[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Oil City as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Oil City General Authority — See Ch. 11, Art. II.
Excavations — See Ch. 154.
Water — See Ch. 303.
[Adopted 9-27-1957 by Ord. No. 1973 (Ch. 152, Art. I, of the 1986 Code)]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
CITY
The City of Oil City, Venango County, Pennsylvania, and also the group of elected officials acting, from time to time, as the governing body of the City.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or waterborne wastes or form of energy rejected or escaping from any industrial, manufacturing, trade or business process or from the development, recovery or processing of natural resources, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
OCCUPIED BUILDING
Any structure erected and intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sewage and industrial waste, or either thereof, is or may be discharged.
PERSON
An individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group.
PROPERTY ACCESSIBLE TO THE SEWER SYSTEM
Real estate which adjoins, abuts on or is adjacent to the sewer system.
SANITARY SEWAGE
The normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and commercial and industrial establishments.
SEWER SYSTEM
All facilities operated by the City for the collection and disposal of sanitary sewage.
A. 
All persons owning any occupied building now erected upon property accessible to the sewer system shall, if not already connected, at their own expense connect such building with the sewer system within 30 days after the effective date of this article.
B. 
All persons owning any property accessible to the sewer system upon which a building is hereafter erected shall, at the time of the erection of such building and at their own expense, connect the same with the sewer system.
C. 
All persons owning any occupied building upon property which hereafter becomes accessible to the sewer system shall, at their own expense, connect such building with the sewer system within 30 days after notice to do so from the City or its representative.
It shall be unlawful for any person owning any property accessible to the sewer system to erect, construct, use or maintain or cause to be erected, constructed, used or maintained any privy, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or other receptacle on such property for receiving sewage after the expiration of the particular period specified in § 255-2 hereof or at any time to erect, construct, use or maintain any pipe, conduit, drain or other facility for the discharge of sanitary sewage except into the sewer system. It shall be unlawful for any person to make a connection to the sewer system from any cesspool, privy, vault, cistern or other depository.
Any person who erects, constructs, uses or maintains a privy, cesspool, sinkhole or septic tank on any property accessible to the sewer system in violation of this article shall be deemed and shall be declared to be erecting, constructing and maintaining a nuisance, which nuisance the City is hereby authorized and directed to abate in the manner provided by law.
No person shall discharge or permit to be discharged into the sewer system any industrial waste which would impair, impede, prejudicially affect, interfere with or endanger the sewer system or any part thereof or the functioning of the processes of sewage treatment. No connection shall be made to the sewer system for the purpose of discharging industrial waste therein until the City or its representative shall have first determined that such industrial waste to be discharged into the sewer system is, or has been rendered by pretreatment or otherwise, reasonably harmless to the sewer system and will not impair, impede, prejudicially affect, interfere with or endanger the sewer system or any part thereof or the functioning of the processes of sewage treatment and does not create any hazard to human or animal life or to the waters receiving the treated effluent. The representative of the City shall have access at all reasonable times to all plants and buildings from which industrial waste is being discharged into the sewer system for the purpose of determining whether any of the provisions of the ordinances of City Council and the rules and regulations provided for herein are being violated. In the event of any violation of this section, the City shall, in addition to the penalties provided for in this article, have the right to compel the discontinuance of the discharge of such industrial waste into the sewer system.
After the expiration of the particular period specified in § 255-2, if any owner of an occupied building on property accessible to the sewer system shall have failed to connect such property with the sewer system as required by said § 255-2, the City shall cause to be served on the owner of such property so failing to connect to said sewer system, and also upon the occupants of the building in question, a copy of this article and a written or printed notice requiring such connection to be made, and such notice shall further state that its requirements shall be complied with within 30 days from the date thereof.
The City reserves the right to and may from time to time adopt, revise, amend and readopt such rules and regulations as it deems necessary and proper for the use and operation of the sewer system, and all such rules and regulations shall be and become a part of this article.
The provisions of this article are declared to be for the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the City. Any person who shall violate any of the terms, provisions or requirements of this article or of the rules and regulations which may be adopted by Council, or who shall refuse, neglect or fail to comply with any notice given to such person by a duly authorized representative of the City in conformity with or pursuant to the provisions of this article or of such rules and regulations, shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a penalty of not less than $10 nor more than $300 with costs and, upon default of payment of the penalty and costs, undergo imprisonment for a period not exceeding 90 days. Each ninety-day period during which a violation continues shall be deemed to be a separate offense and punishable as such.
