[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Oxford 12-16-1993 by Ord. No. 93-15 (Ch. 77A of the 1974 Township Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Land use procedures – See Ch. 51.
Off-tract improvements – See Ch. 226.
Site plan review – See Ch. 265.
Solid waste – See Ch. 280.
Stormwater management – See Ch. 285.
Streets and sidewalks – See Ch. 294.
Subdivision of land – See Ch. 298.
A. 
A publicly owned sewer utility is hereby established by the Township of Oxford, Warren County, New Jersey. Said facility shall be known as the “Oxford Township Sewer Utility." The purpose of said Utility shall be to construct, operate, maintain, manage and control all sewer facilities, as defined by N.J.S.A. 40A:26A-3, and all extensions and improvements thereof, situate in and constructed or acquired at public expense by the Township of Oxford, to fix the amount and charges for the use thereof, and to provide rules and regulations therefor.
B. 
The Oxford Township Sewer Utility, as herein created, shall be deemed to be a separate entity having all of the powers as more specifically enumerated in N.J.S.A. 40A:26A-5.
C. 
The Oxford Township Sewer Utility governing body shall consist of three members, which said members shall be appointed by the Mayor and Committee of the Township of Oxford.
All moneys derived from the operation of the Oxford Township Sewer Utility (including but not limited to annual user fees and connection fees) and any other moneys applicable to its support shall be segregated by the Township and kept in a separate fund which shall be known as the "Township of Oxford Sewer Utility Fund." Said fund shall be used as required to:
A. 
Recover and/or pay all costs of acquisition, construction or operation, including the costs of raw materials, administration, real or personal property, maintenance, taxes, debt service charges, debt interest, fees, insurance, improvements, extensions, enlargements and/or replacements.
B. 
Establish a surplus in an amount sufficient to provide for the reasonable anticipation of any contingency that may affect the operation of the sewer facility and, at the discretion of the Township, allow for the transfer of moneys from the budget for the sewer facilities to the local budget in accordance with Section 5 of P.L. 1983, c. 111 (N.J.S.A. 40A:4-35.1).
A. 
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
The individual designated as the agent and representative of the Township of Oxford charged with the operation of the Oxford Township Sewer Utility system.
AGENT
The designated representative of the owner of the property or, in the absence of instructions from the owner or his duly authorized agent to the contrary, the occupant of any property or premises.
BUILDING SEWER
A sewer pipe, including fittings, which carries wastewater from a building of any kind to the sewer stub connection.
COMMERCIAL CONCERN
Any concern engaged in service, trade, traffic or commerce in general, including concerns which provide recreational and municipal services (industrial concerns are excluded).
INDUSTRIAL CONCERN
Any concern engaged primarily in a manufacturing or processing operation or in research and development activities.
INSTITUTION
Any charitable, hospital, relief, training, correctional, reformatory or public institution.
OWNER
Any person or persons actually owning any property or premises, or that person's duly authorized agent.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group.
SANITARY SEWER
Any appurtenance which carries or is intended to carry wastewater and into which stormwater, surface water and groundwater is not intentionally admitted.
SEWER SYSTEM
All pipes, conduits, manholes, siphons, pumping and ejecting facilities, force mains, treatment plants and other appurtenances installed on public roads or other public property, rights-of-way, easements or private property by consent of the owner, within the boundaries of the Township of Oxford, owned and maintained by the Township of Oxford, or its authorized agents, for the express purpose of collecting wastewater. It also includes any such system installed by any private person or public agency within the boundaries of the Township of Oxford where the provisions of this chapter are applicable by reason of valid consent of the owner or operator of said system, or any such system installed or maintained beyond the boundaries of the Township of Oxford where the provisions of this chapter are applicable by reason of the valid consent of the owner or operator of said system, or any such system installed or maintained beyond the boundaries of the Township of Oxford where the provisions of this chapter are applicable by reason of the valid consent of the municipality in which said system is situated.
