[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Islesboro 4-29-2000; amended 4-27-2002; 7-16-2003; 2-26-2011. Subsequent
amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 6-6-2012]
This chapter shall be titled "Town of Islesboro Pollution Control
Ordinance" and shall supersede a similar ordinance which became effective
August 9, 1979.
This chapter is enacted pursuant to the following:
The purpose of this chapter is to provide for compliance with
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and to protect the health
and welfare of the inhabitants of the Town of Islesboro.
This chapter shall apply to discharges into any sewer, sewage
treatment plant or sewage system (hereafter called "system") owned
or operated by the Town of Islesboro.
There shall be a Pollution Control Committee formed hereafter
called "Committee."
A.
The Committee shall consist of five members, voters in the Town of
Islesboro, appointed by the Board of Selectmen.
B.
Terms of the Committee members shall be for one year running from
the first day of the fiscal year of the Town of Islesboro.
C.
Not less than three nor more than four members of the Committee shall
be users of the system at the time of their appointment.
D.
The Town Manager shall be an ex officio member of the Committee.
E.
Duties of the Committee:
(1)
The Committee shall be responsible for the general oversight of the
system, recommending purchases, repairs, replacements of equipment,
and changes in operating procedures to the Town Manager and the Board
of Selectmen.
(2)
The Committee shall provide the Town Manager with annual estimates
of expenses for the ensuing year at least 60 days prior to the end
of the fiscal year.
(3)
The Committee may recommend the hiring of operating personnel to
the Town Manager.
No discharge into any part of the system shall be permitted
of any pollutant which:
A.
Is a toxic pollutant as defined in standards issued from time to
time under Section 307 (a) of the Act;
B.
Creates a fire or explosion hazard in the system;
C.
Causes corrosive structural damage to the system, including all wastes
with a pH lower than 5.0;
D.
Contains solid or viscous substances in amounts which would cause
obstruction to the flow in sewers or other interference with proper
operation of the system; or
E.
In the case of a major contributing industry as defined in the Act,
contains an incompatible pollutant, as further defined in the Act,
in an amount or concentration in excess of that allowed under the
standards or guidelines issued from time to time pursuant to Sections
304, 306 and/or 307 of the Act.
Forty-five days prior notification shall be given the Board
of Selectmen by any person or persons of a:
A.
Proposed substantial change in volume or character of pollutants
over that being discharged into the system at the time of issuance
by the United States Environmental Protection Agency of Authorization
to Discharge under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System;
B.
Proposed new discharge into the system from any source which would
be a new source as defined in Section 306 of the Act if such source
were discharging pollutants; or
C.
Proposed new discharges into the system of pollutants from any source
which would be subject to Section 301 of the Act if it were discharging
such pollutants.
Any industry discharging into the system shall perform such
monitoring of its discharge as the Board of Selectmen may reasonably
require, including the installation, use, and maintenance of monitoring
equipment methods to keep records of the results of such monitoring
and to report the results of such monitoring to the Board of Selectmen.
Such records will be made available by the Board of Selectmen to the
Regional Administrators on request.
Any industry discharging into the system shall authorize the Board of Selectmen's authorized representative to enter into, upon, or through its premises; to have access to and copy any records; to inspect any monitoring equipment or method required under § 167-8 above, and to sample any discharge into the system.
[Amended 6-6-2012]
The Board of Selectmen shall notify the Regional Administrator of any discharge specified in § 167-7 above within 30 days of the date on which the Board of Selectmen is aware of such discharge.
A.
At least 30 days prior to the end of the fiscal year, the Town Manager
shall consult with the Committee and shall submit an operating budget
for the ensuing year to the Board of Selectmen. The budget shall include,
but not be limited to, ordinary expenses and expenses for the replacement
of equipment necessary to maintain operations of the works. Major
capital improvements, including reconstruction and sewer extensions,
shall be apportioned as required by the Town Meeting vote authorizing
such expenditures.
B.
All property owners who have any kind of facility connected to the
system shall be liable for an annual user or usage charge.
C.
Property owners are required to install a metering device of a type
approved by the Town Manager that will measure the amount of flow
from their own private water source.
D.
The budget will be prorated to individual users on the basis of a
minimum connection fee and water usage. Usage will be measured by
water meters. The usage rate shall be based upon the metered amount
of flow from the owner's private water source. Once the operating
budget is approved by the Board of Selectmen. the Committee shall,
after public notice and hearing. determine the annual minimum system
connection fee and the annual per cubic foot usage fee using the methodology
set forth on Attachment A, which is incorporated herein by reference.
