[Ord. 24, 2/24/1997, § I]
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning
of the terms used in this Part shall be as follows:
AUTHORITY
Northwestern Chester County Municipal Authority.
AUTHORITY ENGINEER
An engineer employed by the Authority or an authorized member
of his staff.
LATERAL SEWER OR SERVICE CONNECTION
That part of the sewer system extending from a sewer to the
curb line or, if there shall be no curb line, to the edge of the street
abutting the property affected or, if no such lateral shall be provided,
then "lateral sewer" or "service connection" shall mean that portion
of, or place in, a sanitary sewer which is provided for the connection
of any service line.
NATURAL OUTLET
Any outlet into a water course, ditch, pond, lake or other
body of surface or ground water.
OCCUPIED BUILDING
Each single dwelling unit, household unit, flat or apartment
unit, store, shop, office, business, commercial or industrial unit,
or family unit contained within any structure, erected and intended
for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy or use by human beings
or animals and from which structure sanitary sewage and industrial
wastes, or either thereof, is or may be discharged, located in the
Township.
OWNER
Any person vested with the ownership, legal or equitable,
sole or partial, of any property situate in the Township.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, company, association, society,
corporation or group.
SANITARY SEWER
A sewer which is part of the sewer system and which carries
sanitary sewage and/or treated industrial waste permitted to be discharged
into the sewer system.
SERVICE LINE OR HOUSE CONNECTION
That part of the main house drain or sewer line extending
from a point five feet outside the outer building wall or foundation
wall to its connection with the lateral sewer.
SEWER SYSTEM
Sewer mains, lateral sewers from a sewer main to service
line or house connection, sewage ejector and/or pumping stations,
sewer force mains, and all appurtenant facilities operated by the
Township in furnishing sewage service.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Honey Brook, Chester, County, Pennsylvania.
TOWNSHIP ENGINEER
An engineer employed by the Township or an authorized member
of his staff.
[Ord. 24, 2/24/1997, § II; as amended by Ord. 122-2006,
12/15/2006]
1. It shall be unlawful for any owner of property who is required to connect to the sewer system pursuant to Subsection
2 below, to construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle intended or used for the disposal of sewage within the Township, or, unless such discharge is pursuant to a permit issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, to discharge or permit the discharge of any sanitary sewage or industrial waste into any natural outlet in the Township.
2. Each owner of any occupied building situate on property abutting
on any street, alley or right-of-way in which there has been constructed
a sanitary sewer and where any part of such building is within 150
feet of said sewer and is accessible thereto, shall at his own expense
install suitable sanitary facilities therein and connect such facilities
directly with such sewer in accordance with the provisions of this
Part within 60 days after the date of official notice to do so, given
in the manner provided by law. In the event any such owner shall refuse
or neglect to so connect within said sixty-day period, he shall be
deemed to be in violation of this Part, and the proper officers of
the Township, or their agents, may enter upon such property and construct
such connection or cause the proper officers or agents of the Authority
to enter upon such property and construct such connection. In such
case, the Township officers shall forthwith, upon completion of the
work, send or cause the Authority to send an itemized bill of the
cost of the construction of such connection to such owner, which bill
shall be payable forthwith. In case of neglect or refusal by such
owner to pay said bill, within 30 days thereafter, it shall be the
duty of the Township officers to file or cause the Authority to file
municipal liens. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, no owner
of an occupied building shall be required to connect such building
to a sanitary sewer if the Board of the Authority determines that
connecting such building would result in an overloading of sewage
treatment facilities.
3. No privy, privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar
receptacle shall be connected with the sewer system at any time. Each
such privy, privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar
receptacle shall be abandoned upon the making of connection to the
sewer system and, at the request of the Township officers or the Authority
officers, as agents for the Township, shall be cleaned and filled
under its direction and supervision; and any such privy, privy vault,
cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle not so abandoned
and, if required by the Township officers or the Authority officers,
as agents, cleaned and filled, shall constitute a nuisance and such
nuisance shall be abated as provided by law at the expense of the
owner of such property.
4. There is hereby reserved to the Township the right to refuse to any
person the privilege of connecting any occupied building to the sewer
system, or to compel discontinuance of the use of any sewer by any
person, or to compel the pretreatment of industrial wastes, in order
to prevent discharge into the sewer system of wastes which may be
deemed by the Authority, the Authority Engineer, the Township or the
Township Engineer, to be harmful to the sewer system or to have a
deleterious effect on sewage treatment processes or to be injurious
to personnel operating the sewer system.
