[Adopted 10-10-1930]
The system of sewers heretofore authorized to be constructed in this Township pursuant to Article I, Sanitary Sewer System Established, adopted August 4, 1930, as and when the same shall be completed and so certified by Messrs. Damon and Foster, Township Engineers, shall constitute and be the sewers of Tinicum Township.
The costs, damages and expenses of the construction
of such sewers or drains shall be assessed upon the properties accommodated
or benefited as follows:
A.
By an assessment, pursuant to Township ordinance,
of each lot or piece of land in proportion to its frontage abutting
on the sewer, allowing such reductions in the case of properties abutting
on more than one sewer as hereinafter provided; and each abutting
property shall be assessed with not less than its proportion aforesaid
of the entire cost and expense of such construction; but no assessment
by frontage shall be made on properties of such a character as not
to be lawfully subject to such manner of assessment.
B.
Upon properties of such a character as are not lawfully
subject to assessment in proportion to their frontage, by an assessment
upon the several properties abutting on the sewer in proportion to
its benefits.
The assessment above provided for on land in
proportion to its frontage shall take into account the following:
A.
In the case of corner lots abutting on more than one
line of said sewers, a reduction shall be allowed as to the side thereof
up to but not exceeding 75 feet, except where there is a dwelling
house erected on the side or upon the rear of such corner lot.
B.
A further equitable reduction may be made in the case
of lots where the physical conditions are such that, in the judgment
of the Sewer Committee, the sewer cannot be available for the drainage
of the buildings erected thereon.
C.
In all cases where the assessment upon land abutting
on said sewer shall be in proportion to benefits, the Township Solicitor
is hereby authorized and directed to cause a petition or petitions
to be presented to the court to appoint viewers to assess such benefits
in accordance with law; and shall take all necessary further proceedings
in connection therewith or necessary to the enforcement thereof, including
any appeal in behalf of the Township which the Sewer Committee shall
direct, and the filing and collection of liens, upon the confirmation
of any report of such viewers.
[Amended 3-6-1931 by Ord. No. 75]
The remainder of the cost of said sewers not
covered by the above assessments shall be paid out of the sewer sinking
fund as hereinafter provided:
A.
All assessments made for the costs, damages and expenses
of the construction of the sewers pursuant to Township ordinances
or otherwise shall be due when made and may be paid to the Treasurer
of the Township within 30 days after the delivery or the mailing of
bills therefor. In the event that any property owner shall fail to
pay said assessment in full within the prescribed period, together
with any charge for house connection which may be due, the Township
Solicitor shall file a lien or municipal claim therefor in the office
of the Prothonotary of Delaware County against the property of such
owner, with a penalty as provided by law; and shall collect the same
together with interest and costs in accordance with law; provided,
however, that any property owner shall upon written request have the
privilege of paying said assessment in 10 annual installments without
penalty on the following terms: 1/10 of said assessment and any house
connection charge due, together also with costs for filing and satisfying
such lien, shall be paid within 30 days; the balance shall be paid
in nine equal annual installments, such installments to bear interest
at 6%, provided that the owner shall, at least 30 days before the
expiration of five years from the filing of such claim, sign an amicable
scire facias to reduce said claim to judgment and shall at that time
pay the costs of filing the same in the Prothonotary's office, and
upon failure to sign said amicable scire facias or to pay amount of
the claim, the same shall immediately become due and payable. Such
payments shall be made to the Township Treasurer. In default of payment
of any installment with interest within 30 days after same shall be
payable, the whole amount of said assessment remaining due, together
with penalty as aforesaid, shall immediately become payable and the
Solicitor shall collect the same. All payments of municipal liens
shall be made to the Solicitor except as herein provided with respect
to deferred payments.
Connection between lateral sewers hereafter
constructed and curblines of abutting property may be made by the
general contractor, in accordance with the plans and specifications
of the standard contract approved by said Sewer Committee, upon the
written request of any property owner, filed with the Sewer Committee,
and at the expense of such property owner during the construction
of said lateral sewers, without permit charge therefor.
A.
No connection between any property and any Township
sewer shall be permitted or made under any circumstances unless and
until the assessment against said property therefor shall have been
paid or the option for deferred payment shall have been exercised.
