[Amended 12-29-1977 by Ord. No. 53B; 1-7-1985 by Ord. No. 211B; 9-13-1990 by Ord. No. 358B; 1-3-1994 by Ord. No. 457B]
There is hereby imposed, and all owners of property now or hereafter
connected with the sanitary sewers or the sewerage system (hereinafter
called "sewer system") of the City of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and
having the use of said sewer system shall pay an annual rental or
charge payable as hereinafter provided, for the use, whether directly
or indirectly, of such sewer system, based on the following schedule:
A. Rents.
(1) The sewer rent for collection of sanitary sewage discharged into
the sewer system shall be quarterly rent based upon the actual volume
of water metered per quarter as determined from meters installed and
maintained by the City of Lock Haven and the Suburban Lock Haven Water
Authority. The minimum quarterly rent for each meter property shall
be in an amount as established from time to time by resolution of
City Council, and rents will be charged in an amount as established
from time to time by resolution of City Council.
[Amended 12-16-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-10]
(2) Provided, however, that in cases where a single meter is used to
measure water furnished to two or more families, family dwelling units,
premises, properties or commercial establishments, the quantity so
measured will be divided equally for billing among such families,
family dwelling units, premises, properties and commercial establishments,
and the above rate shall then apply.
B. Whenever a property upon which a sewer rental or charge is hereby
imposed uses water, all or part of which water so used is not discharged
into the sewer system, the quantity of water so used and not discharged
into the sewer system may be excluded in determining the sewer rental
or charge of said property; provided, the quantity of water so used
and not discharged into the sewer system is measured by a device or
devices approved by the City and installed without cost to the City.
For the purpose of determining the sewer rental, the quantity of such
water not discharged into the sewer system shall be deducted from
the water meter readings; provided further, however, when, in the
opinion of the City, it is not practical to install measuring devices
to continuously measure the quantity of water not discharged into
the sewer system, the City shall determine in such manner and in such
method as it may prescribe, the percentage of metered water discharged
into the sewer system and the quantity of water used to determine
the sewer rental shall be the percentage so determined of the quantity
measured by the water meter or meters. Any dispute as to estimated
amount shall be determined by the City after notice of the estimate,
the decision as to which manner shall be final for the period covered
by such estimate. All meters or other measuring devices installed
or required to be used under this subsection shall be under the control
of the City. The owner of the property upon which any 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 wear and tear or any other
cause or causes.
C. There is hereby imposed a penalty of 10% on all sewer rental invoices
that remain unpaid after 30 days from the date the invoice is rendered.
[Amended 7-6-1992 by Ord.
No. 409B; 4-18-1994 by Ord. No. 466B; 8-7-1995 by Ord. No. 492BB]
A. Any private hauler, except recreation vehicles, serving establishments
not having access to a sewage treatment system shall be permitted
to discharge sanitary sewage into the sewer system of the City of
Lock Haven, provided that he makes application therefor to the Director
of Public Works.
B. All sanitary sewage discharged into the sewage system as specified in Subsection
A, above, shall be discharged only at such site or sites as shall be designated by the Director of Public Works, and the Director of Public Works is authorized to establish such administrative rules and regulations as he may deem necessary. The violation of any such rules and regulations shall result in revocation by the Director of Public Works of the privilege of so discharging sanitary sewage.
C. Hauled waste shall be classified in one of the following categories
of waste:
(1) Septic tank waste: concentrated domestic waste as pumped from a septic
tank.
(2) Trucked domestic waste: unconcentrated domestic waste with a holding
tank detention of 24 hours or less.
(3) Holding tank waste: unconcentrated domestic waste with a holding
tank detention greater than 24 hours.
(4) Commercial waste: unconcentrated commercial waste with a holding
tank detention greater than 24 hours.
(5) Portable toilet waste: domestic waste collected from portable toilets
or pit toilets.
(6) Other: odd wastes which do not fall into the above categories.
D. Charges for treatment of hauled waste shall be based on the category
of waste discharged and shall be billed monthly.
(1) The amounts charged shall be based on the number of gallons of waste
discharged in the month and shall be in an amount as established from
time to time by resolution of City Council.