STREET
Any and all streets, avenues, highways and roads, whether or not publicly used, dedicated or accepted by the Municipality.
UNIT
Shall be considered as a single-family dwelling, each apartment, each motel room, each hotel room, each store, home unit, lodging home or other lodging units, mobile home and industrial building.
USER
Any person that discharges or causes or permits the discharge of wastewater into the public sewers.
WASTE
Sewerage and any and all other waste substances, liquid, solid, gaseous or radioactive, associated with human habitation or of human or animal origin or from any producing, manufacturing or processing operation of whatever nature, including such waste placed within containers of whatever nature prior to and for purposes of disposal.
WASTEWATER
A combination of water-carried wastes from residences, commercial concerns, institutions, industrial concerns and other buildings or places.
WCPRMUA
The Warren County-Pequest River Municipal Utilities Authority, the regional sewer system to which the Township of Oxford sewer system shall discharge.
B. 
Word usage.
(1) 
"May" is permissive; "shall" is mandatory.
(2) 
The singular includes the plural; the masculine includes the feminine; and "it" includes any person.
A. 
The management and affairs of the Oxford Township Sewer Utility shall be conducted by the administrative agent designated by the Utility governing body. The Utility governing body may make such rules and regulations not inconsistent with this chapter as it shall from time to time deem necessary.
B. 
The Utility governing body shall appoint from time to time such employees as it shall deem necessary for the proper administration of the business of the Oxford Township Sewer Utility.
C. 
The salaries of all of the employees of the Oxford Township Sewer Utility shall be in such amount as shall be fixed by an ordinance of the Township Committee from time to time.
D. 
All authorized employees or representatives of the Oxford Township Sewer Utility shall have the right to enter any buildings or premises, at reasonable hours, for the purpose of but not limited to inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, repair and maintenance of any portion of the sewer system and to carry out any and all other provisions of this chapter.
A. 
The owners of all houses or buildings used for human occupancy, employment or recreation or other purposes situated within the Township and abutting on or having access to any street, alley or right-of-way in which there is located a public sanitary sewer of the Township shall, at their expense:
(1) 
Install suitable toilet facilities therein.
(2) 
Connect such facilities directly with the proper public sewer in accordance with the provisions of this chapter within 180 days after the date of official notice from the Township to do so, provided that said public sewer is within 200 feet of such house or building.
B. 
At such time as a public sewer becomes available to a property served by an individual sewage disposal system, as provided in Chapter 110, Sewage Disposal System, Individual, of the Oxford Township Code,[1] a direct connection shall be made to the public sewer in compliance with this chapter, suitable toilet facilities shall be installed, and any septic tanks, cesspools and similar individual sewage disposal facilities shall be removed or filled with suitable materials as directed by the administrative agent.
[1]
Editor's Note: Chapter 110, Sewage Disposal System, Individual, of the 1974 Township Code referred to obsolete provisions and was repealed at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 350, Art. I, Adoption of Code by Board of Health).
C. 
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of Subsection B, the Township Committee may, for a period of one year and at its discretion from year to year thereafter, waive the requirements thereof relating to immediate sewer connections of a dwelling with the public sanitary sewer system. Such waiver by the Township shall be based upon the following conditions:
(1) 
The owner has submitted evidence of substantial hardship.
(2) 
The administrative agent and the Oxford Township Health Officer find that the existing septic tank system is functioning properly.
It shall be unlawful to make any connection to the sewer system without first obtaining a written permit from the Township Clerk. All connections shall be made by a licensed plumber under the direction and supervision of the administrative agent or his representative and in the manner hereinafter set forth.
A. 
All costs and expenses incident to the installation of suitable toilet facilities and connection of the building sewer to the public sewer system shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the Township from any loss or damage that may, directly or indirectly, be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer.
B. 
The maintenance of the building sewer shall be the responsibility of the owner of the property served.