In all cases where such sewer lies in any road dividing this Township
from another township or borough, and no provision has been made with
such other township or borough for the joint ownership or control
of said sewer, the owners of properties lying outside of the Township
desiring to connect therewith may be permitted so to do upon the payment
of the cost of said sewer, computed according to the front footage
of said property abutting on said sewer at the rate of $2 per foot,
and upon the owner entering into an agreement to pay the annual service
rental herein fixed, in form as prescribed by the Sewer Committee,
subject to disconnection if default shall be made therein.
B.
Owners of private residential property in this Township
not abutting on said sewers and not assessed therefor may be permitted
to connect with said sewer by a legally constructed private drain,
upon payment of the sum of $25 for each dwelling house or outbuilding
connected, provided that each such connection shall not affect the
assessability of such property for the cost of any sewer which shall
be subsequently constructed abutting on such property.
C.
Owners of institutions or industrial properties not
abutting on said sewer and not assessed therefor may be permitted
to connect therewith on such terms and conditions as the Board of
Commissioners shall prescribe.
All connections of properties with said sewer
shall be made only upon application and permit in prescribed form,
and shall be made in accordance with the plumbing and health regulations
of the Township and further, in accordance with such rules and regulations
and on such terms and conditions as the Sewer Committee of this Board
shall from time to time adopt and prescribe and the Board of Commissioners
shall approve. Said Sewer Committee is hereby directed to adopt and
from time to time change such rules and terms; and the same, when
promulgated by the Committee and approved by the Board, shall have
the same force and effect as if set out at length in this article.
It shall be unlawful for any owner of property
connected with said sewer to make any attachment thereto, or to the
house drainage system or open any cellar drain, whereby rainwater
or surface or subsoil water shall be permitted to pass into said sewer.
[Amended 2-6-1950 by Ord. No. 194]
B.
Property owner shall report each fixture added or
disconnected as soon as possible after work has been completed.
C.
Failure to receive bill does not exempt taxpayer from
payment of penalty.
D.
The sewer service line, for the entire distance from
the house to the main sewer, shall be kept in good condition by the
owner or others and at their expense.
E.
In all cases in which the above rates are not exactly
applicable, the Sewer Committee shall fix an applicable rate, with
the same force and effect as if set out herein.
F.
Said rental shall be ascertained from time to time
by the Plumbing Inspector in accordance with the foregoing rates,
after inspection of fixtures, and shall be paid annually in advance
to the Township Treasurer on January 1 of each year. All rental charges
and penalties shall be a lien against the property until paid. Such
rental shall be apportionable into quarters, where connection is made
after January 1 of the current or any other year, and the property
owner shall pay for the current and for all succeeding quarters in
advance. A penalty of 5% shall be added after 60 days from the date
of the bill.
It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the
Board of Commissioners to provide all necessary books, records, bills
and other forms of stationery, and to keep a proper record of all
assessments, charges, service rates and rentals and all payments hereunder,
whether collectible by the Treasurer or the Solicitor or otherwise.
It shall be the duty of the Treasurer and the Solicitor to notify
the Secretary monthly of all payments received.
The Board of Commissioners may, at its discretion,
upon application in form prescribed by the Sewer Committee, supervise
the construction of any proposed extension of said system of sewers
to be built at the expense of any owner of private property, and may
take over the same when completed; and all such extension when accepted
and taken over shall become part of said system of sewers, and shall
thereafter be subject to the provisions hereof with regard to connections,
service rentals, etc.
All assessments and interest thereon collected
by the Treasurer and/or the Solicitor hereunder shall be deposited
in the sewer sinking fund, as provided in the ordinance providing
for the issuance and sale of bonds for the construction of the sewers,
and said moneys shall be applied only to the payment of interest upon
and the redemption and payment of Township sewer bonds. The net revenue
from sewer rentals hereunder, after operating and maintenance expenses
are deducted, shall be paid into the same account and shall be likewise
applied and used until said sewer bonds shall have been paid, and
thereafter said net revenue from sewer rentals shall be applied and
used under the direction of the Commissioners of the Township.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions
of this article or any of the rules and regulations prescribing the
method of using or connecting with said sewers shall be liable to
a fine of not less than $20 nor more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution,
to be collected for the use of the Township in such manner as such
fines and penalties are by law collectible, and, in default of payment
of such fine and costs, to imprisonment in the county jail for a period
not exceeding 30 days.
