[Adopted 11-24-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-1314 (Ch. A138A of the 1966 Code)]
The use of all sanitary sewers in the Borough of Montvale shall be in compliance with the rules and regulations of the Bergen County Utilities Authority (BCUA).
The Borough of Montvale does hereby adopt and enact an excess usage charge system for the use of the sanitary sewers in the Borough of Montvale. All users, except exempt users, shall be required to pay an annual pro rata charge computed on an ad valorem basis in relation to the assessed value of real property owned by the user within the Borough of Montvale. In addition, an annual excess usage charge shall be computed on the previous calendar year's water usage, as reported by the appropriate water purveyor, and the BCUA's current calendar year's equivalent rate per gallon of flow and shall be billed in accordance with the procedures as set forth in § 319-28.
[Amended 5-11-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-1325]
A. 
Except as otherwise set forth herein, all users whose usage for the prior year was less than or equal to 230,000 gallons shall be exempt from the excess usage charge.
B. 
All users whose usage for the prior year was more than 230,000 gallons shall pay an excess usage charge equal to 100% of the BCUA's current year's equivalent rate for each gallon in excess of 230,000 gallons used. To determine the annual excess user charges for all users, the charges are calculated based on the following formula:
Annual Excess User Charge = (Vu – 230,000 gallons) x Re
Where:
Vu
=
Previous calendar year's water usage (in gallons)
Re
=
Current year's annual BCUA equivalent rate per gallon, calculated as follows:
Commercial user:
Re
=
[Rf + (1.5 x Rbod x Cbod x 8.34) + (1.5 x Rtss x Ctss x 8.34)]/1,000,000
Industrial user:
Re
=
[Rf + (2.0 x Rbod x Cbod x 8.34) + (2.0 x Rtss x Ctss x 8.34)]/1,000,000
All other users (residential, churches, Board of Education, other tax exempt, etc.)
Re
=
[Rf + (1.0 x Rbod x Cbod x 8.34) + (1.0 x Rtss x Ctss x 8.34)]/1,000,000
Where:
Rf
=
Current year's annual BCUA flow rate for treatment of a unit of wastewater flow (rate/million gallons)
Rbod
=
Current year's annual BCUA BOD rate for treatment of a unit of BOD (rate/1,000 pounds)
Cbod
=
Average BCUA municipal BOD concentration in milligrams per liter
Rtss
=
Current year's annual BCUA TSS rate for treatment of a unit of TSS (rate/1,000 pounds)
Ctss
=
Average BCUA municipal TSS concentration in milligrams per liter
C. 
Except as otherwise set forth herein concerning apartments and condominiums, for the purposes of calculating the 230,000 gallon threshold, and the amount of the sewer user charge, each water meter, regardless of the number of tenants, businesses or occupants occupying such real property at which the meter is located shall be considered a single user. The annual sewer user charge shall be billed to the owner of such real property.
D. 
Calculations under this section shall include water utilized by a user from public water systems as well as private wells.
E. 
Notwithstanding anything in this article to the contrary, the threshold for all apartment buildings and condominiums shall be calculated by multiplying the 230,000 gallon threshold times the number of dwelling units in the apartment or condominium. The owner/operator of an apartment building or condominium complex, and/or an officer of the condominium association, shall certify to the Borough the number of dwelling units in each apartment building or condominium complex, as the case may be, served by each water meter. By way of example, the threshold for imposition of the excess usage charge for an apartment building with four dwelling units would be 920,000 gallons, calculated as follows:
4 apartments
x
230,000 gallons
=
920,000 gallons
(dwelling units)
x
(gallons per dwelling unit)
=
(threshold for excess usage charge)
This provision shall not apply to townhouses.
The following users are exempt from the excess usage charge provided herein:
A. 
The Borough of Montvale.
B. 
Farmland.
C. 
Water meters exempted under § 319-26.
D. 
Any users whose annual bill as calculated under this article is $50 or less in a given calendar year.
All privately owned water wells which are connected to water systems eventually discharging into the sanitary sewers of the Borough of Montvale shall be subject to the following provisions:
A. 
The owners of wells existing as of the date of adoption of this article shall notify the Municipal Clerk of the Borough of Montvale, in writing, of the existence and location of such wells within 30 days after the date of passage of this article.
B. 
The owners of wells constructed or completed after the adoption of this article shall notify the Municipal Clerk of the Borough of Montvale, in writing, of the existence and location of such wells within 30 days of the first usage of such well.
C. 
The Borough Engineer of the Borough of Montvale may inspect such well to determine the usage thereof. If, in the opinion of the Borough Engineer, such well's actual water production, together with the other water usage of the owner thereof, exceeds 230,000 gallons of water per year, the Borough Engineer shall submit his opinion, in writing, to the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Montvale. After receiving such opinion, the Borough Council may require the owner of such well to install and maintain a water meter thereon, at the owner's expense, by adoption of a resolution.
D. 
If a water meter is required by resolution as provided in Subsection C above, the owner must install such meter within 60 days of adoption thereof. If the owner shall fail to do so, the Borough Council of the Borough of Montvale may, by resolution, provide for the installation of such meter and add the cost thereof to the excess usage charge levied under this article.
Water meters certified, in writing, from the appropriate water purveyor as used solely for the purpose of metering water usage of irrigation systems shall be exempt from the excess usage calculation under § 319-23. Such certification must identify the separate account number assigned to the meter, meter location, property owner's name and billing address. Exempt meters under this provision must be recertified annually to the Borough. The cost of certifying exempt water meters will be the responsibility of the respective property owner.
Before any sewer shall be permitted to flow into any sanitary sewer of the Borough of Montvale, the Plumbing Subcode Official shall first determine that such sewer and associated drains function properly, in accordance with all applicable rules, regulations and ordinances of the Borough of Montvale.
Billing for the excess usage charge imposed by §§ 319-22 and 319-23 hereof shall be in accordance with the following procedures:
A. 
In March of each year, the Chief Financial Officer shall attend to the preparation of bills computed on the previous calendar year's usage and the current calendar year's flow charge rate.
B. 
Bills shall be mailed by the Municipal Tax Collector of the Borough of Montvale to the owners of all properties incurring excess usage charges twice annually, not later than March 1 of each year and not later than September 1 of each year.
C. 
Bills are due and payable to the Borough of Montvale on April 1 and October 1 of each year. If such charges are not paid in full as of that date, the unpaid charges shall be deemed delinquent from such date and such unpaid charges shall become a lien upon the properties incurring them as of that date.
D. 
All excess usage charges which become delinquent under the provisions of Subsection C above shall bear interest and penalties from the date of delinquency at the same rate as all charges for general taxation and shall be collected and enforced in the same manner as general taxation.
E. 
No charge levied by §§ 319-22 and 319-23 shall be invalid by reason of error or omission in stating the name of the owner or owners of the property affected by such charge if such property or properties have actually incurred such charges.
F. 
No charge levied by §§ 319-22 and 319-23 shall be invalid by reason of the failure of a property owner to receive a bill. Every owner is hereby put on notice to ascertain from the Borough of Montvale the amount which may become due for such charges.
Not fewer than three copies of the rules and regulations of the BCUA shall be on file with the office of the Municipal Clerk of the Borough of Montvale for public inspection during the Borough's business hours. In addition, copies of such rules and regulations are available from the BCUA for the costs of publication thereof.
The Mayor and Clerk of the Borough of Montvale are hereby authorized to act as signatories upon, and to execute on behalf of the Borough of Montvale, any amendment of the existing service agreement with the BCUA which embodies the intent and purpose of this article.