A. 
If, after the expiration of said 180 days from the date of official notification, the owner of any property affected by the provisions of this chapter has failed to install such sanitary sewer facilities, including suitable toilet facilities, and/or to make such sewer connection as required herein, after receiving official notice requiring such action as hereinbefore provided, the Township may, upon 30 days' written notice to the owner or owner's agent, cause such installation or connection to be made under the direction and supervision of the administrative agent or award one or more contracts for the making of such improvements to any persons who are licensed plumbers in the State of New Jersey authorized to perform work on sanitary sewers.
B. 
When any such connection or toilet installation shall be made by the Township, a true and accurate account of the cost and expense shall be kept and apportioned to the property or properties thereby connected, and a true statement of such costs, under oath, shall be forthwith filed by the officer of the Municipality in charge of such connection or installation with the Clerk of the governing body. The governing body shall examine the same and, if properly made, shall confirm it and file such statement with the officer of the Municipality charged with the duty of collecting taxes. Said officer shall record the connection or installation charge in the same book in which he records sidewalk and other assessments.
C. 
Each such connection or installation charge shall be a first lien or charge against the property benefited therefrom. Interest upon the amount so charged shall accrue as provided by N.J.S.A. 40A:26A-12. Liens levied in accordance with this section shall be enforceable in the manner provided for real property tax liens in Chapter 5 of Title 54 of the Revised New Jersey Statutes.
A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building, except that, where one building stands at the rear of another on an interior lot and no building sewer is available or can be constructed to the rear building through an adjoining alley, courtyard or driveway, the building sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer. In the case of multiple housing units, it is not necessary to have a separate and independent building sewer for every building, but instead the sewage from the various principal buildings shall be gathered together into one or more building sewers of a size satisfactory to the Plumbing Inspector and carried out to the nearest public sewer adjacent to the property.
Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, upon examination and test by the administrative agent and Plumbing Inspector, to meet all the requirements of this chapter and the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 52:27D-119 et seq.
The holder of the building sewer permit shall notify the administrative agent when the building sewer is ready for inspection. The installation shall be made under the supervision of the administrative agent, or his representative, within 48 hours of the receipt of notice by the Township.
All excavations for building sewer installations 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 administrative agent.
In addition to the requirements of this chapter, where the applicant for the building sewer permit must connect to a public sewer discharging into the sewer system of an adjacent municipality or governing body, the provisions of any ordinance or ordinances, rules and regulations of such municipality or governing body concerning the connection to the public sewer shall govern and apply, as well as the applicable terms of any agreement in connection therewith entered into between the Township and such adjoining municipality.
[Amended 6-15-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-07]
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following substances into any sanitary sewer:
A. 
Water or substances from roof leaders, yard drains, area drains, foundation drains, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, catch basins, cooling towers, cross-connections between storm sewers and/or sanitary sewers and sewer service connections.
B. 
Water or substances from sump pumps, cellar drains, steam exhaust, blowoff, drip pipes, air-conditioning equipment, industrial cooling-water systems, rainwater conductors, swimming pools, roof drains and/or oil pipes.
C. 
Surface water, groundwater, subsurface drainage, stormwaters and/or street wash waters.
[Amended 1-7-2009 by Ord. No. 2008-21]
An inspection fee in the sum of $100 shall be paid by the owner or his agent for each inspection or reinspection performed by representatives of the Sewer Utility with respect to the connection to the sewer system or other installations or improvements installed pursuant to this chapter.
A. 
The owner of each property connected to the sewer system owned and operated by the Oxford Township Sewer Utility shall pay to Oxford Township an annual user fee.
B. 
The annual user fee shall be based on the average quantity of discharge from a single-family dwelling unit, herein referred to as "equivalent dwelling unit" (EDU). The average daily quantity of discharge from an EDU has been established as 200 gallons. This quantity shall be subject to review not less often than annually and may be adjusted with the approval of the Sewer Utility governing body.
