Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning
of terms used in this ordinance shall be as follows:
BOD (DENOTING BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND)
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation
of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days
at 20° C., expressed in milligrams per liter.
BERRIEN COUNTY SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM NO. 7 or SYSTEM NO. 7
The sewage disposal system established by the County of Berrien,
pursuant to Act No. 185 of Michigan Public Acts of 1957, as amended, by contracts, dated as of January 8, 1976, as amended
April 29, 1976, and as may be further amended, between the County
and the Local units.
BUILDING DRAIN
That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system
which receives the discharge from soil, waste, and other drainage
pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building
sewer, beginning five feet outside the inner face of the building
wall.
BUILDING SEWER
The extension from the building drain to the public sanitary
sewer main, or other place of disposal, whether on public or private
property.
GALIEN RIVER SANITARY DISTRICT OR DISTRICT
That unit or district as established through contracts by
and between Berrien County, Chikaming Township, New Buffalo Township,
and the City of New Buffalo, dated as of October 13, 1971, as amended.
GARBAGE
Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation,
cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage, and
sale of produce.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes,
trade, or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.
LOCAL UNITS
One or more of the following governmental units: Chikaming
Township, New Buffalo Township, City of New Buffalo.
NATURAL OUTLET
Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other
body of surface or ground water.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation,
or group.
pH
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen
ions in grams per liter of solution.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE
The wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing
of food that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles
will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing
in public sewers, with no particle greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension.
PUBLIC SEWER
A sewer main located in a public street or right-of-way in
which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights and is controlled
by a public authority and includes all sewers in the City, but shall
not include a building sewer or any connection thereto which serves
only one building or owner.
[Amended 10-18-2021 by Ord. No. 251]
SANITARY SEWER
A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface,
and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.
SEWAGE
A combination of the water carried wastes from residences,
business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together
with such ground, surface, and stormwaters as may be present.
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT
Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating
sewage and specifically the treatment plant serving the City and its
residents and located in New Buffalo Township.
SEWAGE WORKS
All the facilities for collecting, pumping, treating, and
disposing of sewage and includes all such facilities in the City.
SEWER
A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
SHALL; MAY
"Shall" is mandatory; "may" is permissive.
SLUG
Any discharge of water, sewage, or industrial waste which
in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds
for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes more than five times
the average twenty-four hour concentration of flows during normal
operation.
SUPERINTENDENT
The Joint Board of the District or its authorized deputy,
agent, or representative.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
Solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension
in water, sewage, or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory
filtering.
WATERCOURSE
A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously
or intermittently.
The complete sewer and sewage disposal system of the City, including
all main and lateral sewers, sewage treatment plant, intercepting
and collecting sewers, and all works, instrumentalities, or properties
used or useful in the collection, treatment, and disposal of sewage
and industrial wastes, as now existing or as hereafter added to, extended,
or improved, shall be operated and maintained on a public utility
basis, as authorized by law, particularly Act No. 94, Public Acts
of 1933, as amended, and Section 123.243, Compiled Laws of Michigan, 1948,
being Act No. 320, Public Acts of 1927, Section 3, as amended. The area to be served by said system is hereby divided
into two parts as follows:
A. Service Area No. 1, to consist of the area served by collecting sewers
financed by the $375,000 General Obligation Bonds, and all extensions
thereto.
B. Service Area No. 2 to consist of the area served by collecting sewers
financed in part by the $1,335,000 Berrien County Sewage Disposal
System No. 7 Bonds (City of New Buffalo portion) (hereinafter the
"1975 Bonds") issued through Berrien County and financed in part by
governmental grants.
The City sewage disposal system shall have an operating or fiscal
year commencing on July 1 of each year and ending on June 30 of the
following year.
Subject to the provisions of the Sewage Disposal System Contract
dated January 8, 1976, between Berrien County and the City of New
Buffalo and the Townships of Chikaming and New Buffalo, regarding
the part of the system to be financed by the 1975 Bonds and related
governmental grants, the complete sewage disposal system of the City,
as defined in Section 16-1, shall be and remain under the management,
supervision, and control of the City Council which may employ or designate
such persons, in such capacities as it deems advisable, to carry on
the efficient management and operation of such system. The City Council
may make such rules, orders, and regulations as it deems advisable
and necessary to assure the efficient management and operation of
such system.
