The Commissioners shall have the power:
A.
To construct, operate and maintain a water system
and a water plant; or to construct, operate and maintain such a system
or plant in conjunction with any other political subdivision of the
State of Maryland.
B.
To construct, operate and maintain a sanitary sewerage
system and a sewage treatment plant; or to construct, operate and
maintain such a system or plant in conjunction with any other political
subdivision of the State of Maryland.
C.
To construct, operate and maintain a stormwater drainage
system and stormwater sewers; to contract with any other political
subdivision of the State of Maryland for the disposal of such stormwater
either within or without the corporate limits of the town.
D.
To construct, maintain, reconstruct, enlarge, alter,
repair, improve or dispose of all parts, installations and structures
of the above plants and systems.
E.
To have surveys, plans, specifications and estimates
made for any of the above plants and systems or parts thereof or the
extension thereof.
F.
To do all things they deem necessary for the efficient
operation and maintenance of the above plants and systems.
G.
To enter into any necessary agreements with any agency
of the federal government or of the State of Maryland in order to
obtain loans or grants for planning, construction or extension of
any sewer, water or stormwater drainage system or plant.
Any public service corporation, company or individual,
before beginning any construction of or placing of or changing the
location of any main, conduit, pipe or other structure in the public
ways of the town, shall submit plans to the Commissioners and obtain
written approval upon such conditions and subject to such limitations
as may be imposed by them. Any public service corporation, company
or individual violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor. If any unauthorized main, conduit, pipe or other
structure interferes with the operation of the water, sewerage or
stormwater systems, the Commissioners may order removal or relocation
whether such water, sewerage or stormwater systems are wholly or partly
the property of the town, some other political subdivision of the
State of Maryland or of a water or sewer company granted an exclusive
franchise by the Commissioners of Mardela Springs.
All individuals, firms or corporations having
mains, pipes, conduits or other structures in, on or over any public
way within the town limits which impede the establishment, constructions
or operation of any sewer or water main owned by the town or any other
political subdivision of the State of Maryland shall, upon reasonable
request, remove or adjust the obstructions at their own expense to
the satisfaction of the Commissioners. If necessary to carry out the
provisions of this section, the Commissioners may use their condemnation
powers for any town-owned system. Any violation of an ordinance passed
under the provisions of this section may be made a misdemeanor.
The town may enter upon or do construction in,
on or over any county public way for the purpose of installing or
repairing any equipment or doing any other things necessary to establish,
operate and maintain the water system, sewerage system or stormwater
sewers provided for in this Charter. Unless required by the county,
the town need not obtain any permit or pay any charge for these operations,
but it must notify the county of its intent to enter on the public
way and must leave the public way in a condition not inferior to the[1] existing before.
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original. Probably should
read "that."
The Commissioners may provide or require a connection
with water and sanitary sewer mains for all property abutting on any
public way in which a sanitary sewer or water main is laid. When any
water main or any sanitary sewer is declared ready for operation,
whether owned by the Commissioners of Mardela Springs and/or others,
the Commissioners may after reasonable notice require all abutting
property owners to connect all fixtures with the water or sewer main,
except fixtures used solely for the watering of lawns, gardens and
shrubbery or for industrial or commercial uses of water not involving
human consumption thereof. The Commissioners may require that existing
unsatisfactory fixtures be replaced by satisfactory ones and may require
that all cesspools, sink drains or other private sanitary disposal
systems and privies be abandoned, filled, removed, disconnected or
left in such a way as not to injure public health. All wells found
to be polluted or a menace to health may be ordered abandoned and
closed. Any violation of any ordinance passed under the provisions
of this section may be made a misdemeanor.
The Commissioners may make a charge in an amount
to be determined by them for each connection made to a water or sewer
main owned by the town. This charge shall be uniform throughout the
town and shall be the same for properties on both sides of the street,
but may be changed from year to year. Nothing in this section shall
prevent the Commissioners of Mardela Springs from paying out of public
funds for such connections within the town where the water or sewer
system is owned by some other political subdivision of the State of
Maryland, provided that such connections shall be made for all properties
within the town which abut on any public way where such water or sewer
main is located.
In order to prevent any leakage of water or
any other improper use of or danger to any public water or sewerage
disposal systems within the town, the Commissioners may require such
changes in plumbing, fixtures, filters or connections, not inconsistent
with the directions or requirements of the owner of such system if
not the town, as they deem necessary to prevent such waste, danger
or improper use.
The Commissioners may by ordinance provide that
no water supply, sewerage or stormwater drainage system and no water
mains, sewers, drains or connections therewith shall be constructed
or operated within the corporate limits of the town except by the
town, another political subdivision of the State of Maryland or a
private firm or corporation acting under a franchise issued by the
Commissioners of Mardela Springs, whether upon private premises or
otherwise; and may provide that cesspools or other private methods
of sewage disposal shall be operated and maintained in such a manner
that they do not and will not be likely to affect adversely the public
comfort and health. Any cesspool or other private method of sewage
disposal affecting or likely to affect adversely the public comfort
and health may be deemed a nuisance and abated by the Commissioners.
Any violation of an ordinance passed under the provisions of this
section may be made a misdemeanor.
The Commissioners shall have the power to extend
any municipally owned, or jointly owned, water, sewerage or stormwater
drainage system beyond the town limits and may serve the properties
abutting its mains or lines.
Any employee or agent of the town, while in
the necessary pursuit of his official duties with regard to the water
or sewage disposal systems operated by the town, shall have the right
of entry, for access to water or sewer installations, at all reasonable
hours and after reasonable advance notice to the owner, tenant or
person in possession, upon any premises and into any building in the
town or in the county served by the town's water or sewage disposal
system. Any restraint or hindrance offered to such entry by any owner,
tenant or person in possession, or the agent of any of them, may by
ordinance be made a misdemeanor.
No persons shall do anything which will discolor,
pollute or tend to pollute any water used or to be used in the town
water supply system. Any violations of the provisions of this section
shall be misdemeanors.
The Commissioners may, if they deem it advisable,
contract with any person, firm, corporation or governmental body or
agency to provide water for distribution through its mains or to treat
and dispose of the sewerage collected in its mains; or to contract
for the sale of water produced by it to others or for the treatment
and disposal of sewage collected through the mains of others.
The Commissioners shall have the power to charge
and collect such service rates, water rents, ready-to-serve charges
or other charges as they deem necessary for water supplied and for
the removal and treatment of sewage. These charges are to be billed
and collected by the Town Clerk, and, if the charges are unpaid sixty
(60) days after mailing or delivery of a bill therefor, the service
may be discontinued. All charges shall be a lien on the property,
collectible in the same manner as town taxes or by suit at law.
