[Amended 4-23-1996 by Ord. No. 509]
Unless the context specifically and clearly
indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms and phrases used in this
article shall be as follows:
AUTHORITY
The Municipal Authority of the Borough of Coopersburg, a
Pennsylvania municipality authority, acting by and through its Board
or, in appropriate cases, acting by and through its authorized representatives.
BILLING UNIT
Includes, as applicable, each of the following: a commercial
establishment, a dwelling unit, an industrial establishment and an
institutional establishment.
BOD (BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND)
The quantity of oxygen, expressed in ppm, 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 Wastewater, published by the American
Public Health Association.
BOROUGH
The Borough of Coopersburg, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania,
municipality of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, acting by and through
its Council or, in appropriate cases, acting by and through its authorized
representatives.
COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any room, group of rooms, building or enclosure used or intended
for use in the operation of one business enterprise for the sale and
distribution of any product, commodity, article or service or used
or intended for use for any social, amusement, religious, educational,
charitable or public purpose and containing plumbing facilities for
kitchens, toilets, or washing facilities.
DWELLING UNIT
Any rooms, group of rooms, building or other enclosure occupied
or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters by a family
or other group of persons living together or by a person living alone.
GARBAGE
Solid wastes resulting from preparation, cooking and dispensing
of food and from handling, storage and sale of produce.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
Any property located within this Borough upon which there
is erected or created a structure intended for continuous or periodic
habitation, occupancy or use by human beings or animals, and from
which structure sanitary sewage and/or industrial waste shall be or
may be discharged.
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any room, group of rooms, building or other enclosure used
or intended for use, in whole or in part, in the operation of one
business enterprise for manufacturing, fabricating, processing, cleaning,
laundering or assembling any product, commodity or article or from
which any process waste, as distinct from sanitary sewage, shall be
discharged.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or waterborne wastes
or form of energy rejected or escaping in the course of any industrial,
manufacturing, trade or business process or in the course of the development,
recovery or processing of natural resources, as distinct from sanitary
sewage.
INSTITUTIONAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any room, group of rooms, building or other enclosure which
does not constitute a commercial establishment, a dwelling unit or
an industrial establishment.
MULTIPLE UNIT
Any improved property in which shall be located more than
one billing unit.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any improved property.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, company, association, society,
corporation or other group or entity, including a municipal authority
and any municipal subdivision.
pH
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen
ions, expressed in grams per liter of solution, and indicates the
degree of acidity or alkalinity of a substance.
SANITARY SEWAGE
The normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from
any improved property.
SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM
The interceptor line, sewage treatment plant and related
facilities owned by Upper Saucon Authority and leased to the Township
for operation and use for the purpose, inter alia, of transportation,
treatment and disposition of sanitary sewage and certain industrial
wastes which may be collected in the sewer system, including all additions
thereto.
SEWER
Any pipe, main or conduit constituting a part of the sewer
system and used for collection and transportation of sanitary sewage
and industrial wastes.
SEWER SYSTEM
All facilities, as of any particular time, for collecting,
transporting and disposing of sanitary sewage and industrial wastes,
situate in this Borough, owned by the Authority and leased to this
Borough for operation and use.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Upper Saucon, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
TREATMENT AGREEMENT
The agreement, dated as of October 15, 1970, as supplemented,
between the Authority and the Borough, on the one hand, and Upper
Saucon Authority and the Township, on the other hand, including all
future supplements and amendments thereto.
WATER SYSTEM
The facilities owned by the Authority and used for the supply
of water to the public in the Borough.
[Amended 2-12-1985 by Ord. No. 393; 11-12-1985 by Ord. No.
399; 6-9-1987 by Ord. No. 420; 3-27-1990 by Res. No. 5-90; 12-11-1990 by Res. No. 7-90; 12-12-1995 by Ord. No. 503; 2-25-1997 by Ord. No.
