[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Township of West
Amwell 5-5-1977 by Ord. No. 1-77. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Includes all waste material from the tables of hotels, restaurants
and private homes and all other waste products from kitchens, stores, bake
shops or other places where food is prepared, consumed, handled or sold for
human use.
Includes a firm, partnership, corporation, an individual or one or
more individuals.
Includes hogs, swine, shoats and pigs more than 60 days of age.
Sterilized, dehydrated, ground animal protein.
The granting of a permit hereunder shall in no way authorize the creation
of a nuisance or the maintenance of an obnoxious condition and shall in no
way regulate or prevent the passing of future ordinances concerning the prohibition
of or the limitation upon the keeping of pigs or the bringing of garbage into
this Township.
A.
No person shall have, keep, raise or maintain more than
10 pigs in this Township without first procuring a license as hereinafter
required. The number of licenses will be limited to three. Wherever a license
is revoked or whenever the full number of licenses are not issued or applied
for within 30 days after the beginning of the licensing period, the permitted
number of licenses shall be decreased accordingly. The license period shall
be from the first day of June to the 31st day of the following May of each
year.
B.
No license shall be issued to any licensee to keep more
than 500 pigs.
A.
The prohibition contained in § 170-3 shall not apply to farmers raising not more than 100 pigs in the regular pursuit of their agricultural operations where said pigs are fed exclusively on produce raised on the farm whereon they are kept or on produce raised on the farm where they are kept, supplemented by commercial grain rations and tankage.
B.
All FFA and 4-H projects are exempted from the provisions
of this chapter.
A.
Applications for a license shall be made upon a form
supplied by the Board of Health, and a license fee of $50 shall accompany
the application for applicants having between 11 and 100 pigs; $100 for applicants
having between 101 and 250 pigs; and $200 for applicants having between 251
and 500 pigs. In the event that the application is refused, the fee shall
be returned to the applicant.
B.
The Board of Health shall inspect the premises of the
applicant prior to issuing a license.
C.
The Board of Health shall set a date for a public hearing
upon the application. It shall be the duty of the applicant to publish a notice
of his intention to apply for a license in a newspaper circulating within
the Township, at least two weeks before the date for issuing such license.
D.
The Board of Health, after said hearing, may refuse said
license, grant it as requested, grant it upon condition or grant it in modified
form as the findings of the Board may show to be for the best interest of
the safety, health, welfare, comfort and well-being of the residents of the
Township.
E.
Said license shall not be assignable, and the license
shall be limited to the premises on which the licensee had pigs on April 7,
1977. Each licensee shall accompany his application with a legal description
of the property to be licensed.
F.
All applicants, in accepting a license, must agree to
conform to the requirements of this chapter.
Any person having or keeping pigs under a license issued under this
chapter shall comply with the following provisions:
A.
All buildings, yards or enclosures in which any pigs
shall be kept shall be at all times in a neat, orderly, clean and sanitary
condition.
B.
All buildings used for the keeping of pigs shall be provided
with a concrete or other nonabsorbent floor built above the surface of the
surrounding ground with a concrete or other nonabsorbent sidewall on all enclosed
portions extending 36 inches above the floor and so joined with the floor
as to furnish a cove or curved surface for easy cleaning.
C.
All feeding shall be done under cover upon a concrete
floor or floor of nonabsorbent character.
D.
A suitable receptacle for manure and other waste material
shall be constructed of concrete or other nonabsorbent material, shall be
under cover, shall be watertight on the sides and bottom and shall be covered
by a tight removable top to prevent the escape of odors and access of flies
or other insects to the same or shall be a commercially approved receptacle.
Compliance with the subsection shall not be necessary if manure is spread
daily. Dung, manure and feed residue shall be removed from the area where
pigs are kept at least once daily. When the material is spread upon the ground,
it shall be spread in thin applications so as to dry quickly, but the same
area shall not be spread more often than once in every 30 days, unless the
ground is plowed under in the interval between spreading.
E.
All liquid waste, including water used to wash down the
sidewalls, liquids from the sheds, the barns, from the manure pit or loading
area and any water from washing trucks or other equipment shall be conducted
by a suitable drain to an underground sealed tank and disposed of either in
an approved sewage disposal field or pumped into a closed tank and spread
upon the fields in such a manner and at such time as to prevent it gathering
in pools or running off the land.
F.
There must be an available supply of water kept under
at least 20 pounds' pressure, equipped with sufficient hose connections to
allow all parts of the building wherein pigs are kept completely hosed down
at least once in each seven days, or at such times as the Board of Health
shall indicate.
G.
All buildings where pigs are kept shall be whitewashed
and/or painted with a suitable material as required.
H.
Proper equipment and material shall be constantly kept
on hand and used as required to control flies and other insects.
I.
All dead animals shall be removed within 24 hours of
death.
J.
All runs or yards used for pigs, except those used for brood sows, shall be of concrete or other nonabsorbent material and be drained as specified in Subsection E above.
K.
All runs shall be securely fenced or enclosed, and no
depressions containing liquids shall be allowed.
No person operating under a license issued hereunder shall locate any
building, pig run, yard or pasture wherein pigs are kept closer than 500 feet
to any highway or closer than 1,000 feet to any dwelling or residence other
than the dwelling or residence on the farm whereon said pigs are kept.
A.
The area wherein pigs are kept, except where they are
housed in closed buildings, shall be completely fenced with a sturdy, well-constructed,
closely woven wire fence or other equally effective fence so as to prevent
any pigs from trespassing on adjoining property.
B.
No pig or pigs shall be allowed at large upon the owner's
property outside of properly fenced pasture. Any sick or diseased pig which
escapes from the owner's property may be a cause for revoking the owner's
license.
No garbage or vegetable matter and no flesh of any animal, fowl or fish
shall, at any time, be transported upon the highways of this Township or brought
into this Township for the purpose of feeding the same to pigs within the
Township.
Where there are presently existing commercial piggeries within the Township,
the following rules shall govern:
A.
If there are more applicants than licenses to be granted,
piggeries already in existence shall have preference.
B.
If the buildings being used at the time of the adoption of this chapter violate § 170-6 hereof, the requirement of that section shall be waived for a period of six months, but no additional building shall be constructed in violation thereof. No license shall be renewed until all the provisions of § 170-6 have been complied with.
C.
The requirements of § 170-6 may be suspended for six months so far as they apply to buildings presently used for pigs, provided that the licensee carries out all sanitary directions given by the Township Board of Health. This exemption shall not apply to buildings constructed subsequent to the enactment of this chapter.
Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter shall,
upon conviction thereof, pay a penalty of not less than $5 nor more than $500.
Each and every day that any violation of this chapter occurs or is allowed
to continue after occurring shall constitute a different offense, subjecting
the violator, upon conviction thereof, to a penalty for each offense. The
Township Board of Health may revoke the license of any person who fails to
pay his penalty within five days of the same being imposed. Any person having
three convictions shall be barred from having a renewal of his license.