[Amended 12-16-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-10]
(2) The above rates shall be reviewed annually and revised to reflect
the actual costs of treating the hauled wastes.
(3) The charges due from each producer of waste shall be calculated separately
and the City may, at its option, invoice the producer of the waste
or the discharger who hauls the waste to the disposal plant.
E. Owners of recreation vehicles shall be permitted to discharge sanitary
sewage into the system and such discharge will only be made at the
treatment plant. A fee shall be charged for each and every time sewage
is accepted for discharge to the system and shall be paid at the time
of discharge to the treatment plant attendant in an amount as established
from time to time by resolution of City Council.
[Amended 12-16-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-10]
The above rentals or charges shall be paid quarterly and quarterly
billings will be made with or at the same time water rent billings
for each quarter are made by either the City of Lock Haven or the
Suburban Lock Haven Water Authority. Quarterly charges for sewerage
service shall be payable on or before the 30th day of the date of
the bill. The City shall have the right to cut off sewerage service
from delinquent premises and not restore the same until all delinquent
and the cost of cutting off and restoring service shall have been
paid.
[Amended 7-12-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-03]
A. The sewer
rent or charge hereby imposed shall be a lien on the property served.
All such sewer rentals or charges not paid on or before the end of
one year from the date on which such bill was rendered shall be deemed
to be delinquent for the purposes of this article. All delinquent
sewer rentals or charges shall be filed and entered as a lien against
the property served, in the office of the Prothonotary of Clinton
County, in the manner provided by law for the filing and collection
of municipal claims.
B. Collection procedures. The following collection procedures are hereby
established:
(1) At least 30 days prior to assessing or imposing attorney fees in
connection with the collection of a sewer rent or charge, the City
shall mail or cause to be mailed, in accordance with statute, a notice
of such intention to the owner of record established by current real
estate tax records (the "account debtor").
(2) All notices required by this section shall be mailed in accordance
with statute to the account debtor's last known post office address
as recorded in the Tax Assessment Office of Clinton County, Pennsylvania.
(3) Each notice as described above shall include the following:
(a)
The amount of the claim for sewer charges, including penalty
and interest;
(b)
A statement of the City's intent to impose or assess attorney
fees within 30 days after the mailing of the notice in accordance
with Subsection A(1);
(c)
The manner in which the assessment or imposition of attorney
fees may be avoided by payment of the account; and
(d)
The place of payment for accounts and the name and telephone
number of the Authority official designated as responsible for collection
matters.
C. Schedule of fees.
(1) The City hereby approves the following schedule of attorney fees
for services in connection with the collection of delinquent sewer
rentals or charges, which is hereby determined to be fair and reasonable
compensation for the services set forth below, all in accordance with
the principles set forth in Section 3(a)(1) of the Municipal Claims
Law:
Legal Services
|
Fee For Services
|
---|
Collection letter by certified mail, examination of courthouse
records and deed
|
$75
|
Collection letter by ordinary mail
|
$25
|
Municipal claim
|
$60
|
Praecipe for writ of scire facias sur municipal claim and writ
of scire facias sur municipal claim
|
$60
|
Notice of default judgment and transmittal letter
|
$50
|
Praecipe to dismiss claim
|
$10
|
Execution proceedings for sale of real estate - (uncontested)
|
$350
|
Hourly rate
|
$120
|
(2) There shall be added to the above amounts reasonable out-of-pocket
expenses of counsel in connection with each of these services, as
itemized in the applicable counsel bills, which shall be deemed to
be part of the fees.
(3) The amount of fees determined, as set forth above, shall be added
to the City's claim in each account.
[Amended 2-24-2003 by Ord. No. 670]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision
of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay
a fine of not more than $1,000 plus costs and, in default of payment
of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 30
days. Each day that a violation of this article continues shall constitute
a separate offense.
[Added 12-26-1990 by Ord.
No. 349B; and 2-24-2003 by Ord. No. 670]
Rates for the collection and analysis of industrial waste samples
shall be as established from time to time by resolution of City Council.