[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Village of Ridgefield Park as indicated in article histories.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 4-17-1980 by Ord. No. 7-80(Ch. 170 of the 1985 Code)]
The use of all sanitary sewers in the Village
of Ridgefield Park shall be in compliance with the rules and regulations
of the Bergen County Sewer Authority presently in effect and the contract
in existence between the Village of Ridgefield Park and the Bergen
County Sewer Authority, which documents shall be read together.
The Village of Ridgefield Park hereby adopts
and enacts the user charge system and industrial cost recovery system
contained in the rules and regulations of the Bergen County Utilities
Authority and authorizes their immediate implementation by the appropriate
municipal official, to be designated by resolution of the governing
body.
Not fewer than three copies of the rules and
regulations of the Bergen County Utilities Authority presently in
effect have been and are filed in the office of the Clerk of the Village
of Ridgefield Park and are available for public inspection during
normal business hours.
Any future rules and regulations promulgated
by the Bergen County Utilities Authority shall not become effective
until adopted by the Village of Ridgefield Park by ordinance.
Copies of the rules and regulations of the Bergen
County Utilities Authority presently in effect can be obtained from
the Bergen County Utilities Authority for the cost of publication.
The existing contract between the Village of
Ridgefield Park and the Bergen County Sewer Authority (now known as
the "Bergen County Utilities Authority") shall not be considered substantially
altered by the adoption of the existing rules and regulations of the
Bergen County Utilities Authority.
If so required, the Mayor and the Clerk of the
Village of Ridgefield Park shall be hereby authorized to act as signatories
upon, to execute on behalf of the Village of Ridgefield Park, an amendment
to the service agreement with the Bergen County Utilities Authority,
which embodies the intent and purpose of this chapter, so long as
such amendments do not substantially alter the existing service agreement
between the Authority and the Village of Ridgefield Park.
[Adopted 6-12-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-07]
The implementation of this article will aid the Village by limiting
and reducing the inflow of additional water into the sanitary sewer
systems. By prohibiting the discharge of water from any roof, surface,
ground, sump pump, swimming pool, other natural precipitation, and
other sources of inflow into the Village's sanitary sewer system,
the Village is seeking to reduce costs as well as protect against
other damaging effects. The Village's sanitary sewer system will
be and has on occasions in the past been overloaded and flooded, thereby
creating the potential to cause significant damage or threat to individual's
property as well as the system. Further, all water that enters the
system must be treated at the sewage treatment plant. Therefore, by
reducing and eliminating this inflow of "clean water" into the sanitary
sewer system and the subsequent unnecessary treatment, the expenses
to the Village and the citizens will be reduced and will assist in
protecting the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the
Village.
A.
Prohibited discharges. No person or entity shall discharge or cause
to be discharged any stormwater, groundwater, roof runoff, yard drainage,
yard fountain, swimming pool, pond, overflow, or any other substance
other than sanitary sewage into the sanitary sewer collection system.
No person, business or other entity shall discharge or cause to be
discharged any hazardous substances into any public sewers.
B.
Amnesty period for disconnection.
(1)
On or before December 31, 2012, any person, business, or other entity
who shall have a connection described above and who shall voluntarily
report said connection to the Village, so that said illicit connection
shall be remedied, shall have any and all permit, connection and inspection
fees waived by the Village. This waiver of fees applies only to Village
fees and does not include the actual cost of remediation.
(2)
After December 31, 2012, any person, business, or other entity who
shall have a connection described above, and shall fail to voluntarily
report such connection by December 31, 2012, shall be liable for all
permit fees, inspection fees, and connection fees as required by the
Village to remedy the illicit connection.
C.
Manner of disconnection.
(1)
Any property owner, tenant, landlord or other person with a property interest who shall have a connection in violation of this article, or who shall not have obtained a waiver pursuant to § 312-9B, shall immediately remove such connection and correct such situation. If not removed or corrected within 120 calendar days after receiving a notice of violation which has been personally delivered or delivered via certified mail, the Village shall impose a surcharge in the amount provided for in § 312-11.
(2)
All disconnections of said illicit connections shall be accomplished
by a complete and permanent method and be performed in a competent
manner and be approved and inspected by the Village Building Inspector,
any Village subcode inspector, the Village Fire Code Official and/or
the Village Engineer. Any disconnection, plugging, capping, rerouting,
altering, or modifying must be done in accordance with all applicable
state and municipal building codes.
(3)
Upon issuance of the surcharge pursuant to § 312-11, if the property owner, tenant, landlord, or other person with a property interest remedies the illicit connection, said property owner, tenant, landlord, or other person with a property interest shall call the Village's Building Department for an inspection of the connection by the Village's Building Inspector, a Village subcode inspector, the Village Fire Code Official or the Village Engineer; and upon certification that the illicit connection has been remedied, the surcharge shall be lifted, beginning the month following the inspection and certification. If, however, on a subsequent and periodic inspection for which a property was subject to the surcharge, the illicit connection exists, the surcharge amount as provided for in § 312-11 shall be calculated from the previous inspection date.
A.
The Village Building Inspector, Village Engineer, Village Fire Code
Official and/or a Village subcode inspector, as long as he/she displays
the proper credentials and identification, shall be permitted to request
entrance to any property for the purpose of inspecting, observing,
testing and sampling to confirm that there is no sump pump or other
prohibited discharge into the sanitary sewer system in accordance
with this article.
B.
Any owner, tenant, landlord, or other person with a property interest who shall refuse entrance to the Village Building Inspector, Village Engineer, Village Fire Code Official or Village subcode inspector shall immediately become subject to the monthly surcharge noted in § 312-11 of this article. Said property shall remain subject to the monthly surcharge until such time as an inspection is permitted to ensure compliance by the Village of all terms of this article.
B.
If the surcharge is not paid and received by the Village of Ridgefield
Park, a lien shall be imposed upon the property as per N.J.S.A. 40:14B-42.
C.
Said surcharge shall remain on the property and sewer utility bill
until such time as the Village Building Inspector or Village Engineer
certifies that the property owner, tenant, landlord or other person
with a property interest is in full compliance with this article.
Any property owner who shall be assessed a surcharge pursuant
to this article shall have a right to appeal to the Municipal Court
for the purposes of proving compliance with this article.