C. 
User charge per EDU. The annual user charge per equivalent dwelling unit (EDU) for users in both Oxford Township and Washington Township shall be within a range of $700 to $1,500. The Township Committee shall, on an annual basis, adopt a resolution setting the specific charge per EDU for that year for users within Oxford Township and shall also establish the specific charge per EDU for users within Washington Township.
[Amended 2-21-1994 by Ord. No. 94-11; 4-20-1995 by Ord. No. 95-4; 3-21-1996 by Ord. No. 96-3; 3-20-1997 by Ord. No. 97-2; 4-16-1998 by Ord. No. 98-5; 5-20-1999 by Ord. No. 99-5; 5-18-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-5; 6-19-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-8; 7-16-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-5; 6-16-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-6; 6-21-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-10; 6-21-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-07; 4-6-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-05]
D. 
The annual user fee to be charged the various users of the system shall be as follows:
[Amended 5-20-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-07; 7-15-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-10; 3-15-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-04]
(1) 
Single-family dwellings, apartments and mobile homes situated within Oxford Township: 100% of the annual charge per EDU as set by resolution of the Township Committee annually.
(2) 
Single-family dwellings, apartments and mobile homes not situated within Oxford Township: 112.5% of the annual charge per EDU as set by resolution of the Township Committee annually.
(3) 
Nonresidential, commercial, mixed use, industrial, municipal and institutional users; EDUs shall be assessed based on available tax and property data available to the Township and pursuant to the flowrates set forth in N.J.A.C. 7:14A-23.3 which shall be calculated by the Township Engineer and certified to the Township Committee. Any owner of a property as described herein wishing to appeal the assessment of flow may request a hearing at a regular meeting of the Township Committee by submitting an appeal, in writing, to the Township Engineer which shall, at minimum, provide not less six months of water utility bills. Upon receipt of a request for appeal the Township Committee shall hold a hearing within 30 days in order to allow the property owner to present their evidence. The Township Committee shall have the option to render a decision immediately or carry the hearing to a later date to be determined by the Committee. Any decision rendered by the Township Committee with the advice and consent of the Township Engineer shall be final and binding.
E. 
The Township Committee may waive the annual sewer fee charges for uninhabitable properties or upon a showing of an exceptional hardship. A determination of whether a specific property is uninhabitable or the property owner suffers from an exceptional hardship shall be determined by the Township Committee. The waiver shall not include the contribution to capital improvements as calculated by the Authority on a yearly basis.
[Added 9-17-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-09]
A. 
In addition to the annual user fee, a separate charge in the nature of a connection fee shall be imposed upon the owner or occupant of each property so connected, which said fee shall be due and payable as a condition precedent to the issuance by the Township of the sewer connection permit required by § 260-6 of this chapter.
B. 
The sewer connection fee shall be established annually, after public hearing, in the manner provided by N.J.S.A. 40A:26A-11.
C. 
The sewer connection fee shall be $1,025.
[Added 12-10-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-16; amended 3-4-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-03]
[Added 12-10-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-16; amended 3-4-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-03]
A. 
Sewer permit fee. The owner or his agent shall make application on a form furnished by the Township. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications or other information considered pertinent by the Township. A permit and inspection fee of $25 for a sewer permit shall be paid to the Township Sewer Utility System at the time the application is filed.
B. 
The permit will expire six months after the date of issue but will be subject to renewal for not to exceed six months with the approval of the administrative agency.
[Amended 6-15-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-07; 1-7-2009 by Ord. No. 2008-21]
Every person found guilty of violating any of the provisions of this chapter may, in addition to the other procedures outlined in this chapter, be liable, upon conviction, to a fine of up to $2,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, or any combination thereof, for each conviction. A violation of this chapter shall not be considered a continuing violation on a day-to-day basis; however, a new violation shall be deemed to have occurred 30 days after each prior violation.