Should any person refuse, neglect or fail to comply with any of the provisions and requirements of this article or of any rules and regulations herein provided for, or of any notice given in conformity with or pursuant to the provisions hereof, then the Plumbing Inspector or the Fire Marshal of the City is hereby empowered and directed to supply all labor and material required of said negligent or delinquent owner, and the cost and expense thereof, together with ten-percent penalty thereon, shall be certified to the City Solicitor, who shall enter the same as a lien against the property in the Court of Common Pleas of Venango County and proceed to collect the same in like manner as other municipal claims are by law collectible, or an action of assumpsit may be brought to recover the same in the name of the City from said owner or owners.
[Adopted 9-27-1957 by Ord. No. 1974 (Ch. 152, Art. II, of the 1986 Code)]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated in this section:
CITY
The City of Oil City, Venango County, Pennsylvania.
COUNCIL
The group of elected officials acting, from time to time, as the governing body of the City.
EQUIVALENT DWELLING UNIT (EDU)
An equivalent dwelling unit shall be defined, based on customer classification, as follows:
[Added 12-19-2013 by Ord. No. 2827; amended 5-28-2015 by Ord. No. 2837; 12-17-2015 by Ord. No. 2845; 12-15-2016 by Ord. No. 2853]
A. 
An EDU with regard to residential direct City customers shall be defined as any room, group of rooms or enclosure, occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters for a family or other group of persons living together or by persons living alone, such as a single-family home, an apartment unit, or half of a duplex structure.
B. 
An EDU with regard to nonresidential direct City customers shall be defined as each 4,596 cubic feet or less of water consumed per year therein. EDUs associated with each nonresidential customer shall be computed annually based on the actual metered usage for the customer during the previous year.
C. 
Each nonresidential EDU, even though in a building or complex of buildings, shall be considered a separate EDU even though it may be located in the same building with a residential unit or units or other commercial units. Each nonresidential EDU, even though in a building constructed as "flex space" with other nonresidential EDUs, shall be considered a separate EDU.
D. 
In the case of nonresidential direct City customers desiring to connect to the City's sewer system and for which no water consumption data is available, water usage for the purpose of determining equivalent dwelling units shall be estimated from actual water usage from a substantially similar facility or data made available in DEP's Wastewater Facilities Manual and/or technical publications such as "Wastewater Engineering" by Metcalf and Eddy.
E. 
An EDU with regard to tributary customer shall be defined as 8,797 cubic feet or less of wastewater contributed to the Oil City sewer system per year. The number of EDUs associated with each tributary customer shall be computed annually based on the actual metered wastewater contribution for the customer during the previous year and shall account for the total flow metered by all point of connection flow meters for the tributary customer, plus the number of unmetered EDUs located in the township and connected to the sewer system, but whose flow is not conveyed through a point of connection meter.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or waterborne wastes or form of energy rejected or escaping from any industrial, manufacturing, trade or business process or from the development, recovery or processing of natural resources, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
PERSON
An individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group.
SANITARY SEWAGE
The normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and commercial and industrial establishments.
SEWER MANAGER
Any person who may, from time to time, be placed in general charge of the sewer system; the City Engineer shall act as "Sewer Manager" until another person is designated as such by City Council.
SEWER SYSTEM
All facilities operated by the City for the collection and disposal of sanitary sewage.
TRIBUTARY CUSTOMERS
Tributary or bulk customers are those customers which operate their own sanitary sewer system outside of the City limits and connect to the City's wastewater system at distinct locations.
[Added 12-19-2013 by Ord. No. 2827; amended 5-28-2015 by Ord. No. 2837; 12-17-2015 by Ord. No. 2845; 12-15-2016 by Ord. No. 2853]
WATERWORKS
All facilities for the collection and distribution of water to persons in the City and shall also include the owner and/or operator, from time to time, of all such water facilities.
There is hereby imposed upon each property served by the sewer system and having the use thereof a monthly sewer rent or charge, payable as hereinafter provided, for the use, whether direct or indirect, of the sewer system, based on the rates hereinafter set forth.
