[Adopted 12-4-1978 by Ord. No. 19-1978 (Ch. 18, Part 1, of
the 1984 Code of Ordinances)]
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms and phrases used in this article shall be as
follows:
The Elizabethtown Regional Sewer Authority or any municipal
authority successor thereto which provides public sewer service within
any portion of the Township.
[Amended 12-5-2011 by Ord. No. 192-2011; 9-4-2012 by Ord. No.
196-2012]
The extension from the sewage drainage system of any structure
to the lateral of a sewer.
Any property located within this Township upon which there
is erected 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 wastes shall be or may be discharged.
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or form of energy
ejected 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.
That part of the sewer system extending from a sewer to the
curbline or, if there shall be no curbline, to the property line or,
if no such lateral shall be provided, then lateral shall mean that
portion of or place in a sewer which is provided for connection of
any building sewer.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any improved property.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, society,
corporation or other group or entity.
Normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from any
improved property.
Any pipe or conduit constituting a part of the sewer system,
used or usable for sewage collection purposes.
All facilities, as of any particular time, for collecting,
pumping, transporting, and/or disposing of sanitary sewage and/or
industrial wastes, situate in or adjacent to this Township and owned,
maintained and operated by the Authority.
The Township of West Donegal, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
a political subdivision, acting by and through its Board of Supervisors
or, in appropriate cases, by and through its authorized representative.
[Amended 9-4-2012 by Ord. No. 196-2012]
The Township hereby grants to the Authority the right to send notices to make connection authorized by this section and further authorizes the Authority to enforce this article if the owner of an improved property fails to comply with any notice sent by the Authority as agent of the Township ordering connection to the sewer system, including, but not limited to, the actions set forth in §§ 170-16, 170-20 and 170-27.
All sanitary sewage and industrial wastes from any improved property, after connection of such improved property with a sewer shall be required under § 170-11, shall be conducted into a sewer, subject to such limitations and restrictions as shall be established herein or as otherwise shall be established by this Township and the Authority from time to time.
A.
No privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle shall be used or maintained at any time upon any improved property which has been connected to a sewer or which shall be required under § 170-11 to be connected to a sewer.
B.
Every such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar
receptacle in existence shall be abandoned and, at the discretion
of this Township, shall be cleansed and filled at the expense of the
owner of such improved property and under the direction and supervision
of this Township; and any such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic
tank or similar receptacle not so abandoned and, if required by this
Township, cleansed and filled, shall constitute a nuisance and such
nuisance may be abated as provided by law at the expense of the owner
of such improved property.
No privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle
at any time shall be connected with a sewer.
The notice by this Township to make a connection to a sewer, referred to in § 170-11, shall consist of a copy of this article, including any amendments at the time in effect, and a written or printed document requiring such connection in accordance with the provisions of this article and specifying that such connection shall be made within 60 days from the date such notice is given. Such notice may be given at any time after a sewer is in place which can receive and convey sanitary sewage and industrial wastes for treatment and disposal from the particular improved property. Such notice shall be served upon the owner either by personal service or by registered mail or by such other method as at the time may be provided by law.
Except as otherwise provided in this section, each improved
property shall be connected separately and independently with a sewer
through a building sewer. Grouping or more than one improved property
on one building sewer shall not be permitted, except under special
circumstances and for good sanitary reasons or other good cause shown,
and then only after special permission of this Township and the Authority,
in writing, shall have been secured.
[Amended 11-7-1994 by Ord. No. 98-1994]
All costs and expenses of construction of a building sewer and
all costs and expenses of connection of a building sewer to a sewer
shall be borne by the owner of the improved property to be connected.
The owner of such improved property shall obtain all applicable permits
and approvals prior to construction of a building sewer or connecting
a building sewer to a sewer, including but not limited to obtaining
any permits required for excavation within a right-of-way or stormwater
management permits relating to earth disturbance activities. The owner
shall indemnify and save harmless the Township and the Authority from
all loss or damage that may be occasioned, directly or indirectly,
as a result of construction of a building sewer or as a result of
connection of a building sewer to a sewer.
A.
A building sewer shall be connected to a sewer at the place designated
by the Authority and where the lateral is provided.
B.
The invert of a building sewer at the point of connection shall be
at the same or a higher elevation than the invert of the sewer. A
smooth, neat joint shall be made and the connection of a building
sewer to the lateral shall be made secure and watertight.
If the owner of any improved property located in this Township and accessible to and whose principal building is within 150 feet of the sewer system, after 60 days' notice from this Township, in accordance with § 170-11, shall fail to connect such improved property, as required, this Township may make such connection and may collect from such owner the costs and expenses thereof. In such case, this Township shall forthwith, upon completion of the work, send an itemized bill of the cost of the construction of such connection to the owner of the improved property to which connection has been so made, which bill shall be payable forthwith. In case of neglect or refusal by the owner of such improved property to pay said bill, this Township shall file a municipal lien for said construction within six months of the date of the completion of the construction of said connection, the same to be subject in all respects to the general law provided for the filing and recovery of municipal lines.
Where an improved property, at the time connection to a sewer
is required, shall be served by its own sewage disposal system or
device, the existing house sewer line shall be broken on the structure
side of such sewage disposal system or device and attachment shall
be made, with proper fittings, to continue such house sewer line,
as a building sewer.
No building sewer shall be covered until it has been inspected
and approved by this Township and the Authority. If any part of a
building sewer is covered before so being inspected and approved,
it shall be uncovered for inspection at the cost and expense of the
owner of the improved property to be connected to a sewer.
Every building sewer of any improved property shall be maintained
in a sanitary and safe operating condition by the owner of such improved
property.
Every excavation for a building sewer shall be guarded adequately
with barricades and lights to protect all persons from damage and
injury. Streets, sidewalks and all other public property disturbed
in the course of installation of a building sewer shall be restored,
at the cost and expense of the owner of the improved property being
connected, in a manner satisfactory to the Township.
If any person shall fail or refuse, upon receipt of a notice
from this Township or the Authority, in writing, to remedy any unsatisfactory
conditions with respect to a building sewer, within 60 days of receipt
of such notice, this Township or the Authority may refuse to permit
such person to discharge sanitary sewage and industrial wastes into
the sewer system until such unsatisfactory conditions shall have been
remedied to the satisfaction of this Township and the Authority.
This Township reserves the right to adopt, from time to time,
additional rules and regulations as it shall deem necessary and proper
relating to connections with a sewer and the sewer system, which additional
rules and regulations, to the extent appropriate, shall be and shall
be construed as a part of this article.
[Amended 10-15-1984 by Ord. No. 47-1984; 10-7-1996 by Ord. No.
109-1996; 5-19-1997 by Ord. No. 114-1997]
For each violation of the provisions of this article, any person
who commits, takes part in, or assists in any such violation shall
be liable, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding, to pay
a fine of not less than $200 nor more than $1,000 for each offense,
together with the costs of prosecution. Each day or portion thereof
in which a violation exists shall be considered a separate violation
of this article, and each section of this article which is violated
shall be considered a separate violation. In default of payment of
such fine, such person shall be liable to imprisonment for a period
not exceeding 30 days.
