[Adopted 1-8-1968 by Ord. No. 1-1968 (Ch. XI, Part 2, of the 1970 Code of Ordinances)]
[Amended 1-7-1980 by Ord. No. 2-1980]
The following words, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except in those instances where the context clearly indicates otherwise:
ASHES
The residue from the burning of wood or coal.
COMMERCIAL UNIT
Any grocery store, restaurant, club or fire hall.
DWELLING UNIT
Any room or group of rooms located within a dwelling and forming a single habitable unit with facilities which are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking and eating.
GARBAGE
All putrescible wastes, except sewage and body waste, including vegetable but excluding recognizable industrial by-products, and shall include all such substances from public and private establishments, except from furniture stores, drugstores, hotels and other businesses; these establishments collect and dispose of their own garbage and refuse, except that grocery stores, restaurants, clubs and fire halls shall be limited to three containers, each having a capacity of not more than 26 gallons.
PERSON
A natural person, firm, copartnership, association or corporation.
REFUSE
Garbage, ashes and rubbish as herein defined.
RUBBISH
All waste materials not included in garbage and ashes, except building rubbish from building construction or reconstruction, household furnishings and appliances, street refuse, industrial refuse, dead animals, machinery or parts of machinery, vehicles or parts of vehicles or such other waste materials as are not commonly produced in homes.
[Amended 10-3-2011 by Ord. No. 4-2011]
[Amended 1-7-1980 by Ord. No. 2-1980; 5-5-1980 by Ord. No. 3-1980]
A. 
The collection, conveyance and disposal of refuse in Vandergrift Borough shall be under the supervision of the Borough Street Committee. The Street Committee shall have the authority to make regulations concerning the days of collection, type and location of waste containers and such other matters pertaining to collection and disposal as it may deem advisable, provided that those regulations are not contrary to any other provision of this article. Any aggrieved person shall have the right of appeal against any regulation made by the Street Committee to Borough Council, which may confirm, modify or revoke any such regulation.
B. 
Refuse produced or accumulated in the Borough, except for such refuse that, under the definition of "garbage" in § 404-4 of this article, is to be disposed of by the producer of the refuse, shall be collected, conveyed and disposed of by either of the following two methods, as determined from time to time by Borough Council:
(1) 
By the Borough through its own personnel and making use of the vehicles owned or leased by the Borough; or
(2) 
By a contract collector, using his own personnel and vehicles, and operating under the terms of a contract with the Borough.
C. 
Regardless of whether collection, conveyance or disposal of refuse is to be done by the Borough or by a contractor, the Borough shall have authority to impose and collect, for the use of the Borough, a fee or charge to cover all or part of the expense, including, but not limited to, salaries of employees and costs and maintenance of equipment of collection and disposal by the Borough or of the charges to the Borough under the contract, as the case may be. This charge, to be designated as the "refuse collection charge," shall be fixed by resolution of Borough Council as soon as practicable after enactment of this amendment and may be changed from time to time by resolution of Council.
D. 
The basic refuse collection charge shall be imposed at an annual rate and shall be billed and payable in advance, on a quarterly basis, each bill to be rendered to the owner of each dwelling unit or commercial unit and/or, under special conditions, to the tenant, as determined by the Borough Council. Nevertheless, the owner of the premises in all cases shall be ultimately liable for payment of such bills. The records of the Recorder of Deeds of Westmoreland County shall be prima facie evidence of the ownership of the property, and the burden of proving that the record is in error shall be upon the person claiming the error. The basic charge shall be for collection and disposal of the authorized types and categories of refuse as referred to in § 404-4 of this article and for a maximum quantity of refuse placed out for collection from any property. The Borough shall have authority in the resolution establishing the refuse collection charge to impose additional charges for quantities in excess of the maximum and/or special kinds of refuse not normally collectible under this article, provided extra charges shall be included in the bill for the quarter in which those charges are incurred; provided, further, special types of refuse will be collected only at the discretion of the Street Committee upon advance notice to the Borough Secretary.
E. 
Refuse collection charges shall be due and payable to the Borough within 30 days of January 1 of each year, within 30 days of April 1 of each year, within 30 days of July 1 of each year and within 30 days of October 1 of each year. If any person fails to pay any refuse collection charge in full within 30 days of the due date of each quarterly bill, a penalty of $1 shall be payable by such person to Vandergrift Borough. If any person fails to pay any refuse collection charge in full on or after 60 days of the due date of each quarterly bill but prior to 90 days of the due date of each quarterly bill, a penalty of $2.50 shall be payable by such person to Vandergrift Borough. In addition, if any person fails to pay any quarterly refuse collection charge and any penalty within 90 days of the due date of each quarterly bill, the Borough shall have the right to terminate refuse collection and disposal services rendered to the property of that person for whatever period the Borough may, in its discretion, determine. After payment of all delinquent bills by the delinquent persons, service may be restored.
F. 
