[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Koshkonong as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building construction — See Ch. 218.
Hazardous materials and pollution — See Ch. 291.
Subdivision of land — See Ch. 490.
[Adopted as Title 8, Ch. 4, of the 1996 Code]
For the purpose of this chapter:
APPLICANT
The person or entity applying for a sludge application permit.
SLUDGE
The accumulated residual solids (usually in liquid form) resulting from the treatment of municipal, industrial or private wastewaters and shall include refuse liquids or water matter of all sorts normally carried off by municipal, industrial or private sewers. The definition of "sludge" may include industrial waste and by-products, chemical sludge, raw sewage, food processing waste, or untreated septage, as determined by the Town Board or experts employed by the Town.
No person, corporation or entity shall apply or allow to be applied to lands under their ownership, lease or control, or provide sludge, to any land in the Town of Koshkonong, without first having obtained a permit from the Town of Koshkonong. One permit shall be required for each sludge application so long as both the landowner and the provider of sludge are listed on the application.
Application for permit required under this chapter shall be submitted, in writing, in duplicate, to the Town Clerk. The application shall set forth the following:
A. 
The name and address of the applicant (who shall be the owner of the treatment facility generating the sludge). If the applicant be a corporation, the applicant shall set forth the name, address, and registered agent of the corporation.
B. 
The name and address of the owner of the site upon which the sludge is proposed to be applied and/or supplied.
C. 
A plat, survey, or drawing showing the boundaries of the site to be used.
D. 
The names and addresses of any hauling contractors of the sludge, including corporation identity and registered agent if applicable. If such hauling contractors are under written contract a copy of said contract shall be furnished with the application.
E. 
The names and addresses of the owners of any other site or sites upon which the applicant is then applying sludge within the corporate limits of the Town of Koshkonong.
F. 
A statement of the nature of the proposed operation, including the projected volume of sludge to be applied; a description of the machinery to be used; odor control devices to be utilized, if any; the highways or Town roads to be used for the truck traffic to and from the site; the number and weight of trucks hauling the sludge projected to be used for the site; and the time period within which the applicant intends to apply sludge at the site.
G. 
The names and addresses of all property owners within 500 feet of the boundaries of the proposed site or sites.
H. 
The content of sludge that is proposed to be applied, including the nutritional aspects of such sludge, as well as a detailed analysis of the sludge metal content.
I. 
Disclosure to the Town when municipal wastewater treatment plants have refused septage and why.
J. 
The application shall be accompanied by a permit fee as provided in the Town Fee Schedule[1] to defray the cost of publication of notices, investigation, legal expenses, administration costs and public hearings.
[Amended 3-13-2019 by Ord. No. 1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Fee Schedule is on file in the Town office.
A. 
Upon receipt of an application submitted as provided above, the Town Board shall inspect the premises for which a permit is requested and shall set a date for public hearing upon such application, which date shall not be more than 60 days after receipt of said application by the Town Clerk.
B. 
Within 30 days of the public hearing the Town Board shall either grant or deny said permit on the basis of the information contained in the application, together with the information presented at a public hearing, any independent investigation, and any other information acquired by the Town Board.
C. 
A public hearing shall be held by the Town Board at its regular meeting place and a notice of said meeting shall be mailed to all property owners within 250 feet of the site designated in the application. In addition, the Town Clerk shall publish a notice of said meeting in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town at least 10 days before the date of said public hearing.
D. 
At such public hearing, the Town Board shall hear all persons interested in the granting or denying of the permit and may, if it sees fit, take testimony relative to the application.
E. 
In making such determination, the Town Board shall consider whether the proposed permit will be detrimental to the health, safety and/or welfare of the public. The Town Board, as a condition to the issuance of a permit, may require conditions, restrictions and sureties as hereinafter set forth and in a form determined by the Town Board, upon the Town Board finding that such condition or conditions are proper for protection of the health, safety and/or welfare of the public.
The permit for sludge application shall be issued for the requested period in the application, though such period shall not exceed one year and may be shortened or modified by the Town Board if deemed to be in the health, safety and/or welfare of the public. Permits shall expire annually on January 1st. All sludge to be applied at a site shall be applied within that specified period.
Each permit and applications of sludge governed by such permit shall be subject to the following requirements and restrictions:
A. 
Surface spreading prohibited. All liquid sludge will be immediately incorporated into the soil and applied by injection only, unless in caked form. No surface spreading of sludge shall be permitted.
B. 
Application of sludge. The sludge shall be applied in accordance with the appropriate regulations of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and with any special requirements incorporated into any approval or permit obtained by the applicant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the permit issued by the Town of Koshkonong.
C. 
Highways and roads. Movement to the site within the Town of Koshkonong shall be restricted to state and county trunk highways and specifically authorized Town roads. All damages caused by the movement of the sludge hauling vehicles over Town roads shall be repaired by a competent contractor selected by the Town from a list of not less than three, provided by the permittee. The list shall be provided to the Town within 48 hours of the permittee being notified of such damage by its hauling contractor or the Town. If the permittee fails to provide such list to the Town within the designated time period, the Town shall repair the road and the cost thereof shall be charged to and paid by the permittee. The Town Building Inspector or other designated official shall determine the amount of damages and any question concerning the permittee's responsibility in such damage. Such decision shall be reduced to written form and notice thereof shall be mailed to the permittee. Such decision shall be final and binding upon the permittee and the Town of Koshkonong unless the permittee appeals such decision by written notice to the Town Clerk within 10 days of receipt of such notice. Upon receipt of such appeal by the permittee, the Town Board shall set a date for a hearing on such issues not more than 30 days after the receipt of such appeal notice. At such hearing, the permittee may produce witnesses and evidence as it sees fit relating to the road damage. The Town Board shall also hear evidence in support of the initial determination. After hearing all such testimony and evidence, the Town Board shall render a decision both as to the causation of the damages and the amount of the damages.