[Amended 4-23-1963 by Ord. No. 2096; 12-28-1981 by Ord. No. 2401; 3-21-1985 by Ord. No. 2434; 12-30-1987 by Ord. No. 2471; 12-22-1988 by Ord. No. 2485; 6-26-1989 by Ord. No. 2497; 12-20-1990 by Ord. No. 2526; 12-28-1992 by Ord. No. 2555; 12-27-1993 by Ord. No. 2564; 12-22-1997 by Ord. No. 2617; 12-19-2001 by Ord. No. 2678; 12-23-2002 by Ord. No. 2689; 12-22-2005 by Ord. No. 2721; 12-18-2006 by Ord. No. 2733; 7-9-2007 by Ord. No. 2739; 6-29-2009 by Ord. No. 2769; 12-19-2013 by Ord. No. 2827[1]; 5-28-2015 by Ord. No. 2837; 12-17-2015 by Ord. No. 2845[2]; 12-15-2016 by Ord. No. 2853[3]]
A. 
All persons or other entities within the City of Oil City connected to the public sewer system shall pay to the City a monthly rental for sanitary sewage service based on the quantity of water furnished as evidenced by monthly meter readings of water meters installed for the purpose of measuring water furnished by the City of Oil City and/or any such other meters or measuring devices approved by the City of Oil City as may be installed and which shall accomplish the same effect. This monthly rental shall include a minimum monthly charge of $9.50 per equivalent dwelling unit (EDU), plus an additional usage charge of $3.45 for each 100 cubic feet of water consumption read or reported.
B. 
All tributary customers connected to the City's public sewer system shall pay to the City a monthly rental for sanitary sewage service based on the amount of wastewater received by the City of Oil City as evidenced by monthly meter readings of flow meters installed for the purpose of measuring wastewater received by the City of Oil City. This monthly rental shall include a minimum monthly charge of $10.35 per equivalent dwelling unit (EDU), plus an additional usage charge of $1.85 for each 100 cubic feet of wastewater production read or reported.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance stated that it would become effective beginning with the 1-1-2014 billing period.
[2]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance stated that it would become effective beginning with the 1-1-2017 billing period.
[3]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance stated that it would become effective beginning with the 1-1-2018 billing period.
A. 
In the event that the City consents to accept industrial wastes into the sewer system under a permit, as hereinafter provided, the monthly sewer rent for such sewage services shall be the same as the charge for volume as set forth in § 255-13. In addition thereto, further charges shall be made for all such industrial wastes discharged into the sewer system having total suspended solids and biochemical oxygen demand in excess of the following concentrations: suspended solids, 300 parts per million; BOD, 250 parts per million.
B. 
The total charge for industrial wastes having concentrations in excess of the foregoing shall be determined in accordance with the following formula:
Total charge = Q + [0.0004 Q (BOD in ppm - 250)] + [0.0002 Q (SS in ppm - 300)]
Where:
Q
=
Metered quantity charge
BOD
=
Biochemical oxygen demand
ss
=
Suspended solids
ppm
=
Parts per million
The discharge of industrial wastes into the sewer system without the consent of the City is hereby prohibited. Any industrial establishment desiring to discharge industrial wastes into the sewer system shall make application to the City for a permit therefor. The applicant for such permit shall furnish the City with such information as is required for the purpose of determining whether the proposed discharge of industrial wastes will conform with the requirements of the ordinances of City Council and the rules and regulations provided for herein. The granting of such permit may be made contingent upon the applicant providing and maintaining, at the expense of the applicant, apparatus for regulating the rate of discharge and/or treating such wastes prior to discharge and for the proper sampling thereof, from time to time, as the City may deem necessary.
A. 
Methods of measuring volume.
(1) 
Whenever a person purchasing all water used from the waterworks discharges sanitary sewage and/or industrial wastes into the sewer system, the volume of water used, as determined from meter readings of the City, shall be used in computing the sewer rental.
(2) 
In cases where persons have sources of water supply in addition to or other than from the waterworks, and discharge sanitary sewage and/or industrial wastes into the sewer system, those persons shall provide a meter on such additional or other source of supply. The total amount of water consumed as shown by the meter readings under Subsection A(1) and (2) will be used in computing the sewer rental.
(3) 
In cases where persons use water from the waterworks and/or from an independent supply such that all or any part of the water so used is not discharged into the water system, the quantity of water used to determine the sewer rental shall be computed by one of the following methods:
(a) 
Method No. 1. By placing a meter or measuring device on the sewer connection. The readings therefrom shall be used in computing the sewer rental.