[Amended 6-18-2016]
E.
All properties, with buildings that are connected to the system,
whether occupied or unoccupied, shall pay at least the minimum rate.
F.
All charges pursuant to this section shall be billed annually or
as the Committee determines.
G.
User and/or usage charges are due within 60 days of bills being issued.
H.
Delinquent accounts shall be handled as provided by Maine State Revised
Statutes Annotated and as outlined below:
(1)
Interest. As authorized by 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3406, the Committee
may charge interest on delinquent accounts at a rate not to exceed
the highest lawful rate set by the Treasurer of the State for municipal
property taxes.
[Amended 6-18-2016]
(2)
Liens. There shall be a lien on real estate served or benefitted
by the system to secure the payment of usage rates and charges and
interest on delinquent accounts established under this chapter. This
lien takes precedence over all other claims on the real estate, excepting
only claims for property taxes.
[Amended 6-18-2016]
(3)
Collection. The Town Treasurer is responsible to collect the fees
and interest on delinquent accounts in the same manner as granted
by 38 M.R.S.A. §§ 1202 and 1208.
I.
The Committee may review any meter flow reading on its own initiative,
or upon request from the user, or upon request from any other user
of the system. After notice and after hearing, if requested by the
affected user, the Committee may change the usage charge if warranted.
[Amended 6-18-2016]
A.
Any building that is intended for human habitation or occupancy,
with facilities for discharge or disposal of wastewater, or with facilities
for discharge or disposal of commercial or industrial waste, and that
is located within 200 feet of a sewer or drain of the system shall
be required to connect to the system per 38 M.R.S.A. § 1160,
Connection of Private Sewers. as may be amended from time to time.
B.
No person shall uncover, make any connections with, or opening into,
use, alter, or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereto without
first obtaining a written permit from the licensed plumbing inspector
and paying a fee, payable to the Treasurer of the Town of Islesboro.
Violation of this section shall make the offender liable to a fine
not to exceed $100 per day.
C.
All costs and expenses incidental to the installation, repair, maintenance,
or reconstruction of a building sewer or of a service connection shall
be borne by the owners. The owner shall indemnify the Town for any
loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be caused by installation
of the building sewer and/or service connector. A one-time fee for
accessing the system for the first time, i.e., a first-time system
connection fee, in the same amount as the minimum system connection
fee established by the Committee shall be assessed, and the fee paid,
prior to the time that connection to the system is made.
D.
A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every
building, and where practicable a separate service connector shall
be used for each building. Groupings of more than one building on
one building sewer or on one service connector shall not be permitted
except under special circumstances and for good sanitary reasons or
other good cause shown, but only after permission of the Committee
in writing shall be secured and subject to such rules, regulations,
and conditions as may be prescribed by the Committee.
E.
All materials, connections, repairs, replacements, and installations
used or performed on the system shall conform to the State of Maine
Plumbing Code (which is herein incorporated by reference) current
and in force at the time of the work. All work shall be done by a
duly licensed plumber.
F.
No roof drain, cellar drain or discharge from any roof gutter shall
be permitted to enter the system.
G.
Backflow devices and connections.
(1)
Users are required to install appropriate backflow control device(s)
in their individual systems. Should damage or problems arise due to
the fact that the user has not installed such a device, then neither
the Town nor the Pollution Control Committee is responsible for any
or all damages that may occur to the user's property.
(2)
Connection from the user's main sewage pipe to the system must
be made with a "Y" fitting installed by a Maine licensed plumber.
[Amended 6-6-2012]
Appeals from any decision of the Committee or relating to § 167-12 may be made to the Town of Islesboro Board of Appeals or to Superior Court under Rule 80B, Maine Rules of Civil Procedure.
The following definitions shall apply to this chapter:
A valve installed in the building's main sewer pipe
that drains to the sewage system and prevents sewage from flowing
back into the building's wastewater system. [Amended 6-18-2016]
[Amended 6-18-2016]
That outlet for sewage which connects the plumbing facilities
inside the building with the service connection and is privately owned
and maintained.
Owner of record or tenant in possession as of April 1 of
any year.
The current State of Maine State Plumbing Code.
That pipe or fitting that connects the building drain to
the sewer line.
Any portion of the Town of Islesboro sanitary sewer system
by whatever formal name it shall be called. Also identified as a "Sanitary
District" per 38 M.R.S.A. Chapter 11.
[Amended 6-18-2016]
The pipe or conduit carrying sewage to the treatment plant.
The owner of any building which in any way is connected to
the system.
This chapter may be amended from time to time in the manner
set forth by law for the passing of ordinances.
