A. 
Terms defined. Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this chapter are as follows:
BOD (DENOTING BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND)
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20° C., expressed in milligrams per liter.
BUILDING DRAIN
That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet (1.5 meters) outside the inner face of the building wall.
BUILDING SEWER
The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.
COMBINED SEWER
A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.
DEVELOPER
Any person or persons who undertake to construct simultaneously or in planned sequence more than one housing unit on a given tract or land subdivision.
EASEMENT
An acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.
ENGINEER
The professional engineer retained as Town Engineer by the Town Council.
FLOATABLE OIL
Oil, fat or grease in physical state such as that it will separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in an approved pretreatment facility. Wastewater is considered free of floatable oil if it is properly pretreated and the wastewater does not interfere with the collection system.
GARBAGE
Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.
NATURAL OUTLET
Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface water or groundwater.
pH
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
POLLUTANTS
Includes, but are not limited to, dredged spoil, solid waste, junk, sewage sludge, munitions, chemicals, biological or radiological materials, oil, petroleum products or by-products, heat-wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, dirt and industrial, municipal, domestic, commercial or agricultural waste of any kind.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE
The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than 1/2 inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.
PUBLIC SEWER
A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights and is controlled by public authority.
SANITARY SEWER
A sewer which carries sewage and to which stormwaters, surface waters and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.
SEWAGE
A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such groundwaters, surface waters and stormwaters as may be present.
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT
Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.
SEWAGE WORKS
All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.
SEWER
A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
SLUG
Any discharge of water, sewage or industrial waste which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds, for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes, more than five times the average twenty-four-hour concentration or flows during normal operation.
STORM DRAIN (sometimes termed "STORM SEWER")
A sewer which carries stormwaters and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water.
SUPERINTENDENT
The Superintendent of Sewer Services of the Town.[1]
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
Total suspended matter that either floats on the surface of, or is in suspension in, water, wastewater or other liquids, and that is removable by laboratory filtering as prescribed in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association; and referred to as "nonfilterable residue."
UNPOLLUTED WATER
Water of quality equal to or better than the effluent criteria in effect or water that would not cause violation of receiving water quality standards and would not be benefited by discharge to the sanitary sewers and wastewater treatment facilities provided.
WASTEWATER
The spent water of a community from the standpoint of source, it may be a combination of the liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such groundwater, surface water and stormwaters as may be present.
WASTEWATER FACILITIES
The structures, equipment and processes required to collect, carry away and treat domestic and industrial waste and dispose of the effluent.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS
An arrangement of devices and structures for treating wastewater, industrial waste and sludge.
WATERCOURSE
A natural or artificial channel for the passage of water, either continuously or intermittently.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1.1, Code Adoption).
B. 
Abbreviations. For the purpose of this chapter, the following abbreviations have the meanings ascribed to them under this subsection. References to standards of the following organizations refer to the latest edition of same.
ANSI means American National Standards Institute
ASCE means American Society of Civil Engineers
ASME means American Society of Mechanical Engineers
ASTM means American Society for Testing and Materials
cm means centimeter
CS means Commercial Standards
degrees C. means degrees Celsius
degrees F. means degrees Fahrenheit
DEP means Maine Department of Environmental Protection
EPA means United States Environmental Protection Agency
ICR means industrial cost recovery
kg means kilogram
l means liter
m means meter
mg/l means milligrams per liter
NEIWPCC means New England Interstate Wastewater Pollution Control Commission
NPC means National Plumbing Code
ppm means parts per million
Sq. m. means square meter
WPCF means Water Pollution Control Federation
A. 
Any person found to be violating any of the provisions of this chapter except § 13.1.1.9 is to be served by the Town with written notice stating the nature of the violation and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory correction thereof. The offender must, within the period of time stated in such notice, permanently cease all violations. A person who violates any provision of this chapter is subject to penalties set forth in Town Code Title 1, Chapter 1.3, General Penalty.
B. 
Any person who continues any such violation beyond the time limit specified in the notice is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof is to be fined in the amount not exceeding $100 for each violation. Each day in which any such violation continues is deemed a separate offense.
C. 
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter is liable to the Town for any expense, loss or damage occasioned the Town by reason of such violation.
D. 
The Town Council, in addition to other remedies, may institute any appropriate action or proceedings, including an injunction, to prevent such unlawful use, construction or maintenance of cesspools, septic tanks, sewage disposal systems, pipes or drains, to restrain, correct or abate such violation and to prevent the occupancy of any building, structure or land where said violations of this chapter are found.
A. 
The Superintendent and other duly authorized employees of the Town bearing proper credentials and identification may be permitted to enter all properties on consent of the owner or occupant thereof for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurements, sampling and testing in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
B. 
The Superintendent has no authority to inquire into any processes, including metallurgical, chemical, oil, refining, ceramic, paper or other industries, beyond that point having a direct bearing on the kind and source of discharge to the sewers or waterways of facilities for waste treatment.