(b) 
Method No. 2. By placing a meter or measuring device on the effluent not discharging into the sewer system. The readings therefrom will then be deducted from the total water meter readings, and the remainder will be used in computing the sewer rental.
(c) 
Method No. 3. Where in the opinion of the Sewer Manager, it is not practical to install measuring devices to continuously determine the quantity of water not discharged to the sewer system, the Sewer Manager will determine, in such manner and by such method as he may prescribe, the percentage of metered water discharged into the sewer system, and the quantity of water used to compute the sewer rental shall be the percentage so determined of the quantity measured by the water meter or meters. Any dispute as to the estimated amount shall be submitted to the Council, after notice of the estimate, whose decision on the matter shall be final for the then current calendar year.
B. 
Measuring devices. All meters or measuring devices not provided by the waterworks but required to be used under the provisions of this article shall be furnished and installed by the property owner and shall be under the control of the City and may be tested, inspected or repaired by employees of the City whenever the Council deems necessary. The owner of the property upon which such measuring device is installed shall be responsible for its maintenance and safekeeping, and all repairs thereto shall be made at the property owner's expense, whether such repairs are made necessary by ordinary wear and tear or other causes. Where such meter by reason of lack of space or arrangement of pipeline shall be installed within the street line, such meter shall be furnished by the property owner and shall be installed by the City at the property owner's expense; the City shall be responsible for its maintenance and safekeeping, and all repairs thereto shall be made at the property owner's expense. Bills for such repairs, if made by the City, shall be due and payable at the same time and collected in the same manner as are the bills for sewer services; such bills from and after their due date shall constitute a lien upon the property upon which or for the benefit of which such measuring device is installed.
C. 
Meter reading. The City shall be responsible for the reading of all meters or measuring devices, and they shall be made available to employees of the City for meter reading at any reasonable time.
Bills for the payment of rentals for service pursuant to this article shall be rendered at the same time and intervals as charges for water consumed in and furnished by the waterworks to the same property and shall be due and payable upon presentation.
[Amended 1-23-1961 by Ord. No. 2062; 4-23-1963 by Ord. No. 2096; 12-27-1976 by Ord. No. 2343; 12-22-1980 by Ord. No. 2393]
A. 
All bills or invoices shall be dated and shall be due and payable upon presentation thereof. A penalty of 14% shall be added to the net sum due and payable if payment is not made within 20 days from the date of such invoice or bill. Each bill or invoice shall designate the date on and after which the penalty and amount thereof shall be added.
[Amended 12-15-2011 by Ord. No. 2810[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance stated that the rates would become effective beginning with the 1-1-2012 billing period.
B. 
Sewer rentals or charges shall be a lien on the properties charged with the payment thereof from the date the charge first becomes due and payable and, if not paid within 30 days from the date of each bill, may be collected by an action of assumpsit in the name of the City against the owner of the property charged or the user of the service or by distress of personal property on the premises or by a lien filed in the nature of a municipal lien, which shall be collected in the same manner provided by law for the collection of such liens.
C. 
All persons occupying property connected to the sewer system shall give the City their proper address. Failure to receive bills shall not be considered an excuse for nonpayment nor permit for extension of a period during which bills are payable at their face amount.
All moneys received by the City from the collection of the sewer rentals and all penalties thereon, as herein provided for, shall be segregated and kept separate and apart from all other funds of the City and shall be used only for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the City in the operation, maintenance, repair, alteration, inspection, depreciation or other expenses in relation to the sewer system and for such payments as the City may be required to make under any lease or agreement it may enter into for and of or in connection with the sewer system with Oil City General Authority in accordance with the provisions of the Act of May 2, 1945, P.L. 382,[1] as amended.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Municipality Authorities Act of 1945 (53 P.S. § 301 et seq.) was repealed by Act 22 of 2001 (June 19, 2001, P.L. 287, No. 22). See now the Municipality Authorities Act, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 5601 et seq.
The City reserves the right to and may from time to time adopt, revise, amend and readopt such rules and regulations as it deems necessary and proper for the use and operation of the sewer system, and all such rules and regulations shall be and become a part of this article and enforceable as part of this article. Said rules and regulations, when adopted by Council, shall be printed in book or pamphlet form and published at length according to law and when so published shall be and become a part of the article and enforceable as a part of this article.