[Adopted 3-14-1960 by Ord. No. 31]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
[1]INDUSTRIAL WASTES
Any solid, liquid or gaseous substance or waterborne wastes or form of energy rejected or escaping from any industrial, manufacturing, trade or business process or from the development, recovery or processing of natural resources, as distinct from domestic sewage.
OCCUPIED BUILDING
Each single dwelling unit, household unit, flat or apartment unit, store, shop, office, business or industrial unit or family unit contained within any structure erected within 150 feet of the sewer system and intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sanitary sewage is or may be discharged.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
PERSON
Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group.
[Amended 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
PROPERTY ACCESSIBLE TO THE SEWER SYSTEM
The improved property which adjoins, abuts on or is adjacent to the sewer system or as may be further defined or modified under rules and regulations adopted pursuant to § 162-10A.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
SANITARY SEWAGE
The normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments.
[Amended 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
SEWER DISTRICT
The East Norriton Sewer District No. 1 as designated and created pursuant to Township Ordinance No. 28, as amended by Ordinance No. 158 and Ordinance No. 172.[2]
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
SEWER SYSTEM
Refers to the public sanitary sewer collection system, together with appurtenant facilities now or later constructed for the Sewer District and any improvements, additions or extensions that hereafter may be made thereto by the Authority or the Township or to any part or parts or any or all thereof.
[Amended 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
SUPERVISORS
The group of elected officials acting as the governing body of the Township.
[Amended 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
TOWNSHIP
The Township of East Norriton, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, or the duly constituted and elected Municipal Authorities thereof.
[Amended 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
[1]
Editor's Note: The definition of "Authority," which immediately preceded this definition, added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172, was repealed 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 558.
[2]
Editor's Note: See §§ 162-1 and 162-2 of Art. I of this chapter.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
Whenever any portions of the sewer system are ready for public use, it shall be the duty of the Township to cause notice of the fact to be given by advertisement published once in one newspaper of general circulation in the Township, and such advertisement shall state that the sewer system may be used by all persons owning occupied buildings on property accessible to the sewer system, subject to the payment of any connection charges and of annual sewer rentals in amounts as may from time to time be fixed by the Township.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
A. 
All persons owning any occupied building now erected upon property accessible to the sewer system shall, at their own expense, connect such building with the sewer system within 90 days after the date of publication specified in § 162-6.
B. 
All persons owning any property accessible to the sewer system upon which an occupied building is hereafter erected shall, at the time of the erection of such building and at their own expense, connect the same with the sewer system.
C. 
All persons owning any occupied building upon property which hereafter becomes accessible to the sewer system shall, at their own expense, connect such building with the sewer system within 90 days after notice to do so from the Township.
D. 
Where more than one occupied building, as hereinbefore defined, is contained in a separate structure, a single common connection to the lateral of the sewer system shall be permitted for accommodating all units contained in such structure, except that separate connections shall be required for each semidetached or row-type house or structure.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person owning any property accessible to the sewer system to erect, construct or use or maintain or cause to be erected, constructed, used or maintained any privy, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or other receptacle on such premises or otherwise for receiving sanitary sewage after the expiration of the particular period specified in § 162-7 hereof or otherwise at any time to erect, construct, use or maintain any pipe, conduit, drain or other facility for the discharge of sanitary sewage into the gutters of the Township, the storm sewers of the Township or upon public or private property or otherwise, except into the sewer system.
B. 
The foregoing notwithstanding, any owner of an occupied building accessible to the sewer system who maintains facilities to discharge sanitary sewage below the first floor of an occupied building shall be permitted to maintain a cesspool or septic tank of the type approved by the Montgomery County Health Department or Township Sewage Enforcement Officer so long as said system functions properly in the sole discretion of the Montgomery County Health Department or Sewage Enforcement Officer. In the event of a malfunction and in all cases involving the immediately preceding section of this article, all cesspools or septic tanks shall be disconnected from the occupied building and shall be properly backfilled under the direction of the Montgomery County Health Department or Township Sewage Enforcement Officer.
[Amended 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 558]
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
Any person who erects, constructs, uses or maintains a privy, cesspool, sinkhole or septic tank on any property accessible to the sewer system or otherwise erects, constructs, uses or maintains any pipe, conduit, drain or other facility for the discharge of sanitary sewage in violation of this article shall be deemed and shall be declared to be erecting, constructing and maintaining a nuisance, which nuisance the Township is hereby authorized and directed to abate in the manner provided by law.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
A. 
No connection shall be made to the sewer system except in compliance with the Standard Specifications for Construction of Sanitary Sewer Systems for East Norriton Township, which may be adopted or amended by ordinance or resolution of the Board of Supervisors from time to time.
