[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Cohoes as indicated in article. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 3-10-1970 by Ord. No. 22-1970]
The purposes of these rules and regulations
are specifically stated as follows:
A.
To prohibit excessive volumes and/or inordinate rates
of flow of sewage and wastes into the City and/or county sewerage
system.
B.
To prohibit the contribution of sewage, industrial
wastes or other wastes of a flammable nature or which create in any
way a poisonous or hazardous environment for sewerage maintenance
and operation personnel.
C.
To prohibit the contribution of sewage, industrial
wastes or other wastes which may cause maintenance difficulties in
the lateral and trunk sewers, force mains, pumping stations, sewage
regulators and other structures and appurtenances of the City and/or
county sewerage system.
D.
To prohibit the contribution of sewage, industrial
wastes or other wastes which may create operating difficulties at
the water pollution control plants as they may be constructed, modified
or improved in the future.
E.
To prohibit and/or regulate the contribution of sewage,
industrial wastes or other wastes which require, for treatment at
the plants, greater expenditures than are required for equal volumes
of normal sewage.
F.
To require the treatment, before introduction into
the City sewers, of such wastes as may otherwise impair the strength
and/or durability of the structures appurtenant to the sewer system,
by direct or indirect chemical action, or interfere with the normal
treatment processes.
G.
To provide cooperation with the Albany County Sewer
District, the Albany County Department of Health and any other agencies
which have requirements or jurisdiction for the protection of the
physical, chemical and bacteriological quality of watercourses within
or bounding the county.
H.
To protect the public health and to prevent nuisances.
A.
BOD (denoting "biochemical oxygen demand")
CHLORINE DEMAND
CITY
CITY COUNCIL
CITY ENGINEER
COMBINED SEWER
COMMISSION
COOLING WATER
COUNTY
COUNTY SEWER DISTRICT
COUNTY SEWERAGE SYSTEM
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
DIRECTOR
GARBAGE
HEALTH OFFICER
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
NATURAL OUTLET
NORMAL SEWAGE
OTHER WASTES
PERSON
pH
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE
PUBLIC SEWER
RECEIVING WATERS
SANITARY SEWAGE
SANITARY SEWER
SEWAGE
SEWAGE SURCHARGE
SEWER
SLUG
STORM SEWER (STORM DRAIN)
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
TOXIC SUBSTANCES
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANT
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms used in these rules and regulations shall be
as follows:
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation
of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days
at 20° C. (68° F.), expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l).
Measurement shall be as set forth in the latest edition of Standard
Methods for the Examination of Water and Waste Water.
The difference between the amount of chlorine added to water,
sewage or industrial wastes and the amount of residual chlorine remaining
at the end of a twenty-minute contact period at room temperature.
The City of Cohoes and the lands contained therein.
The legally constituted Common Council of the City of Cohoes.
The duly designated City Engineer of the City of Cohoes or
his authorized deputy, agent or representative.
A sewer designed to receive and transport both surface runoff
and sewage.
The Board of Commissioners appointed by the County Legislature
to the Albany County Sewer District.
The water discharged from any system of condensation, air
conditioning, cooling, refrigeration or other sources. It shall contain
no polluting substances which would produce BOD or suspended solids
in excess of 10 parts per million by weight or toxic substances as
limited elsewhere herein.
The County of Albany.
Any county sanitary sewer district as created, altered or
modified by action of the Albany County Legislature.
The trunk sewers, force mains, pumping stations, sewage regulators,
water pollution control plants (sewage treatment plants) and other
appurtenant structures owned and operated by the Albany County Sewer
District.
The Albany County Department of Health.
The Executive Director of the Albany County Sewer District.
Food wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation,
cooking and dispensing of food and from the handling and storage and
sale of produce.
The duly appointed Commissioner of Health of Albany County.
The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes,
trade or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.
Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other
body of surface or ground water.
Sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes which, when analyzed,
show by weight the following characteristics:
Garbage (shredded or unshredded), refuse, wood, egg shells,
coffee grounds, sawdust, shavings, bark, sand, lime, cinder, ashes
and all other discarded matter not normally present in sewage or industrial
wastes.
Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation
or group contributing directly or indirectly to the City sewer system.
The negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration
in moles per liter. It indicates the intensity of acidity and alkalinity
of the pH scale running from 0.0 to 14.0. A pH value of 7.0, the midpoint
of the scale, represents neutrality. Values above 7.0 represent alkaline
conditions, and those below 7.0 represent acid conditions.
Garbage that has been shredded to such a degree that all
particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally
prevailing in the public sewer to which it is discharged, with no
particle having a dimension greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension.
A sewer controlled by a public body.
A natural watercourse or body of water into which treated
or untreated sewage is discharged.
Sewage discharging from the sanitary conveniences of dwellings
(including apartment houses and hotels), office buildings, factories
or institutions and free from stormwater, surface water, industrial
wastes and other wastes.
