upon all owners of property in the City and the borough now or hereafter served by the sewer system (which charges have been determined, to the extent required by law, by the Authority), payable for each service period as provided in § 383-16 hereof for the use, whether direct or indirect, of such sewer system, based upon quantity of water used, as follows:
A.
Residential establishment.
(1)
Effective August 1, 2003, the sewer service charges are
$3.64 per 1,000 gallons of water consumed during a two-month period or $21.84
per family or tenant on each such residential establishment bimonthly, whichever
is greater.
[Amended 7-21-2003 by Ord. No. 191-2003]
(2)
Multiple minimum sewer rental charges shall be billed
to residential establishments having two or more families or tenants served
by one water meter.
B.
Nonresidential establishments.
(1)
Basic charges shall be made in accordance with the following
schedule:
[Amended 7-21-2003 by Ord. No. 191-2003]
(a)
Effective August 1, 2003, the basic charges are as follows:
[1]
Commercial monthly charges:
|
Gallons Of Water
(per month)
|
Rate
(per month)
| |
|---|---|---|
|
First 25,000 gallons
|
$3.64 per 1,000 gallons of water
| |
|
Next 225,000 gallons
|
$3.53 per 1,000 gallons of water
| |
|
Next 2,250,000 gallons
|
$3.36 per 1,000 gallons of water
| |
|
Over 2,500,000 gallons
|
$2.49 per 1,000 gallons of water
|
[2]
Or a minimum monthly charge of $10.92, whichever is greater.
(2)
Additional charges.
(a)
An additional charge shall be made for discharge or wastes
of excess strength as follows: Nonresidential establishments discharging sanitary
sewage and/or industrial wastes to the sewer system having an average five-day
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) greater than 330 parts per million (ppm),
a suspended solids content greater than 350 ppm, a suspended nitrogen content
greater than 23 ppm shall pay a strength of waste surcharge, in addition to
applicable volume charges. The strength of waste surcharge shall be computed
for the specified period according to the following formulas:
|
Effective September 1, 1997:
| |||
|
Surcharge = Q
[(BOD-330) (0.0029) + (SS-250) (0.0018) + (NH-23) (0.0040)]
| |||
|
Where:
| |||
|
Q
|
=
|
Water consumed per month in thousand gallons
| |
|
BOD
|
=
|
Average five-day biochemical oxygen demand of the waste discharged in
parts per million
| |
|
SS
|
=
|
Average suspended solids content of the waste discharged in parts per
million
| |
|
NH
|
=
|
Average ammonia nitrogen concentration of the waste discharged in parts
per million
| |
|
Surcharge
|
=
|
Amount in dollars to be charged monthly
| |
(b)
Any number in parenthesis that calculates to be negative
shall be considered zero.
(c)
The strength of sanitary sewage and/or industrial wastes
to be used for establishing the amount of surcharge shall be determined at
least once annually by suitable sampling and analysis of the wastes for a
three-day period during which time strength of waste discharges or production
is at a maximum; or by relating production and waste strength at the time
of sampling to waste strength at maximum production if sampling is not performed
at the time of maximum production; or from estimates made by the City; or
from known relationships or products produced to strengths of waste for those
establishments where such factors have been established. In establishing waste
strength for surcharge purposes, analysis shall be made in accordance with
procedures outlined in the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination
of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association.
Such analysis may include sanitary sewage when combined with the industrial
waste discharge.
The determination of volume of water used for billing purposes shall
be made as follows:
A.
Whenever a person purchasing all water used from the
water supplier discharges sanitary sewage and/or industrial wastes into the
sewer system, the volume of water consumed, as determined from the meter readings
of the water supplier, shall be used in computing the sewer service charge.
B.
In cases where residential or nonresidential establishments
have sources of water supply in addition to, or other than, that of the water
supplier, such establishments shall provide a meter on such additional or
other source of water supply. The total amount of water consumed, as shown
by reading of all water meters, shall be used in computing the sewer charge.
C.
Methods.