[Amended 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 558]
B. 
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this article for any owner of any occupied building on property accessible to the sewer system to fail to connect such property with the sewer system within 90 days after having received notice to do so from the Township.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
A. 
Persons, firms and corporations desiring to do plumbing intended to be connected to the sewer system shall exhibit evidence of competency to perform the connection to the Township and shall obtain a permit for the connection from the Township, as is more specifically provided in Township Ordinance No. 35 of January 9, 1961,[1] all amendments thereto and all resolutions or regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Art. III of this chapter.
B. 
Any plumber or other person who shall neglect or refuse to take out a permit or comply with the provisions of this article shall not be deemed competent to perform any work intended to be connected with the sewers, and no work performed by such plumbers or other persons shall be connected with any sewers.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
Each occupied building, as hereinbefore defined, whether or not the owners thereof shall be permitted to connect two or more occupied buildings or units by a single connection to a lateral of the sewer system or shall be required to make separate connections for each occupied building or unit, shall constitute a separate and distinct unit under the provisions of this article, and the persons owning occupied buildings consisting of multiple units contained in the same structure who violate any of the provisions of this article shall be subject to the aforesaid fine for each and every one of such occupied buildings or units which is in violation of the provisions of this article.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
Concurrently with the filing of the engineer's certificate of completion of the Whitehall Road Sewer Project, F.X. Ball Associates, Inc., Township's Engineer, shall submit its statement of costs of said project which are eligible for assessment. The entire amount of costs deemed assessable shall be assessed against the owners of all properties benefited, improved or accommodated by the sanitary sewers according to the front-foot rule as interpreted by the courts of this commonwealth. The amount of assessment shall be determined by dividing the assessable costs of the project by the number of assessable front feet.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
The foregoing notwithstanding, owners of corner properties which are serviced on two sides by sanitary sewers shall be assessed only on that side of the property having the longest portion of the sanitary sewer line serving it.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
After determining the proper assessment charge for each property benefited, improved or accommodated by the sanitary sewer system, the Township shall forward assessment bills by certified mail. All assessments shall be due and payable within 90 days from the date of mailing by the Township. All delinquent assessment bills shall be subject to the administrative charge specified herein, interest at 10% until paid, and shall be a lien on the property served and shall be entered as a lien against such property in the office of the Prothonotary of Montgomery County and shall be collected in the manner provided by law for the filing and collection of such liens or in such other manner as may be provided by law.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
A. 
The Township hereby establishes an administrative fee to be imposed upon all persons against whom liens or other legal process must be filed in order to collect sewer rentals, assessments, connection fees, permit fees and other charges relating to the sanitary sewer system. Said administrative fee shall be equal to the actual filing and legal expenses incurred by the Township excluding other court costs incidental to the collection of said liens or other charges.
[Amended 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 558]
B. 
All delinquent sewer rental, connection fees, permit fees and other charges relating to the sewer system shall bear interest at the highest rate of interest permissible by law from the date said debt was due until the date of payment.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
In order to more rapidly respond to the need to revise, amend, increase or decrease sewer rentals and all other charges, except assessments, relating to the sanitary sewer system, said changes may be accomplished by subsequent resolution or ordinance adopted by the Board of Supervisors of East Norriton Township.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172; amended 12-19-1988 by Ord. No. 274]
Any person, corporation or other entity who shall violate any of the provisions of this article or who should fail to comply with any notice of violation herein, upon conviction before a District Justice within the magisterial district within which the Township of East Norriton is a part, shall be fined not more than $600 plus costs of prosecution after a summary proceeding brought in the name of the Township before said District Justice. A new and separate offense shall be deemed to be committed for each day that such violation exists. In default of the payment of any fine imposed and the costs, the person or persons that are charged may be sentenced to be committed to the county jail for a period not exceeding 30 days.
[Added 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 172]
The rights of the Township to act pursuant to the terms of the Article shall not be deemed exclusive but shall be in addition to the rights provided to the Township in any other ordinances, regulations, statutes or laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the United States of America.
[Added 8-5-1963 by resolution; amended 3-17-1986 by Ord. No. 230; 2-23-1987 by Ord. No. 245; 7-29-1991 by Ord. No. 302]
There is hereby imposed on each owner of property connecting to the sewer system a tapping fee of $3,260. This charge shall be due based upon the number of equivalent dwelling units to be served, regardless of the number of actual connections to the sewer system. Hereinafter, the amount of the tapping fee may be changed by resolution of the Board of Supervisors of the Township as it may duly authorize and enact from time to time.