Charges imposed under this section shall be a lien on the properties served from the date the charge first becomes due and payable. In addition to all other rights of the Borough, if any such charges are not paid, the Borough may file municipal claims and collect the amount due in the manner provided by law for the filing and collection of municipal claims and liens or may proceed to collect the delinquent charges by an action in assumpsit in the name of the Borough against the owner of the property charged.
A. 
Preparation of refuse.
(1) 
All garbage, before being placed in garbage cans for collection, shall have drained from it all free liquids and may be wrapped in paper.
(2) 
All rubbish shall have drained from it all free liquids before being deposited for collection.
(3) 
Tree trimmings, hedge clippings, boxes, papers and odd articles shall be crushed and/or bundled in lengths not to exceed four feet and securely tied in bundles not exceeding 50 pounds in weight.
B. 
Refuse containers.
(1) 
Garbage receptacles.
(a) 
Garbage receptacles shall be made of metal or any substance as approved by the Borough Street Committee, must be watertight and be provided with a tight-fitting cover. Each receptacle shall be provided with one or more handles.
(b) 
No person shall use for the reception of garbage any receptacle having a capacity of less than five gallons or more than 26 gallons.
(c) 
All garbage receptacles shall be kept as sanitary as possible in view of the use to which they are put and shall be thoroughly cleansed by the occupant after garbage is removed by the collector.
(2) 
Ash receptacles shall be of metal and have a capacity of not less than five gallons and not more than 10 gallons. Each receptacle shall be provided with one or more handles.
(3) 
Rubbish receptacles shall be of a suitable kind, which can be easily handled by one man.
(4) 
Requirements:
(a) 
All refuse receptacles shall be provided by the owner, tenant, lessee or occupant of the premises.
(b) 
All refuse receptacles shall be maintained in good condition. Any receptacle that does not conform to the provisions of this article or that may have ragged or sharp edges or any other defect liable to hamper or injure the person collecting the contents thereof shall be promptly replaced upon notice. Failure to comply may result in refusal to collect or the removal of the defective receptacle as refuse.
(c) 
All containers and receptacles for refuse shall be kept or placed in the rear of the yard at the alley side, level with the alley where alleys exist. No garbage, ash or rubbish receptacles shall be kept or placed upon fire escapes, balconies or in cellars, basements or upon the street, alley, sidewalk or any other public place. All such containers or receptacles shall be accessible to the collector when called for and, if removed by him, shall be returned by him to the said place or places. In case of dispute, the Borough Street Committee shall decide as to the location to be selected for the placing of containers or receptacles by the owner, tenant, lessee or occupant of the premises.
C. 
Points of collection.
[Amended 9-12-1977 by Ord. No. 6-1977; 1-7-1980 by Ord. No. 2-1980; 10-3-2011 by Ord. No. 4-2011]
(1) 
No person shall cause such containers or receptacles to be placed and remain at the front of his property (for collections that occur on the main street at the front of properties) prior to 6:00 p.m. the night before a regularly scheduled collection day. By 9:00 p.m. on the day of collection, all containers or receptacles shall be removed from the front of the property, and no accumulation of rubbish or receptacles or containers shall be placed in the front of the property until the aforementioned time as set forth in this article for property with collection at the front of the property.
(2) 
All properties with refuse collection in the rear of the property shall maintain all refuse in containers and receptacles upon their own property. No containers or receptacles shall be placed within five feet of the curb of the street or alley from which collection is made until 6:00 p.m. the night before a regularly scheduled collection. All said containers and receptacles shall be removed by 9:00 p.m. on the date of collection. At no time shall containers or receptacles be permitted to remain beyond the time set forth in this article upon any fire escape, balcony, cellar, basement, street, alley, sidewalk or any other public place except under express approval granted by the Borough Council. In the case of dispute, the Borough Street Committee shall decide as to the location to be selected for the placement of containers or receptacles.
(3) 
All driveways and passageways necessary for collection must be kept free from obstructions; namely, ice, snow and all other accumulations.
(4) 
Refuse receptacles shall be accessible to and not more than five feet from the curb of the sidewalk or alley from which collection is made, subject to the time limitations set forth in this article.
A. 
Frequency of collections. Refuse shall be collected at least once a week.
B. 
Limitation on quantity.
(1) 
It is the intent of this article that the reasonable accumulation of refuse of each family will be collected. The Borough Street Committee may refuse to collect unreasonable amounts.
(2) 
It is the intent of this article that restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, clubs and fire halls shall be limited to three containers, each having a capacity of not more than 26 gallons.
[Amended 1-7-1980 by Ord. No. 2-1980; 01-10-1989 by Ord. No. 2-1989]
Any person, whether as principal, agent or employee, who violates or assists in the violation of any provision of this article or of any regulation of the Street Committee imposed by authority of this article shall be guilty of an offense and, upon conviction, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $200 or more than $600 and costs of prosecution and, in default of payment of fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment for not more than 30 days, provided that, after notice, each day's neglect to comply with any provision of this article or of any such regulation shall be deemed a separate offense and be subject in all respects to the same penalty as the first offense, and separate proceedings may be instituted and separate penalties imposed for each day's offense after the first conviction.