C. 
The Superintendent or other duly authorized employees of the Town are authorized to obtain information concerning industrial processes which have a direct bearing on the kind and source of discharge to wastewater facilities. The industry must establish that the revelation to the public of the information in question might result in an advantage to competitors.
While performing the necessary work on private properties, the Superintendent or duly authorized employees of the Town shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the company, and the company is held for injury or death to the Town employees, and the Town must indemnify the company against loss or damage to its property by Town employees and against liability claims and demands for personal injury or property damage asserted against the company and growing out of the gauging and sampling operation, except as such may be caused by negligence or failure of the company to maintain safe conditions as required.
The Superintendent and other duly authorized employees of the Town bearing proper credentials and identification may be permitted to enter all private properties upon consent of the owner or occupant thereof through which the Town holds a duly negotiated easement for the purposes of, but not limited to, inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, repair and maintenance of any portion of the sewage works lying within the easement. All entries and subsequent work, if any, on such easement, must be done in full accordance with the terms of the duly negotiated easement pertaining to the private property involved.
A. 
The Town Council shall establish such rates as they deem necessary for the maintenance, operation, repair and improvements to the system, and establish and maintain an unencumbered fund reserve (unencumbered surplus) of an amount equal to the equivalent of 22% of the current year operating budget. Such rates may be changed from time to time as they deem necessary. The user charge and appropriate cost recovery system as set out in Appendix A is to be established in accordance with appropriate federal and state laws, rules and regulations.
[Amended 6-11-2018 by Ord. No. 06-18]
B. 
Sewer charges levied pursuant to this chapter not paid by July 1 of the following year are to be certified to the Treasurer of the Town who is to place the same on the real estate property tax bill for that year with interest and penalties allowed by law and collected as other Town taxes are collected.
[Amended 6-11-2018 by Ord. No. 06-18]
C. 
An interest charge at the same rate as established by the Town Council for uncollected taxes will be made on all bills not paid within 90 days after date of billing.
D. 
A special sewer service charge is to be established for any industrial firm or organization who, by virtue of the volume, strength or unusual characteristic of its waste alone, would overload or upset the capacity or efficiency of the sewage works or any part thereof if such waste entered the public sewer, or whose waste disposal situation is such that it would be in the public interest to waive the basic requirements. The Town Council, after appropriate study, and advice from the Engineer, shall establish a special sewer service charge to the industrial firm by separate agreement with said firm. The applicable portions of the preceding sections, as well as the equitable rights of the public, are the basis for such an arrangement.
E. 
Rates for nonmeter residential customers are to be as set forth in Town Code Appendix A, or the owner may install an approved meter at owner expense.
F. 
Sewer user rate charges in accordance with this section will begin 90 days after notification by Town of the availability of the public sewer to serve parcels and remain in force whether or not the premises are occupied. Parcels not connected to the system are not liable for quarterly usage charges.
In making decisions authorized pursuant to the terms of this chapter, the Superintendent shall consider the effect of any proposed action or inaction upon the public health, safety or welfare and the effects of such proposed action or inaction upon the sewer works, processes, equipment and receiving waters.
[Amended 5-30-2018 by Ord. No. 04-18]
No person may maliciously, willfully or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is part of the wastewater facilities. Any person violating this provision is subject to arrest under charge of criminal mischief as set forth in Title 17-A M.R.S. § 806, Criminal Mischief.
Any person doing excavation work near any mains owned by the Department is responsible for any damage to such mains as a result of the negligence of such person, the person's agents, employees, or servants and is liable for all costs involved in repairing or replacing such damaged pipes.
A. 
Owners of all structures with use requiring the disposal of sewage with public sewer located within 100 feet of the property line as measured along any public way are required, at their expense, to install suitable waste effluent and/or toilet facilities therein, and to connect such facilities directly to the public sewer in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, within 90 days after the date of official notice to do so. Pursuant to Town Code Title 16, Chapter 16.8, Article VII, Sewage Disposal, connection to the public sewer is required for a commercial or industrial development or a residential subdivision, where public sewer, within an abutting public way, is within 1,000 feet of the property line as measured along said public way.
B. 
If an owner can demonstrate to the Town Manager diligent effort in arranging the connection, but is unable to meet the ninety-day connection deadline due to force majeure circumstances, the Town Manager may grant an extension and waive the penalties of Town Code Title 1, Chapter 1.3, General Penalty.
C. 
When gravity flow cannot be obtained from the building or the property, connection to said public sewer is not required. However, this does not preclude waste flows from being pumped to the public sewer should the property owner so wish. Properties not required to connect at the time of a main extension project for this reason must do so when the existing septic/leach field system fails or must otherwise be replaced.
D. 
Owners of properties with a septic tank and leach field system installed within 20 years of any main extension project completion date may request deferral of connection until the system has reached the 20 years after installation anniversary.