D. 
Vehicle traffic and parking. Vehicles shall obey all Town traffic and parking ordinances. Such vehicles shall also not be parked on public roads or rights-of-way, except such vehicles may park up to a time period of 10 minutes with prior approval of the Town Board.
[Amended 3-13-2019 by Ord. No. 1]
E. 
Cleanup of roads. In the event the permittee causes any mud and/or sludge to be deposited or tracked onto any roads or highways within the Town of Koshkonong, the permittee shall remove the same immediately and if the cleanup is not performed to the satisfaction of the Town Board within two hours of the permittee having received notice of the same by telephone or in person, the Town Board may provide for such cleanup and the cost of the same shall be charged to and paid by the permittee. Presentation of the bill to permittee through the United States Mail shall constitute a final and binding decision upon the permittee, unless the permittee appeals such invoice within five days of receipt of the same. If the permittee makes such an appeal, the Town Board shall schedule a hearing as set forth with respect to road damage.
F. 
Traffic controls. Adequate traffic controls in the form of warning signs, lights, and personnel shall be maintained by the permittee at all times when sludge-spreading vehicles post any hazard or interference with pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
G. 
Application hours. Wastewater sludge application shall not begin prior to one hour after sunrise and shall not continue after 1/2 hour before sunset of each day. Wastewater sludge shall not be applied on Sundays, legal holidays, or Saturdays after noon. The permittee shall file, in writing, with the Town Clerk which roads are to be used for sludge transport.
H. 
Liability insurance. The permittee shall file with the Town Clerk satisfactory evidence that the applicant has obtained liability insurance in the amount of at least $1,000,000.
I. 
Surety bond. The applicant shall file with the Town Clerk a cash bond in the sum of $25,000 as a guarantee that the applicant will fully abide by all of the terms and provisions of this chapter. Each applicant need only file a cash bond once per year, regardless of the number of individual permits that one applicant may seek. The Town shall also require, as a condition of approval, execution of a road use agreement.
J. 
Submission of reports. The applicant shall send to the Town Clerk copies of all reports required by the county, state, or the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources at the same time the same are submitted to those agencies.
[Amended 3-13-2019 by Ord. No. 1]
The permittee shall pay to the Town of Koshkonong at the time of submitting its permit, a permit fee as provided in the Town Fee Schedule per application for each hauler at each site upon which sludge is to be applied, or spread, to defray costs to the Town of Koshkonong in inspecting the applicant's operations and to perform independent testing on the sludge. The permittee shall file with the Town Clerk a list of haulers and equipment/trucks to be utilized. The Town Board shall keep a record of sludge-related expenses with respect to each site. The Town Board may conduct additional soil testings to determine the ability of the soil upon the premises described in the application to absorb sludge in a safe fashion. The Town Board may also require sludge analysis of the sludge being spread upon the soil. The Town of Koshkonong may require at any time that a sufficient sample of sludge be taken and preserved from a truck(s) delivering sludge. The manner and type of such soil test and sludge analysis shall be determined by the Town Board and all costs and expenses for such soil test and sludge analysis shall be paid from the fees set forth herein. The Town Board of the Town of Koshkonong shall annually review such fees and make such adjustments as are necessary so that such fees bear a reasonable relationship to the Town of Koshkonong's sludge-related costs.
The Town Board shall designate an inspector or inspectors upon the granting of any permit hereunder. It shall be the duty of such inspector or inspectors to monitor the compliance of the permittee and otherwise act on behalf of and at the direction of the Town Board. The permittee shall fully cooperate with the inspector or inspectors in allowing access to the premises upon which the sludge is to be applied. The inspector(s) may require the permittee to conduct soil testing, from time to time, to determine the ability of the soil upon the site to absorb the sludge to be applied. The inspector(s) may also require the permittee to set aside samples as directed hereinbefore and deliver such sealed samples to the inspector(s).
[Amended 3-13-2019 by Ord. No. 1]
Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to the penalty provided in § 1-3, General penalty. Each day of noncompliance or violation shall be deemed as a separate and distinct offense.
If any of the provisions of this chapter are violated by the permittee, the Town Board may advise the permittee, in writing, of its intention to consider the revocation of the permit granted to the permittee, and a time, not less than 72 hours, at which the Town Board will meet for the purpose of determining any such revocation. Such written notice shall include the grounds for considering revocation. The permittee shall be allowed to present witnesses and evidence to the Town Board at such hearing. The determination of the Town Board shall be made, in writing, and delivered to the permittee personally or by certified mail and upon such delivery, such determination shall become effective.
Any person or party seeking to apply municipal wastewater sludge to lands located within the Town may do so only pursuant to this chapter or pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement entered into by and between the Town and the municipality generating such sludge, pursuant to § 66.0301, Wis. Stats. Such intergovernmental agreement shall control, not withstanding anything to the contrary contained herein.