516]
Sewer rental charges for sewage and industrial
waste discharged into the sewerage system shall be determined as follows:
A. Billing basis for residential users.
(1) Sewer rental charges for sewage discharged into the
sewerage system from any improved property constituting an equivalent
residential dwelling unit shall be comprised of the sum of the following
two charges:
(a)
A fixed or constant fee per unit per quarter
annum; and
(b)
A flow charge per 1,000 gallons which flow shall
be determined by the water meter reading at the beginning and end
of the quarter annum for which the bill is rendered or, in the absence
of a water meter, on the basis of 150 gallons per day (GPD) for apartments,
condominiums and mobile home dwellings and on the basis of 200 GPD
for all other dwelling units.
(2) If metering is impractical, a customer shall have
the right to petition the Borough for special study by the Borough
to determine an equitable rate. All such petitions shall be filed
in the office of the Borough Secretary.
(3) There shall be a minimum charge equal to the fixed
or constant fee per unit per quarter annum for each improved property
which is connected to the sewerage system.
B. Billing basis for commercial, institutional and industrial
users.
(1) Sewer rental charges for sewage and/or industrial
waste discharged into the sewerage system from any improved property
constituting a commercial, institutional or industrial user shall
be comprised of the sum of the following two charges plus any additional
or exceptional strength charges as hereinafter provided:
(a)
A fixed or constant fee per equivalent dwelling
unit (EDU) per quarter annum. The number of EDUs for a customer shall
be determined by converting water consumption into EDUs on the basis
of 200 GPD per EDU, using the water consumption for the preceding
year and shall not exceed a maximum of 10 EDUs for each improved property.
In the absence of water consumption records for the entire preceding
year, the EDUs shall be determined by converting the water consumption
data which is available or, in the absence of any water consumption
data, on the basis of the Borough estimate.
(b)
A flow charge per 1,000 gallons, which flow
shall be determined by the water meter reading at the beginning and
end of the billing period for which the bill is rendered.
(2) In order to implement this sewer billing system all
commercial, institutional and industrial users shall install water
meters or other methods of determining volume of water consumption
satisfactory to the Borough. In the absence of a method of measuring
volume or water consumption, the Borough shall use an estimate.
(3) Notwithstanding the rates charges in Subsection
B(1)(a) and
(b), all commercial, institutional and industrial users shall pay a minimum charge equal to the fixed or constant fee times the number of EDUs as determined by the Classification of Nonresidential Users Table which follows:
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Borough of Coopersburg User Charge
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Classification of Nonresidential Users
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Classification
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Number of EDUs
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(1)
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Residential dwelling unit
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1
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(2)
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Commercial establishments:
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|
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(a)
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Each social hall
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1
|
|
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(b)
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Each church
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1
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(c)
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Each retail gasoline station
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1 1/2
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|
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(d)
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Each motel, hotel or other establishment providing
overnight facilities and each nursing or convalescent home which has
private toilet or washing facilities in or connected to a room
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1/2 per room
|
|
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(e)
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Each motel, hotel or other establishment providing
overnight facilities and each nursing or convalescent home which does
not have private toilet or washing facilities in or connected to a
room
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1/3 per room
|
|
|
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Wherever a restaurant or bar room is conducted
in connection with any motel or hotel, a separate sewer rental or
charge shall be imposed for such facilities in accordance with the
classification set forth in Subsection (f), below
|
|
|
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(f)
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Each restaurant, bar room or other commercial
establishment which regularly dispenses food or beverages for consumption
on the premises
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1/12 per employee plus 1/10 per seat, subject
to a minimum of 2 EDUs. An owner shall be considered an employee for
purposes of computing EDUs
|
|
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(g)
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Each retail store, business or professional
office, barber shop or beauty shop (not operated in a home by the
home owner or tenant of the home)
|
1
|
|
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(h)
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All the other commercial establishments not classified above and not constituting a combination dwelling unit and commercial establishment as classified in Subsection (3), below
|
1/12 per occupant plus 7/8 per public rest room,
subject to a minimum of 1 1/2 EDUs. An owner shall be considered
an employee for purposes of computing EDUs
|
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(3)
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Each combination dwelling unit and commercial
establishment located in one structure and owned or occupied and operated
by the same person except where the commercial establishment is a
restaurant, bar room or other commercial establishment which regularly
dispenses food or beverages for consumption on the premises
|
1 1/2
|
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(4)
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Institutional establishments:
|
|
|
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(a)
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Each public or private school per full-time
pupil, teacher or employee
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1/16 per student, teacher or employee
|
|
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(b)
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Each public or private school per part-time
pupil, teacher or employee
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1/32 per student, teacher or employee
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C. User charge rates. The unit fixed or constant fee
and the flow charge per 1,000 gallons shall be the same for all classifications
of users of the sewerage system and shall be the effective rate established
by this Borough, by resolution from time to time, for the billing
period for which the sewer rental or charge is rendered.
