[Amended 12-28-1970 by Ord. No. 359]
Garbage shall be collected in accordance with the agreement of Borough Council and the garbage collector and at such other times as Borough Council may provide.
[Adopted 11-6-1945 (Ch. IX, Part 1, of the 1979 Code of Ordinances)]
[Amended 12-28-1970 by Ord. No. 359; 11-8-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-01]
All garbage of this Borough shall be collected and removed by a responsible person under contract with the Borough and shall be disposed of by such person outside the limits of the Borough or be provided for in such contract. Garbage collections may be made by other persons other than the Borough's contractor or collector for all garbage in excess of the amount required to be collected by the Borough Collector. It shall be optional by any owner of property within the Borough containing six or more residential units to utilize the contractor selected by the Borough for the removal of solid waste and recyclables in the Borough; provided, however, for any such owner to utilize a contractor other than that contractor selected by the Borough, the property owner must: a) provide written notice to the Borough of said owner's intention to use another contractor; and b) provide the Borough with a copy of the signed contract for the removal of solid waste and recyclables from the property between the owner and the contractor. Any such election by a property owner must be made by the property owner in the manner described above by December 1, with the right to use the contractor selected by the property owner only becoming effective beginning January 1 of the subsequent year.
[Amended 6-7-1965 by Ord. No. 304]
The contractor shall be required to collect and remove garbage from within the Borough in vehicles which shall be equipped with water-tight beds constructed of an impervious material, and to so conduct the collection, removal and transportation of the garbage under such contract as to insure general sanitation throughout the entire process and operation thereof.
The contractor shall also be required to furnish, at his own cost, all vehicles, machinery and equipment necessary for the proper performance of such contract except that he shall not be required to furnish the receptacles and containers contemplated to be provided by householder and occupants of the premises from which garbage shall be collected.
[Amended 12-28-1970 by Ord. No. 359]
All residents of the Borough shall place the garbage accumulated upon the premises occupied by them in sound and tightly covered containers and shall place such containers at the designated pickup spot of the property so occupied. Where collections are made from a trailer park, cans must be placed along a public street.
Contracts under this article shall from time to time be let by the Borough Council to the lowest responsible bidder, and such contracts may contain in addition to the requirements of this article such other provisions not in conflict herewith as may be deemed advisable by the Borough Council and such contract or contracts shall be executed by the President and Secretary on behalf of the Borough. Contracts may be made in this manner for such period of time as the Borough Council may deem advisable.
[Amended 6-7-1965 by Ord. No. 304]
At its discretion, the Borough Council may require the contractor for the collection of garbage to give a bond, the sum fixed by the Council and with surety satisfactory to the Council, conditioned for the faithful performance of his contract.
[Amended 12-10-1984 by Ord. No. 1984-03; 12-9-1985 by Ord. No. 1985-07; 12-9-1985 by Ord. No. 1985-09; 10-10-1988 by Ord. No. 1988-06; 5-8-1989 by Ord. No. 1989-04; 1-13-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-01; 11-14-1994 by Ord. No. 1994-05; 6-12-1995 by Ord. No. 1995-04]
A.
Fees.
[Amended 2-10-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-01; 3-8-1999 by Ord. No. 1999-01; 9-11-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-02; 11-12-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-03; 12-8-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-02; 11-8-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-05; 12-10-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-05; 11-13-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-01; 5-9-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-03]
(1)
Fees for the collection of garbage and recyclables shall be assessed against each family unit at the following scheduled rate:
(a)
January 1 through December 31: amount as set from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
(2)
A "dwelling unit" shall be defined for purposes of this section as being a building or portion thereof arranged or designed for occupancy by not more than one family (as the word "family" is defined in Chapter 500, Zoning, in the Code of Mount Holly Springs) and having separate cooking and sanitary facilities. The owner of a boardinghouse or similar building where a room or rooms are rented for occupancy that do not contain in them separate cooking and sanitary facilities shall be charged a garbage collection fee of 1/2 the quarterly dwelling unit rate above for each such room leased for any part of a quarter.
B.
All fees shall be billed to the owner of the premises to which service is provided unless otherwise permitted by decision of Council upon request of the owner in writing. Accounts for trailer parks and apartments shall be billed based on the number of trailer units or apartment units. Restaurants, hotels, businesses, industries or institutions, if not otherwise serviced will be assessed at the same rate for each and every container of no more than 75 pounds or equivalent amount of garbage and refuse to a limit of three pieces a week. Borough Council is hereby authorized to change the fee schedule by resolution at any time.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
C.
All bills will be rendered at stated intervals, at least quarterly, for a specific service period preceding the billing date, except as modified herein.
D.
All bills shall be paid by the date shown on the bill. Payment must be made to the Borough of Mount Holly Springs and be received by the due date.
E.
All owners or customers who have not paid their bills by the due date shall be sent a past-due notice instructing them to pay within 10 days of the date of the notice. If past-due bills and penalties are not paid within 10 days of the past-due notice, assumpsit action will be filed with the Magisterial District Judge or applicable Court of Common Pleas.
F.
Bills remaining unpaid after the due date shall be assessed a 10% penalty on the unpaid balance. In addition to the penalty, an administrative fee as set from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council shall be charged on any bills filed with the Magisterial District Judge in addition to all costs of prosecution and reasonable attorneys' fees associated with such collection, if provided by law.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
G.
All bills shall be rendered to the owner as provided herein whether the premises for which the fee is assessed shall be vacant or occupied. An owner may request in writing that the garbage collection service and billing for a unit or premises be discontinued, if the premises shall be vacant for any one full quarter or longer. Such written request shall be made and must be received by the Borough prior to the quarter when the premises shall be vacant. The owner shall be billed and pay a ready access fee as set from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council for each quarter that the garbage collection service is discontinued. The discontinuance of garbage collection service is provided by the Mount Holly Springs Borough Authority and for those units or properties for which a ready access fee is being paid. If the premises or unit is occupied for any portion of a quarter, the owner shall be responsible for paying the quarterly garbage collection service fee assessed against the unit in full without proration.
[Amended 5-10-1999 by Ord. No. 1999-03; 3-8-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-01; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
H.
In addition to any other remedies provided by law, the Borough of Mount Holly Springs reserves the right to terminate the trash collection service provided to a premises or unit upon failure to pay any fee or charge assessed by the due date.
[Added 7-11-1994 by Ord. No. 1994-04]
All bills remaining unpaid after 30 days have elapsed from the date they are due may be collected by an action in assumpsit in the name of the Borough against the owner of the property charged. In the event an action in assumpsit is initiated to collect the amounts due hereunder, in addition to all applicable charges, fees, administrative fees, penalties and interest, the owner of the property charged shall pay and be responsible for all reasonable attorney's fees and costs associated with and relating to the prosecution of such legal action.
[Added 5-13-1996 by Ord. No. 1996-02; amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
In the event attorney fees are incurred or sought to be collected in reference to any delinquent account, said fees shall be sought and/or incurred in accordance with the provisions of 53 P.S. § 7106 as supplemented by ordinance respecting the schedule of attorney fees as made reference therein.