[Adopted 12-28-1967]
Unless the context specifically and clearly
indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms and phrases used in this
article shall be as follows:
Mahoning Township Authority, a Pennsylvania municipality
authority.
The extension from the sewage drainage system of any structure
to the lateral of a sewer.
Any property located 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 industrial wastes shall be or may be discharged.
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or form of energy
rejected or escaping in the course of any industrial, manufacturing,
trade or business process or in the course of the development, recovery
or processing of natural resources, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
That part of the sewer system extending from a sewer to the
curbline or, if there shall be no curbline, to the property line or,
if no such lateral shall be provided, then "lateral" shall mean that
portion of, or place in, a sewer which is provided for connection
of any building sewer.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any improved property.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, society,
corporation or other group or entity.
Normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from any
improved property, including such ground, surface or storm water as
may be present.
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,
pumping, treating and/or disposing of sanitary sewage and/or industrial
wastes, situate in or adjacent to this Township and owned, maintained
and operated by the Authority.
The Township of Mahoning, Montour County, Pennsylvania, a
political subdivision, acting by and through its Board of Supervisors
or, in appropriate cases, by and through its authorized representatives.
The owner of any improved property which is
located in this Township and is accessible to and whose principal
building is within one hundred fifty feet of the sewer system, shall
connect such improved property therewith, in such manner as this Township
and the Authority may require, within 60 days after notice to such
owner from this Township to make such connection, for the purpose
of discharge of all sanitary sewage and industrial wastes from such
improved property, subject to such limitations and restrictions as
shall be established by this Township or the Authority, from time
to time.
All sanitary sewage and industrial wastes from any improved property, after connection of such improved property with a sewer shall be required under § 183-2, shall be conducted into a sewer, subject to such limitations and restrictions as shall be established herein or otherwise shall be established by this Township or the Authority, from time to time.
A.
No privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle shall be used and maintained at any time upon any improved property which has been connected to a sewer or which shall be required under § 183-2 to be connected to a sewer.
B.
Every such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic
tank or similar receptacle in existence shall be abandoned and, at
the discretion of this Township, shall be cleansed and filled under
the direction and supervision of this Township; and any such privy
vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle not so
abandoned and, if required by this Township, cleansed and filled,
shall constitute a nuisance and such nuisance may be abated as provided
by law, at the expense of the owner of such improved property.
No privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank
or similar receptacle at any time shall be connected with a sewer.
The notice by this Township to make a connection to a sewer, referred to in § 183-2, shall consist of a written or printed document requiring such connection in accordance with the provisions of this article and specifying that such connection shall be made within 60 days from the date such notice is given. Such notice may be given at any time after a sewer is in place which can receive and convey sanitary sewage and industrial wastes for treatment and disposal from the particular improved property. Such notice shall be served upon the owner either by personal service or by registered mail or by such other method as at the time may be provided by law.
Except as otherwise provided in this section,
each improved property shall be connected separately and independently
with a sewer through a building sewer. Grouping of more than one improved
property on one building sewer shall not be permitted, except under
special circumstances and for good sanitary reasons or other good
cause shown, and then only after special permission of this Township
and the Authority, in writing, shall have been secured.
All costs and expenses of construction of a
building sewer and all costs and expenses of connection of a building
sewer to a sewer shall be borne by the owner of the improved property
to be connected; and such owner shall indemnify and save harmless
this Township and the Authority from all loss or damage that may be
occasioned, directly or indirectly, as a result of construction of
a building sewer or of connection of a building sewer to a sewer.
A.
A building sewer shall be connected to a sewer at
the place designated by the Authority and where the lateral is provided.
B.
The invert of a building sewer at the point of connection
shall be at the same or a higher elevation than the invert of the
sewer. A smooth, neat joint shall be made and the connection of a
building sewer to the lateral shall be made secure and watertight.
If the owner of any improved property located in this Township and accessible to and whose principal building is within 150 feet from the sewer system, after 60 days' notice from this Township, in accordance with § 183-2, shall fail to connect such improved property, as required, this Township may make such connection and may collect from such owner the costs and expenses thereof. In such case, this Township shall forthwith, upon completion of the work, send an itemized bill of the cost of the construction of such connection to the owner of the improved property to which connection has been so made, which bill shall be payable forthwith. In case of neglect or refusal by the owner of such improved property to pay said bill, this Township shall file a municipal lien for said construction within six months of the date of the completion of the construction of said connection, the same to be subject in all respects to the general law provided for the filing and recovery of municipal liens.
Where an improved property, at the time connection
to a sewer is required, shall be served by its own sewage disposal
system or device, the existing house sewer line shall be broken on
the structure side of such sewage disposal system or device and attachment
shall be made, with proper fittings, to continue such house sewer
line, as a building sewer.
No building sewer shall be covered until it
has been inspected and approved by this Township and the Authority.
If any part of a building sewer is covered before so being inspected
and approved, it shall be uncovered for inspection at the cost and
expense of the owner of the improved property to be connected to a
sewer.
Every building sewer of any improved property
shall be maintained in a sanitary and safe operating condition by
the owner of such improved property.
Every excavation for a building sewer shall
be guarded adequately with barricades and lights to protect all persons
from damage and injury. Streets, sidewalks and other public property
disturbed in the course of installation of a building sewer shall
be restored, at the cost and expense of the owner of the improved
property being connected, in a manner satisfactory to this Township.
If any person shall fail or refuse, upon receipt
of a notice of this Township or the Authority, in writing, to remedy
any unsatisfactory condition with respect to a building sewer, within
60 days of receipt of such notice, this Township or the Authority
may refuse to permit such person to discharge sanitary sewage and
industrial wastes into the sewer system until such unsatisfactory
condition shall have been remedied to the satisfaction of this Township
and the Authority.
This Township reserves the right to adopt, from
time to time, additional rules and regulations as it shall deem necessary
and proper relating to connections with a sewer and the sewer system,
which additional rules and regulations, to the extent appropriate,
shall be and shall be construed as part of this article.
Any person who violates or permits a violation
of this article shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil
enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township before a District
Justice, pay a fine of not less than $15 nor more than $600, plus
all court costs, including reasonable attorney's fees, incurred by
the Township in the enforcement of this article. No judgment shall
be imposed until the date of the determination of the violation by
the District Justice. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals
the judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the
applicable Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation exists shall
constitute a separate offense. Further, the appropriate officers or
agents of the Township are hereby authorized to seek equitable relief,
including injunction, to enforce compliance herewith.
Fines and costs imposed under provisions of
this article shall be enforceable and recoverable in the manner at
the time provided by applicable law.
It is declared that enactment of this article
is necessary for the protection, benefit and preservation of the health,
safety and welfare of inhabitants of this Township.