[Ord. 24, 2/24/1997, § III]
1. No person shall uncover, connect with, make any opening into or use,
alter or disturb in any manner any sewer or the sewer system without
first making application for and obtaining a permit, in writing, from
the Authority, as agent for the Township.
2. Application to the Authority for a permit required under this section
shall be made by the owner of the property to be served, in such form
as may be prescribed by the Authority. The application shall be accompanied
by the required connection charge, and tapping fee, if any, imposed
by the Authority.
3. No person other than the Township, Authority, or their agents, shall
make or cause to be made the connection of any property with a lateral
sewer until such person shall have fulfilled each of the following
conditions:
A. Such person shall have notified the Township of the desire and intention
to connect to a lateral sewer.
B. Such person shall apply for and obtain a permit as required by this
Part.
C. Such person shall have given the Township at least 24 hours' notice
of the time when such service line is to be connected and such connection
made so that the Township may inspect the service line, the work of
connection and perform necessary testing.
4. Payment of the above-mentioned connection charge shall entitle the
applicant to have one lateral sewer installed to the curb line of
his property, or if there is no curbline to the edge of the street
abutting his property, at the expense of the Authority, including
repairing. All costs of constructing a longer lateral sewer, and all
costs and expenses in connecting such lateral sewer to a service line
shall be borne by the owner of the property to be connected; and such
owner shall indemnify and save harmless the Township and the Authority
from all loss or damage that may be occasioned, directly or indirectly,
as a result of the construction which the owner is required to perform.
5. Whenever the surface of any public street, sidewalk or cartway is
disturbed by the construction of a service line, it shall be the responsibility
of the applicant for a connection to obtain street opening permits
from the Township or highway occupancy permits from the Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation. Unless otherwise required, all surfacing
materials must be restored in kind, thickness and construction to
the satisfaction of the Township and of the Department of Transportation,
as the case may be.
[Ord. 24, 2/24/1997, § IV]
The Township Engineer, the Authority Engineer and other duly
authorized representatives or employees of the Township or the Authority
bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted,
at all reasonable times, to enter upon any premises connected or about
to be connected or required to be connected to the sewer system for
the purpose of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and
testing in accordance with the provisions of this Part.
[Ord. 24, 2/24/1997, § V]
No person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently damage,
destroy, deface, block or otherwise tamper with any sewer or any other
structure or equipment which is part of the sewer system, or discharge
any substance into the sewer system contrary to or in violation of
the resolution of the Authority imposing sewer rates which, inter
alia, prohibits discharge of wastes into the sewer system and provides
for rules and regulations.
[Ord. 24, 2/24/1997, § VI; as amended by Ord. 122-2006,
12/15/2006]
1. Any person who shall violate any provision of this Part other than §§
18-404 and
18-405 shall be served by the Township or the Authority, as its agent, with written notice stating the nature of the violation and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory correction thereof. (The notice provided in §
18-402, Subsection
2, above being deemed to be notice of a violation for this purpose in respect of violations of such section.) The offender shall within the period of time (if any, otherwise forthwith) stated in such notice, permanently cease all violations.
2. Any person who shall continue any violation beyond the time limit fixed as provided for in Subsection
1, upon conviction thereof in an action brought before a magisterial district judge in the manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall 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 90 days. A new and separate violation shall be deemed to have been committed for each day any violation continues beyond such time limit.
3. Any person who shall violate any provision of §§
18-404 and
18-405, upon conviction thereof in an action brought before a magisterial district judge in the manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall 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 90 days. Each day that a violation of this Part continues or each section of this Part which shall be found to have been violated shall constitute a separate offense.
4. All fines and penalties imposed for violation of any provision of
this Part shall be paid to the Treasurer of the Township for the use
of the Township. Default in payment of the fine and costs shall make
the defendant liable to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days.
5. Any person violating any of the provisions of this Part, in addition
to becoming liable for a fine and penalty, shall become liable to
the Township for any expense, loss or damage occasioned by the Township
by reason of such violation.
[Ord. 24, 2/24/1997, § VII]
The Township hereby grants to the Authority all easements rights
of way and other rights necessary or desirable on, over and under
the streets of the Township for the purpose of constructing, operating
and maintaining the sewer system.