There is hereby imposed upon each property within the limits of Sewer District No. 1 in the Township served by the sewer system and having the use thereof a quarterly sewer rent or charge, payable as hereinafter provided, for the use, whether direct or indirect, of the sewer system, based on the schedules of classifications and rates or charges herein after set forth.
[Amended 10-20-1986 by Ord. No. 237]
A. 
East Norriton Township adopts the sewer rate schedule for metered water users attached hereto and made a part hereof as Exhibit A.[1]The rates will start to be applied to all consumption calculated based on water meter readings starting on June 1, 2007.
[Last amended 4-17-2007 by Ord. No. 495[2]]
[1]
Editor’s Note: Exhibit A is on file in the office of the Township Secretary.
[2]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance also provided that subsequent amendments to § 162-22, Rates; rebates, may be accomplished by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
B. 
All domestic users owning property connecting to the sewer system and served with water service, all of which water service is unmetered, shall pay a quarterly flat rate rental of sanitary sewage charge of $100.52. The rate will start to be applied starting on June 1, 2007.
[Last amended 4-17-2007 by Ord. No. 495[3]]
[3]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance also provided that East Norriton Township reserves the right to enter into separate contracts for the collection and treatment of sanitary sewage from unmetered commercial, public and industrial users.
C. 
Multiple use. In case of a combination of two or more dwellings, units, households, flats, apartments, stores, shops, offices or business units or two or more families using separate cooking and/or bathroom facilities in one dwelling having use of the sewer system through one sewer lateral, each and every such dwelling unit, household, flat, apartment, store, shop, office or business unit or such family shall be charged the foregoing minimum sewer rents or charges, the same as if each such unit or family had a direct and separate connection to the sewer system. Sewer rents or charges in excess of such minimum shall, in the case of metered water users, be determined by dividing the total of water consumed, as shown by the meter readings, by the number of units or families using such single sewer connection and applying the above rate schedule to the quantity so determined.
D. 
(Reserved)[4]
[4]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection D, Garbage grinders, was repealed 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 558.
E. 
Rebates. No rebate will be allowed due to unoccupancy or vacancy for a period of less than six months.
[Amended 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 558]
A. 
The sewer rentals and charges for collection and treatment of industrial wastes discharged into the sewer system shall be made in accordance with § 162-22 above. In addition thereto, further charges shall be made for all sewage discharged into the sewer system having suspended solids and biochemical oxygen demand in excess of the following concentrations:
(1) 
Suspended solids: 350 parts per million.
(2) 
BOD: 300 parts per million.
B. 
The additional charge for sewage having concentration in excess of the foregoing shall be based on the strength factor determined according to the following formula:
*NOTE: Where these figures are less than 300 parts per million in BOD or 350 parts per million in suspended solids, the value in the parenthesis shall be equal to one.
C. 
In cases where the suspended solids, in the opinion of the Township, do not represent the true characteristics of the solids loading, the Township reserves the right to use total solids instead of suspended solids.
D. 
No industrial user shall begin or continue to discharge any industrial waste into the sewer system until he has first submitted a written application to the Township for permission to do so, accompanied by a detailed report prepared by a sanitary engineer registered in Pennsylvania and satisfactory to the Township, setting forth such information relating to such industrial waste as the Township may require and until the Township shall have consented to such discharge.
A. 
Methods of measuring volume.
(1) 
Whenever a person purchasing all water used from the water supplier discharges sanitary sewage into the sewer system, the volume of water consumed, as determined from meter readings of the water supplier, shall be used in computing the sewer rental.
(2) 
In cases where dwellings and establishments have sources of water supply in addition to or other than that of the water supplier, those dwellings and establishments shall provide a meter on such additional or other source of supply. The total amount of water consumed, as shown by these meter readings, will be used in computing the sewer rental.
(3) 
In cases where establishments use water from the water supplier and/or from an independent supply for industrial or recreational purposes, such that the water so used is not discharged into the sewer system, the quantity of water used to determine the sewer rental shall be computed by one of the following methods:
(a) 
Method No. 1: by placing a meter or measuring device on the sewer connection. The readings from this meter or measuring device shall be used in computing the sewer rental.
(b) 
Method No. 2: by placing a meter or measuring device on the effluent not discharging into the sewer system. The readings from this meter or measuring device will then be deducted from the total water meter readings, and the remainder will be used in computing the sewer rental.
B. 
When, in the opinion of the Township, it is not practical to install meters or measuring devices to determine the sewer rental under either Subsection A(2) or (3) of this section, the Township may determine, in such manner and by such method as it may prescribe, the total amount of sanitary sewage discharged into the sewer system, and the quantity so determined to be discharged shall be used to determine the sewer rental. Any dispute as to the estimated quantity shall be submitted to the Supervisors after notice of the estimate to the property owner. The decision of the Supervisors on the matter shall be final for the current year.
