[Adopted 11-18-2002 by Ord. No. 133]
As used herein, the following terms shall have the meanings
stated:
Charleston Township Municipal Authority, a municipal authority
organized and existing under the laws of the commonwealth.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Any property within this Township upon which there is erected
a structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy
or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sanitary
sewage and/or wastewater shall be or may be discharged.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any improved property.
Any individual, company, association, society, trust, corporation,
municipality, municipality authority of any group or entity.
Property which is within 150 feet from the sewer or sewer
system.
The normal, water-carried household and toilet wastes resulting
from human occupancy.
Any pipe or conduit constituting a part of the sewer system
used or usable for sewage collection purposes.
All facilities, as of any particular time, for collecting,
transmitting, treating or disposing of sanitary sewage and/or wastewater
situate in or adjacent to this Township, and owned by the Authority.
The Township of Charleston, Tioga County, Pennsylvania, acting
by and through its Supervisors, or in appropriate cases, by and through
its authorized representative.
The liquid and water-carried industrial or domestic waste
from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, and institutions,
whether treated or untreated, which is contributed into or permitted
to enter the sewer system.
Upon completion of any Authority sewer system, the Authority
shall request the Township to cause notice to be published once in
a newspaper of general circulation in the Township, such notice to
state that owners of any improved property that is property accessible
to the sewer system shall connect such improved property with and
use such sewer system in such manner as this Township may require,
within 90 days after notice to such owner from this Township to make
such connection, for the purpose of discharging all sanitary sewage
and wastewater from such improved property. The Authority, as agent
for the Township, shall cause a copy of such notice, to be served
by personal service or by registered mail, upon each person known
to the Authority to own such property not then so connected.
A.
The owner of any improved property that is property accessible to the sewer system shall, at his own expense, install sanitary facilities in such building and connect the same to the sewer system within 90 days after publication of the notice of completion of the sewer specified in § 223-59.
B.
Any owner of improved property hereafter erected that is property
accessible to the sewer system shall, at the time of erection and
at his expense, install sanitary facilities in such building and connect
the same to the sewer system.
C.
Any owner of improved property that is not property accessible to
the sewer system who is nevertheless able to arrange for connections
to the sewer system through adjoining properties may be permitted
to make such connection.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to construct or use on an improved property that is property accessible to the sewer system any privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank, or similar receptacle or device for the collection, storage, transportation or disposal of sanitary sewage and wastewater not connected to the sewer system. Any such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank, or similar receptacle or device constructed or used in violation hereof is hereby declared to be a nuisance which shall be abated as provided by law. In addition, any such construction or use shall be reported to the proper law enforcement authorities for prosecution under any other applicable law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Violations of this section shall also be subject to the penalties set forth in § 223-66 of this article.
B.
The owner of each improved property within the Township that is property
accessible to the sewer system shall abandon every privy vault, cesspool,
sinkhole, septic tank, or similar receptacle or device in existence
on or in the improved property from its use as such. Such abandonment
shall be completed at the time of the connection of the improved property
to the sewer system. Thereafter, no such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole,
septic tank, or similar receptacle or device shall be used in any
manner for the collection, storage, transportation or disposal of
sanitary sewage or wastewater, nor shall it be used by the owner of
said improved property in the connection of such improved property
to the sewer system.
No person shall make or shall cause to be made a connection
of any improved property to the sewer system until such person shall
have fulfilled each of the following conditions:
A.
Such person shall have notified the Executive Director of the Authority,
or any other designee, of the desire and intention to connect such
improved property to the sewer system;
B.
Such person shall have given the Executive Director of the Authority
at least 24 hours' notice of the time when such connection will be
made so that the Authority may supervise and inspect or may cause
to be supervised or inspected the work of connection and necessary
testing; and
C.
If applicable, such person shall have furnished satisfactory evidence
to the Executive Director of the Authority that any tapping (or connection)
fee that may be charged and imposed by the Authority against the owner
of each improved property who connects such improved property to the
sewer system has been paid.
The Authority is hereby authorized to prepare rules and regulations
regarding connections, fees, permits, service charges for, and operation
of the sewer system to be constructed, and regarding the constituents,
concentrations and quantities of sanitary sewage and wastewater permitted
to enter the sewer system.
No connection shall be made to the sewer system except upon payment to the Authority of the prescribed tapping (or connection) fee to be set by resolution from time to time by the Authority, and upon permit issued by the Authority pursuant to its rules and regulations regarding connections. Violations of this section shall also be subject to the penalties set forth in § 223-66 of this article.
If any person required by § 223-60 hereof to make a connection to the sewer system fails to do so within 90 days after the notice referred to in § 223-59 hereof has been served upon him, the Authority shall report such failure to the Township, and the Township shall be requested to proceed, in its own right or through its agents, as provided by law, to enter upon the property, to make such connection and collect from such owner the costs and expenses thereof by municipal claim, civil action at law, or such other legal proceedings as may be permitted by law in the name of the Township. Such persons failing to make such connection shall also be subject to the penalties set forth in § 223-66 of this article. The Township hereby appoints the Authority as its agent for purposes of this section. Any powers the Township possesses may be used by its agents in accordance with this section.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person who shall violate this article shall be served, either
by personal service or by registered mail, by the Authority with written
notice stating the nature of the violation and prescribing a reasonable
time limit for the correction thereof. Any person continuing such
violation beyond such time limit shall, upon being found liable therefor
in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township before
a Magisterial District Judge, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus
all court costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, incurred by
the Township in the enforcement of this article. Each day a violation
exists shall constitute a separate offense. Each separate building
or dwelling unit in respect to which a violation occurs shall also
be deemed a separate offense. If the defendant neither pays nor timely
appeals the judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant
to the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure. Further, the appropriate
officers or agents of the Township are hereby authorized to seek equitable
relief, including injunction, to enforce compliance herewith.
It is declared that the enactment of this article is necessary
for the protection, benefit and preservation of the health, safety
and welfare of inhabitants of the Township.