A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm-, surface
and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.
A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences,
business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together
with such ground-, surface and storm water as may be inadvertently
present. The admixture of sewage as above defined with industrial
wastes or other wastes also shall be considered sewage within the
meaning of this definition.
The demand payment for the use of the county sewerage system
for handling any sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes accepted
for admission thereto in which the characteristics thereof exceed
the maximum values of such characteristics in normal sewage.
A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
Any discharge of water, sewage or industrial waste which,
in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow,
exceeds for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes, more than
5 times the average twenty-four-hour concentration or flow during
normal operation.
A sewer which carries stormwaters and surface waters and
drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes other than cooling
waters and other unpolluted waters.
Solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension
in water, sewage or other liquids and which are removable by flotation,
skimming and sedimentation. Measurement shall be as set forth in the
latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and
Waste Water.
Any substance, whether gaseous, liquid or solid, which, when
discharged to a public sewer in sufficient quantities, may be hazardous
to sewer district personnel, tend to interfere with any biological
sewage treatment process or to constitute a hazard to human beings
or animals or to inhibit aquatic life or to create a hazard to recreation
in the receiving waters of the effluent from a sewage treatment plant.
Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating
sewage.
B.
"Shall" is mandatory; "may" is permissive.
It shall be unlawful for any person to place,
deposit or permit to be deposited in any unsanitary manner on public
or private property within the City of Cohoes or in any area under
the jurisdiction of said city, any human or animal excrement, garbage
or other objectionable waste.
It shall be unlawful to discharge to any natural
outlet within the City of Cohoes or in any area under the jurisdiction
of said City any sewage or other polluted wastes, except where suitable
treatment has been provided in accordance with subsequent provisions
of this article.
Except as hereinafter provided, it shall be
unlawful to construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank,
cesspool or other facility intended or used for the disposal of sewage.
The owners of all houses, buildings or properties
used for human occupancy, employment, recreation or other purposes,
situated within the City and abutting on any street, alley or right-of-way
in which there is now located or may in the future be located a public
sanitary or combined sewer of the city, is hereby required at his
expense to install suitable toilet facilities therein and to connect
such facilities directly with the proper public sewer in accordance
with the provisions of this article within 90 days after date of official
notice to do so, provided that said public sewer is within 100 feet
of the property line.
No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any
connections with or opening into, use, alter or disturb any public
sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit
from the City Engineer.
[Amended 1-24-2006 by Ord. No. 2-2006]
The owner or his agent shall make application
on a special form furnished by the City. The permit application shall
be supplemented by any plans, specifications or other information
considered pertinent in the judgment of the City Engineer. The fee
for a building permit regarding sewers shall be the same as other
building permits issued by the City.
All costs and expense incident to the installation
and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner.
The owner shall indemnify the City from any loss or damage that may
directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building
sewer.
[Added 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 11-2006]
A.
The property owner shall be responsible for the maintenance
of the sewer lateral, once installed, from the tap into the City main
forward into the serviced property. The owner or occupant of the place
serviced by the public sewer system and charged for use thereof shall
be responsible for the costs and expense incurred to make any and
all repairs to all connecting supply pipes from the tap into the City
main forward to said property serviced by the public sewer system.
B.
The City or its Water Department shall not be liable
for any damage or loss of any kind to property or persons which may
arise from or be caused by any backflow or discharge front the sewer
system unless the City had actual prior notice of a defective, unsafe,
or obstructed condition of a City sewer main and there was a failure
or neglect within a reasonable time after the receipt of such notice
to repair or remove the defect.
C.
Where preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities
are provided by the City for any water or wastes, they shall be maintained
continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner
at his or her expense.
D.
The City will accept the responsibility for cleaning
and maintaining the City main within a public right-of-way, and the
property owner shall be responsible, at his or her own expense, for
cleanout from the tap into the City main forward into his or her property.
The City shall not provide service to sewer laterals on private property,
even where there exists a lawful easement, nor even where the owner
or occupant offers to reimburse the City for costs, unless the problem
or damage is causing a bona fide public nuisance affecting the health
or welfare of surrounding properties or the public at large.
E.
Should a broken or leaking sewer lateral create a
public nuisance by affecting the health or welfare of surrounding
properties or the public at large, the Commissioner of Public Works
may order the owner or occupant or person responsible for the care
of the property so serviced by the public sewer system to repair said
broken or leaking sewer lateral from the tap into the City main forward
into the private property. Should the person or entity so ordered,
after being given written notice and an opportunity to be heard, fail
to make the repairs after being given a reasonable period of time
to make said repairs, the Commissioner of Public Works may cause the
repairs to be made and restore the land to the same condition as it
was found once the repairs are completed. The actual expense of the
repairs and restoration, including all labor and materials, shall
be a lien against the property concerned and shall be collected by
the City, like other taxes and assessments. In an actual public health
emergency, the notice provisions herein may be dispensed with, but
no lien shall be had until said owner as had an opportunity to be
heard on the costs and necessity of the repairs.