[Amended 4-15-2008 by Ord. No. 176]
The rates to be charged for sewer and sewage disposal service
furnished by the City system shall be prescribed by resolution of
the City Council, from time to time, and such rates and charges shall
be collected for the use of and the service rendered by such sewage
disposal works from the owners or occupants for each lot, parcel,
or real estate or building that is connected with or uses such works
by or through any part of the sewage system of the City.
A. Industrial wastes. In the event a lot, parcel, or real estate or
building discharges sewage in the form of industrial waste, either
directly or indirectly, into the public sewage system of the City,
and the City finds it is not practicable to attempt to measure such
wastes by meter, it shall measure the same in such manner and by such
method as it may find practical in the light of the conditions and
attendant circumstances of the case in order to determine the rates
and charges according to the corresponding rates provided in this
chapter. If the City finds that it is practicable to attempt to measure
such wastes by meter, then the owner of the property shall install
and maintain a meter acceptable to the City upon 10 days' notice.
B. Special rates and charges in certain cases. In order that the sewer
rates and charges may be justly and equitably adjusted to the service
rendered, the City shall have the right to base its charges not only
on volume, but also on the strength and character of the sewage and
wastes discharged, either directly or indirectly into the City's public
sewer system in such manner and by such method as it may find practical,
in the light of the conditions and attending circumstances of the
case in order to determine the proper charges. Such charges shall,
where deemed necessary, be adjusted on a flat rate basis by the month
of the year.
C. Service to City. The City shall be subject to the terms of this chapter
and the City shall pay for the services rendered it by the public
sewer system and sewage treatment works.
D. Charges to be billed concurrently with water billing. Such ready-to-serve
charges and sewer service charges shall be billed concurrently with
the water billing period as such billing practices may be established
by the City Council from time to time.
E. Sewer service fee billing. Each property owner shall be responsible
for the sewer service fees for each of their properties. The City
shall not transfer responsibility for any sewer service fees to a
tenant.
F. Free service prohibited. No free service shall be rendered by the
sewage disposal system to any person, firm, or corporation, public
or private, or to any public agency or instrumentality.
G. Service outside City. The City Council shall also establish rates
for supplying sewage disposal service to premises located outside
the City, which rates shall not be less but may be more than the rates
provided for service furnished to premises within the City.
H. Billing and collection generally. Sewage disposal rates shall be
billed and collected, subject to the same terms and conditions respecting
payment, as are provided for water bills. Such rates shall be shown
in a separate item on each water bill, except in such cases where
there is no water connection, in which event a separate sewage disposal
bill shall be sent. Billing shall be under the supervision and direction
of the Water Department of the City.
I. Lien for charges. The charges for sewage disposal service which are,
under the provisions of Section 21 of Act No. 94, Public Acts of 1933,
as amended, made a lien on all premises served thereby are hereby
recognized to constitute such lien, and whenever any such charge against
any piece of property shall be delinquent for six months, the City
officials in charge of the collection thereof shall certify to the
tax assessing officer of the City the fact of such delinquency, whereupon
such charge shall be entered upon the next tax roll as a charge against
such premises and shall be collected and the lien thereof enforced
in the same manner as general City taxes against such premises are
collected and the lien thereof enforced.
J. Additional collection remedies; shutting off water for nonpayment.
In addition to other remedies provided, the City shall have the right
to shut off and discontinue the supply of water to any premises for
the nonpayment of sewer and sewage disposal rates, when due, or civil
action may be brought in court in the name of the City for payment.
[Amended 4-15-2008 by Ord. No. 176]
A. Public sanitary sewage systems are essential to the health, safety
and welfare of the people of the state and the City. Septic tank disposal
systems are subject to failure due to soil conditions or other reasons.
Failure or potential failure of septic tank disposal systems poses
a threat to the public health, safety, and welfare, presents a potential
for ill health, transmission of disease, mortality, and potential
economic blight and constitutes a threat to the quality of surface
and subsurface waters of the state and City. The connection to available
public sanitary sewer systems at the earliest, reasonable date is
a matter for the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare
and necessary in the public interest which is declared as a matter
of legislative determination.