D. Multiple units. Each billing unit located in a multiple
unit shall be billed as a separate entity, and the foregoing sewer
rentals or charges, as appropriate, shall be used in computing the
sewer rentals or charges applicable to each such billing unit as though
such billing units was a separate structure and had a direct and separate
connection to the sewerage system; provided, however, that this shall
not be applicable to a combination dwelling unit and commercial establishment
as specified in Subsection (3) in the Classification of Nonresidential
Users Table included in this article.
E. User classification charges.
(1) If the use or classification of any improved property
shall change during any billing period, the sewer rental or charge
shall be adjusted by this Borough, by prorating on a monthly basis
to the nearest calendar month, with a credit or charge, as shall be
appropriate under the circumstances, being made on the statement for
the next succeeding billing period.
(2) This Borough reserves the right, from time to time,
to establish additional user classifications and to establish billing
rates therefore; and this Borough further reserves the right, from
time to time, to alter, modify, revise and/or amend user classifications
and the billing applicable thereto.
H. Bypass cooling water use. Whenever an improved property
or, if applicable, a billing unit or billing units located therein,
constituting a commercial, institutional or industrial establishment
shall use water for cooling or unpolluted commercial or industrial
process purposes and all or part of the water so used shall not be
discharged into the sewerage system, the volume used as the measure
of discharge of sewage and/or industrial wastes in computing sewer
rentals or charges pursuant to this article may be adjusted by one
of the following methods:
(1) By installing a meter or other measuring device on
the connection to the sewerage system. The readings from such meter
or measuring device shall be used as the measure of discharge of sewage
and or industrial waste in computing sewer rentals or charges.
(2) By installing a meter or other measuring device to
measure the volume not being discharged into the sewerage system.
The readings from such meter or measuring device shall be deducted
from the total water meter readings and the remainder shall be used
as the measure of discharge of sewage and/or industrial wastes in
computing sewer rentals or charges.
(3) If it is not practical, in the opinion of this Borough,
to install a meter or other measuring device to determine continuously
the volume not discharged into the sewerage system, this Borough shall
determine in such manner and by such method as it may prescribe, the
percentage of metered water which is being discharged into the sewerage
system. The quantity of water used as the measure of discharge of
sewage and/or industrial wastes in computing sewer rentals or charges
shall be the percentage so determined of the quantity measured by
the water meter or meters. Any dispute as to such estimated percentage
shall be submitted to this Borough, after notice of such estimate.
The decision of this Borough with respect to the matter shall be final
for the then current calendar year.
This Borough shall have the right of access
at reasonable times to any part of improved property served by the
sewer system and any meters used for purposes of inspection, measurement,
sampling and testing and for performance of other functions relating
to service rendered by this Borough in connection with the sewer system.
The owner of each improved property connected
to the sewer system shall be responsible for all acts of tenants or
other occupants of such improved property insofar as such acts shall
be governed by provisions of this article.
This Borough reserves the right to adopt, from
time to time, such additional rules and regulations as it shall deem
necessary and proper in connection with use and operation of the sewer
system, which rules and regulations shall be, shall become and shall
be construed as part of this article.
[Amended 4-23-1996 by Ord. No. 509]
A. Any user who is found to have violated an order of
the Borough Council or willfully or negligently fails to comply with
any provision of this article and with the orders, rules, regulations
and permits issued hereunder shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced
to a fine of not more than $1,000 plus costs and, in default of payment
of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 30
days. Each day in which a violation shall occur or continue to occur
shall be deemed a separate and distinct offense.
B. In addition to the penalties provided herein, the
Borough may recover penalties, damages, costs, reasonable attorney's
fees, court costs, court reporters' fees and other expenses of litigation
by appropriate suit at law against the person or user found to have
violated this article or the orders, rules, regulations and permits
issued hereunder.