[Adopted 10-30-1990 by Ord. No. 90-31]
The purpose of this article is to establish procedures for the
use and maintenance of existing and new holding tanks designed to
receive and retain sewage whether from industrial or commercial uses,
and it is hereby declared that the enactment of this article is necessary
for the protection, benefit and preservation of the health, safety
and welfare of the inhabitants of this municipality.
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
Supervisors of Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania.
A watertight receptacle, whether permanent or temporary,
which receives and retains sewage conveyed by a water-carrying system
and is designed and constructed to facilitate the ultimate disposal
of the sewage at another site.
Any property within Millcreek 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
sewage shall or may be discharged to a holding tank.
Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in Millcreek Township.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity.
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or
excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings and any
noxious or deleterious substance being harmful or inimical to the
public health, or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of water
for domestic water supply or for recreation.
The Authority is hereby authorized and empowered to undertake
within Millcreek Township the control and methods of holding tank
use, sewage disposal and sewage collection and transportation thereof.
The Authority is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt such
rules and regulations concerning sewage which it may deem necessary
from time to time to effect the purposes herein.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the Authority shall
be in conformity with the provisions herein, all other ordinances
of Millcreek Township, and all applicable laws, and applicable rules
and regulations of administrative agencies of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
Any application for a sewage holding tank shall be accompanied
by a nonrefundable application and review fee made payable to Millcreek
Township; and each year thereafter, the owner of lands in which a
sewage holding tank is located shall pay to Millcreek Township an
annual inspection fee for each sewage holding tank on the owner's
property in order to reimburse Millcreek Township its costs for the
annual tank inspections required of Millcreek Township. The fees established
hereunder may from time to time hereafter be reviewed by the Board
of Supervisors and, where appropriate, be changed by resolution of
the Board of Supervisors duly adopted at a regularly scheduled public
meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Millcreek Township. No approvals
hereunder shall be granted by the Township until all fees under this
article have been paid to Millcreek Township, and the owner or tenant
has been issued an on-lot sewage disposal permit by the County of
Erie Department of Health. The Township shall have the right and power
to fix, alter, charge and collect rates, assessments, and other charges
in the area served by its facilities at reasonable and uniform rates
as authorized by applicable law.
A.
The Authority may delegate the collection and disposal of the holding
tank contents to the improved property owner. The Authority will have
ultimate responsibility for proper collection and disposal of the
contents.
B.
The Authority will receive and retain pumping receipts for the permitted
holding tank. The Authority shall have the right at any time to obtain
and/or review copies of any pumping receipts and records held by the
improved property owner.
C.
The Authority will complete and retain annual inspection reports
for each permitted tank.
The owner of an improved property that utilized a holding tank
shall:
A.
Obtain a permit for the holding tank from the Erie County Health
Department.
B.
Dispose of the sewage in the holding tank only at sites which are
approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
The Authority will have ultimate responsibility for disposal of all
sewage from the holding tank.
C.
Maintain the holding tank in conformance with this or any ordinance
of Millcreek Township, the provisions of any applicable law, and the
rules and regulations of the Authority and any administrative agency
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
D.
Permit only the Authority or its agents to inspect holding tanks
on an annual basis.
E.
Permit only the Authority or its agents to collect, transport, and
dispose of the contents therein.
F.
Post a bond with the Authority with sufficient surety, as determined
by the Authority, to insure proper operation and maintenance of the
holding tank. The bond shall also be sufficient to pay for the cost
of cleaning, closure and removal of the holding tank by the Authority.
The bond may also be used by the Authority to pay all or part of any
fines which may be levied by any agency against Millcreek Township
for improper operation of the holding tank.
[Amended 8-28-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-6; 9-27-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-11
Any person who violates any provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof by a civil enforcement proceeding as provided in Chapter 48, Enforcement and Collection Activities, Article I, Ordinance Enforcement, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $300, plus costs.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violation of § 102-18 above shall constitute a nuisance and shall be abated by the municipality or the Authority by either seeking mitigation of the nuisance or appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction. Any and all actions taken by the municipality to abate the nuisance shall be done at the cost of the property owner.