C. 
Measuring devices. All meters or other measuring devices not provided by the water supplier but required to be used under the provisions of this article shall be furnished and installed by the property owner and shall be under the control of the Supervisors and may be tested, inspected or repaired by Township employees whenever the Supervisors deem necessary. The owner of the property upon which such measuring device is installed shall be responsible for its maintenance and safekeeping, and all repairs thereto shall be made at the property owner's expense, whether such repairs are made necessary by ordinary wear and tear or other causes. Bills for such repairs, if made by the Township, shall be due and payable at the same time and collected in the same manner as are the bills for sewer services; such bills from and after their due date shall constitute a lien upon the property upon which such measuring device is installed.
D. 
Meter reading. The Township shall have the right to read all meters or measuring devices, and they shall be available to Township employees for meter reading at any reasonable time.
A. 
The above connection charge shall be payable upon application for permit to make such connection. Sewer rentals or charges shall be paid quarterly, and quarterly billings for sewer rentals and charges shall be made by bills dated on the first day of January, April, July and October of each year, beginning on such quarterly date immediately following the quarterly calendar period on which connection is made to the sewer system, for the quarterly calendar period or portion thereof immediately preceding the date of the bill.
B. 
Payments mailed, as evidenced by the United States Post Office mark, on or previous to the end of the period during which the bills are payable at face will be deemed to be a payment within such period.
C. 
All persons connected to the sewer system must give the Township their correct address. Failure to receive bills will not be considered an excuse for nonpayment nor permit an extension of the period during which bills are payable at face.
A. 
Quarterly charges for sewer service shall be subject to a penalty of 10% if not paid within 30 days after the date of the bill, and the Township shall have the right to cut off sewer service from the property where payment has not been made and not to restore the same until all unpaid bills against the property and the costs of cutting off and restoring service shall have been paid.
B. 
All sewer rentals, together with all penalties thereon, not paid on or before the end of six months from the date of each bill shall be deemed to be delinquent. All delinquent sewer rentals and all penalties thereon shall be a lien on the property served and shall be entered as a lien against such property in the office of the Prothonotary of Montgomery County and shall be collected in the manner provided by law for the filing and collection of such liens.
The funds received by the Township from the collection of the connection charges and from sewer rentals and all penalties thereon as herein provided for and any fines collected by the Township in connection with the sewer system shall be segregated and kept separate and apart from all other funds of the Township and shall be used only for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the Township in the operation, maintenance, repair, alteration, inspection, depreciation or other expenses in relation to such sewer system, including periodic payments due under an agreement with the East Norriton-Plymouth Joint Sewer Authority for the treatment and disposal of sewage and for such payments as the Township may be required to make under any lease it may enter into for and of or in connection with said sewer system with the East Norriton Township Municipal Authority, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of May 2, 1945, P.L. 382, as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 53 Pa.C.S.A. §5601 et seq.
The Township reserves the right to and may from time to time adopt, revise, amend and readopt such rules and regulations as it deems necessary and proper for the use and operation of the sewer system, and all such rules and regulations shall be and become a part of this article. In respect to sewage treatment service, the Township hereby adopts the current rules and regulations of the East Norriton-Plymouth Joint Sewer Authority, copies of which rules and regulations are on file and may be examined at the Township Building, 2828 Swede Road, Norristown, Pennsylvania.
[Added 11-7-1983 by Res. No. 1017]
A. 
On-site sanitary sewer permit fees are as follows:
(1) 
Standard on-site system: $100 per permit issued.
(2) 
Alternate on-site system: $175 per permit issued.
(3) 
Holding tank system: initially, reimbursement of cost of Sewage Enforcement Officer (SEO) processing time to date of issuance of permit, per permit issued.
B. 
Additional holding tank system fee. In addition to the above initial permit fee for a holding tank system, the applicant will be required to reimburse the Township for the cost of SEO review and inspection during the installation of the system before hookup of user(s) is permitted.
C. 
Application fee. At the time of application for any of the systems described in Subsection A above, a nonrefundable fee of $30 will be paid by the applicant to the SEO. If a permit is issued, this fee of $30 will be applied toward the appropriate fee set in Subsection A above. However, if the issuance of a permit is not approved, the application fee of $30 will not be refunded to the applicant. In the event that a reapplication is made by an applicant for a different type of on-site sanitary sewer system after a prior disapproval of another system, a new application fee must be paid.