B. Structures in which sanitary sewage originates located in the City
in the area served by the system for which there is an available public
sanitary sewer of the system shall not be used or occupied, after
the effective date hereof, unless said structures are connected to
the sewage disposal system; provided, that structures within the City
in which sanitary sewage is originating on the effective date hereof
or in which sanitary sewage originates before availability of the
system or any part thereof to serve said structures shall be connected
to said system within 90 days after publication of a notice by the
City of the availability of the system in a newspaper of general circulation
in the City, to be designated by the City Council. Plats for premises
in the area served by the system subdivided into three or more lots
or parcels, after the effective date hereof, shall not be approved
on behalf of the City and none of said lots or parcels shall be improved
by the erection of a structure thereon unless lateral sewers to serve
all of said lots or parcels and to connect same to the system are
available as part of the system or shall be installed at private cost
(or the estimated cost thereof deposited with the City) in the manner,
size, and location approved by the City. Where a structure in which
sanitary sewage originates has not been connected to an available
public sanitary sewer within the time period provided above, the City
shall require the connection to be made forthwith after notice, which
may be by first class or certified mail or posting on the property,
to the owner of the property on which the structure is located. The
notice shall give the approximate location of the public sanitary
sewer system which is available for connection of the structure involved
and shall advise the owner of the requirements and of the enforcement
provisions of this chapter and other applicable law. The term "available
public sanitary sewer" shall be construed to mean a public sanitary
sewer system, whether publicly or privately financed, located in a
right-of-way, easement, highway, street, or public way which crosses,
adjoins, or abuts upon the premises and passing not more than 200
feet at the nearest point from a structure in which sanitary sewage
originates, provided that in the event a state agency shall require
connection to the system, the aforesaid restriction of 200 feet shall
be inapplicable and the term "available public sanitary sewer" shall
include the public sanitary sewer system at the nearest point from
a structure in which sanitary sewage originates. The term "structure
in which sanitary sewage originates" or "structure' shall be construed
to mean a building in which toilet, kitchen, laundry, bathing, or
other facilities which generate water-carried sanitary sewage, are
used or are available for use for household, commercial, industrial,
or other purposes.
The revenues of the sewage disposal system derived from the
collection of such rates as are established by and under Section 16-5
are hereby ordered to be set aside as collected in an institution
specified by the City Council, in a separate depository fund to be
designated the "sewage disposal system receiving fund" (hereinafter
referred to as the receiving fund), and the revenues in such fund
are pledged for the purpose of the following funds, and shall be transferred
from the receiving fund periodically in the manner and at the times
hereinafter specified:
A. Out of the revenues in the receiving fund, there shall be first set
aside, monthly, into a separate depository fund designated the "operation
and maintenance fund," a sum sufficient to provide for the payment
of the next month's current expenses of administration and operation
of such system, and such current expenses for the maintenance thereof
as may be necessary to preserve the same in good repair and working
order. A budget, showing in detail the estimated costs of administration,
operation, and maintenance of the sewage disposal system for the next
ensuing fiscal year shall be prepared by the City Manager at the same
time as he/she is required by the City Charter to prepare the annual
City budget, which budget shall be approved by the City Council. The
amounts transferred into the operation and maintenance fund during
each year shall not exceed the amount set forth in such budget, unless
approved by a 2/3 vote of the City Council.
B. Out of the revenues remaining in the receiving fund after provision
has been made for expenses of operation and maintenance of the sewage
disposal system, there shall be next set aside, monthly, into the
"debt retirement fund" of the City, all the remaining revenues of
such system, the money so set aside into such fund to be allocated
and set aside on the books and records of the City and used and applied
solely and only for the payment of the principal of and interest on
the general obligation sewage disposal system bonds in the aggregate
principal amount of $375,000 referred to in Section 16-2 of this
chapter, provided that moneys not required for said payment of principal
and interest on said bonds may be used for any other purpose connected
with the system.
The City Council shall cause to be maintained and kept proper
books of record and account, in which shall be made full and correct
entries of all transactions relating to the sewage disposal system.
Such books of record and account shall be audited annually by a certified
public accountant, to be designated by the City Council, and a certified
copy of such audit shall be filed with the City Clerk.
[Amended 7-20-2020 by Ord. No. 246]
A. No unauthorized and unlicensed person shall uncover, make any connections
with or opening into, use, alter, or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance
thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the District.
B. There shall be two classes of building sewer permits: (1) For residential
and commercial service, and (2) For service to establishments producing
industrial wastes. In either case, the owner or their agent shall
make application on a special form furnished by the City. The permit
application will be supplemented by any plans, specifications, or
other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the Superintendent.
A permit and inspection fee for an industrial building sewer permit
shall be paid to the City Treasurer at the time the application is
filed.