(1)
In cases where nonresidential establishments received
water from the water supplier and/or from an independent supply, and such
water is not discharged into the sewer system, the quantity of water used
to determine the sewer service charge shall be computed by one of the following
methods:
(a)
Method No. 1: by placing the meter or measuring device
on the sewer connection. The reading from this meter or measuring device multiplied
by factor of 1.15 shall be used in computing sewer service charge; or
(b)
Method No. 2: by placing the meter or measuring device
on the effluent not discharging into the sewer system. The readings from this
meter or measuring device will then be deducted from the total water meter
reading, and the remainder multiplied by a factor of 1.15 shall be used in
computing the sewer service charge.
(2)
Under no circumstances shall the sewer service charge
determined by either of the above methods exceed the service charge computed
by using 100% of the total water readings.
D.
Determinations without meters or devices not provided
by water supplies.
(1)
When a nonresidential establishment can demonstrate that it is not practical to install meters or measuring devices to determine the sewer charges under either Subsection B or C of this section, the City may determine, in such manner and by such methods as it may prescribe, the amount of sanitary sewage and/or industrial wastes discharged into the sewer system, and the quantity so determined to be discharged multiplied by a factor of 1.15 shall be used to determine the sewage charge, which shall be final.
(2)
Under no circumstances shall the sewer service charge
determined by the City exceed the service charge computed by using 100% of
the total water meter readings.
(3)
All meters or other measuring devices not provided by
the water supplier, but which may be used under the provisions of this article,
shall be furnished and installed by the property owner and shall be under
the control of the City and may be tested, inspected or repaired by City employees
whenever necessary. The owner of the property upon which such measuring device
is installed shall be responsible for its maintenance and safekeeping, and
all repairs thereto shall be made at the property owner's expense, whether
such repairs are made necessary by ordinary wear and tear or other causes.
Bills for such repairs, if made by the City, shall be due and payable at the
same time and collected in the same manner as are the bills for sewer services;
such bills from and after their due date shall constitute a lien upon the
property upon which such measuring device is installed. The City shall have
the right to read all meters or measuring devices, and they shall be available
to City employees for meter reading at any reasonable time.
The service period for purposes of billing for sewer service charges
shall be monthly or bimonthly in duration with respect to nonresidential establishments,
and monthly or bimonthly in duration with respect to residential establishments.
Bills rendered to nonresidential establishments and to residential establishments
are, in each case, in arrears of the service period covered by the billing.
Sewer rental billings may be based upon water consumed and metered during
the most recent period for which there are water company records available.
A.
All bills for sewer service charges shall be due and
payable upon presentation. If any bill for sewer charges is not paid within
30 days after the same shall become due and payable, it shall be delinquent
and a penalty of 5% shall be added, and such billing, excluding the penalty,
shall thereafter bear interest at the rate of 5/6% per month, or portion thereof
until paid.
B.
Upon failure of any person to pay in full any bill for
sewer charges within 30 days after the same shall become delinquent, the City
shall have the right to terminate sewer service to the property for such period
or periods as against such property, service may be restored upon payment
of all expenses which have been incurred in the terminating of such service
or restoring the same.
C.
The sewer charges imposed by this article shall be and
are declared to be a lien on the property served from the date the charges
become due and payable. In addition to all other rights of the City herein
granted, if such charges are not paid, the City may file such liens and collect
the same in the manner provided by law for the filing and collection of municipal
liens and claims and may proceed to collect such sewer charges by action in
assumption in the name of the City against the owner of the property charged
or the user of the service.
All money received by the City from the collection of sewer charges
and all penalties therein, as provided for herein, shall be segregated and
kept separate and apart from all other funds of the City and shall be used
only for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the City in the operation,
maintenance (including insurance), repair, alteration, inspection and other
ordinary expenses in relation to the sewer system and for making use of usual
renewals and replacements and ordinary improvements thereto in order to maintain
adequate service, including income, profits, property, franchise or excise
taxes, if any, payable under any lease or supplement or supplements thereto
with the Authority and for any other payments required to be paid under such
lease or leases or any supplement.
A.
This article and any rules and regulations adopted hereunder
are hereby declared to be urgent for the preservation of the peace, health
and comfort of the citizens of the City and of the borough and shall take
effect September 1, 1997, and be in force and shall be applicable to all properties
as soon as they respectively become connected with and have the right to use
the sewer system, whether in the City or the borough.
B.
The City reserves the right, subject to its obligations
under any lease or leases or any supplement thereto with the Authority, to
amend this article or to change the rate or rates or charges set forth herein
in such time or times as in its discretion may be advisable.