C. All costs and expense incident to the installation and connection
of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner of the property
on which the building is located. Further, such owner shall be fully
responsible for and pay all costs incurred if any portion of the building
sewer, building drain, or any related fixtures under the control of
the owner become plugged, blocked, or backed up. The owner shall be
responsible for paying all costs to correct any overflow, backup,
or damage in such fixtures and shall indemnify the City from any loss
or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by their installation,
connection, maintenance, or operation.
D. A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every
building; except where a building stands at the rear of another on
an interior lot and no private sewer is available or can be constructed
to the rear building through an adjoining alley, court, yard, or driveway,
the building sewer from the front building may be extended to the
rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer.
E. Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings
only when they are found, upon examination and test by the Superintendent,
to meet all requirements of this chapter.
F. The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building
sewer, and the methods to be used in excavation, placing of the pipe,
jointing, testing, and backfilling the trench, shall all conform to
the requirements of the building and plumbing code or applicable rules
and regulations of the City. In the absence of code provisions or
in amplification thereof, the materials and procedures set forth in
appropriate specifications of the ASTM and WPCF Manual of Practice
No. 9 shall apply.
G. Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be brought to the building
at an elevation below the basement floor. In all buildings in which
any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public
sewer, sewage carried by such building drain shall be lifted by an
approved means and discharged to the building sewer.
H. No person shall make connection of roof downspouts, exterior foundation
drains, areaway drains, or other sources of surface runoff or groundwater
to a building sewer of building drain which in turn is connected directly
or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer.
I. The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall
conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing code or other
applicable rules and regulations of the City, or the procedures set
forth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM and WPCF Manual of
Practice No. 9. All such connections shall be made gastight and watertight.
Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be
approved by the District before installation.
J. The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the District
when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to
the public sewer. The connection shall be made under the supervision
of the Superintendent or his/her representative.
K. All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately
guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from
hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways, and other public property disturbed
in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory
to the Superintendent.
No unauthorized person shall maliciously, willfully, or negligently
break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface, or tamper with any structure,
appurtenance, or equipment which is a part of the municipal sewage
works. Any person violating this provision shall be subject to immediate
arrest under charge of disorderly conduct.
[Amended 12-16-2019 by Ord. No. 245]
A. The Superintendent
and other duly authorized employees of the District or the City, bearing
proper credentials and identification, shall be permitted to enter
upon all properties for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement,
sampling, and testing in accordance with the provisions of this chapter,
including the provisions of this chapter regarding unlawful sump pump
connections or other prohibited discharges into the sanitary sewer
system.
B. In the
absence of exigent circumstances, the owner of any dwelling, building,
or other structure shall have a period of 30 days from the date the
District of the City sends a written notice to the owner requesting
admittance to the owner's property for an inspection to either allow
the inspection or to contract with a licensed plumber to perform the
inspection, and certify the requesting agency of the results thereof.
If the inspection reveals that the property is improperly discharging
stormwater into the City sanitary sewer system, then the owner shall
have a period of 30 days from the date the City sends such written
notice to the owner to obtain a plumbing permit and to disconnect
the owner's sump pump or other prohibited discharge into the City
sanitary sewer system and to request reinspection, certifying that
all work necessary to disconnect the owner's sump pump or other prohibited
discharge from said property into the City sanitary sewer system has
been completed. All work that is necessary to comply with the provisions
of this section that require the issuance of any plumbing, building,
or other permit under shall be inspected by the City, the District,
or a licensed plumber for compliance with all applicable code requirements.
C. If a property owner refuses to submit to an inspection as required by Subsection
B above, or fails to take corrective action as required by that subsection, an inflow/infiltration surcharge of $100 per month shall be added to the sewer account for the property until compliance is achieved. This monthly surcharge is intended to offset the added cost to the City associated with having the City wastewater collection, conveyance, and treatment system process clear or clean water (inflow/infiltration).
D. If the
owner leases the subject property, the owner has a duty to provide
these notices to every tenant of the property. No lease or other contract
purporting to shift maintenance or repair obligations to a tenant
shall relieve owner's obligations to comply with these regulations.
Tenants in any property within the City have an obligation to cooperate
with the owner and the City, the District, and their designees with
respect to the completion of any required inspections or necessary
modifications.
E. The Superintendent
or his/her representatives shall have no authority to inquire into
any processes, including metallurgical, chemical, oil, refining, ceramic,
paper, or other industries beyond that point having a direct bearing
on the kind and source of discharge to the sewers or waterways or
facilities for waste treatment.