A separate and independent building sewer shall
be provided for every building, except where one building stands at
the rear of another on an interior lot and no private sewer is available
or can be constructed to the rear building through an adjoining alley,
court, yard or driveway, the building sewer from the front building
may be extended to the rear building, and the whole considered as
one building sewer.
Old building sewers may be used in connection
with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test
by the City Engineer, to meet all requirements of this article.
The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction
of a building sewer and the methods to be used in excavating, placing
of the pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling the trench shall all
conform to the requirements of the Building and Plumbing Code[1] or other applicable rules and regulations of the city.
In the absence of code provisions or in amplification thereof, the
materials and procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of
the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code and the
ASTM and WPCF Manual of Practice No. 9 shall apply.
Whenever possible, the building sewer shall
be brought to the building at an elevation below the basement floor.
In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit
gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such
building drain shall be lifted by an approved means and discharged
to the building sewer.
No person shall make connection of roof downspouts,
exterior foundation drains, areaway drains or other sources of surface
runoff or groundwater to a building sewer or building drain which
in turn is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer.
The connection of the building sewer into the
public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the Building and
Plumbing Code[1] or other applicable rules and regulations of the City
or the procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the State
Building Construction Codes, the ASTM and the WPCF Manual of Practice
No. 9. All such connections shall be made gastight and watertight.
Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be
approved by the City Engineer before installation.
The applicant for the building sewer permit
shall notify the City Engineer when the building sewer is ready for
inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection shall
be made under the supervision of the City Engineer or his representative.
All excavations for building sewer installation
shall be adequately sheeted and 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 City Engineer.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface
drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted industrial process
waters to any sanitary sewer. Existing facilities presently connected
to the combined sewers may remain until combined sewers become separated,
at which time they shall be disconnected.
Stormwater and all other unpolluted drainage
shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated
as combined sewers or storm sewers or to a natural outlet approved
by the City Engineer. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process
waters may be discharged, on approval of the City Engineer, to a storm
sewer, combined sewer or natural outlet.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewers:
A.
Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil or other
flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas.
B.
Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous
solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity. However, the discharge
of these may be accepted conditionally by the county sewer district.
C.
Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5 or
having a pH higher than 9.5 or having any other corrosive property
capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel
of the sewage works.
D.
Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such
size capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers or other
interference with the proper operation of the sewage works, such as
but not limited to ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal,
glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, unground garbage, whole
blood, paunch manure, hair and fleshings, entrails and paper dishes,
cups, milk containers, etc., either whole or ground by garbage grinders.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes if
it appears likely, in the opinion of the City Engineer and/or the
Director, that such wastes can harm either the sewers, sewage treatment
process or equipment, have an adverse effect on the receiving stream
or can otherwise endanger life, limb, public property or constitute
a nuisance. In forming his opinion as to the acceptability of these
wastes, the City Engineer and/or the Director will give consideration
to such factors as the quantities of subject wastes in relation to
flows and velocities in the sewers, materials of construction of the
sewers, nature of the sewage treatment process, capacity of the sewage
treatment plant, degree of treatability of wastes in the water pollution
control plant and other pertinent factors. The substances prohibited
in the first instance but subject to review by the City Engineer and/or
the Director are:
A.
Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than
150° F.
B.
Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease or
oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of 100 milligrams per liter,
or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures
between 32° F. and 150° F.
C.
Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The
installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a
motor 3/4 horsepower or greater shall be subject to the review and
approval of the City Engineer and/or the Director. Not more than 30%
of ground garbage, on the dry basis, shall pass a No. 40 United States
standard sieve.
D.
Any waters or wastes containing strong-acid iron-pickling
wastes or concentrated plating solutions, whether neutralized or not.
E.
Any water or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper,
zinc and similar objectionable or toxic substances, unless their concentration
is reduced to a point that will not adversely affect any of the biochemical,
chemical or other sewage treatment process. The concentration in sewage
of any of the toxic substances shall not exceed the concentrations
judged by the Director to be toxic to biological sewage treatment
processes or to the biota of the receiving waters.
F.
Any water or wastes containing phenols or other taste-
or odor-producing substances in such concentrations exceeding limits
which may be established by the Director as necessary, after treatment
of the composite sewage, to meet the requirements of the state, federal
or other public agencies or jurisdiction for such discharge to the
receiving waters.
G.
Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life
or concentration as may exceed limits established by the City Engineer
or Director in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations.
H.
Materials which exert or cause:
(1)
Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids (such
as but not limited to fuller's earth, lime slurries and lime residues)
or of dissolved solids (such as but not limited to sodium chloride
and sodium sulfate).
(2)
Excessive discoloration (such as but not limited to
dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions).
(3)
Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand or chlorine requirements
in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage
treatment works.
(4)
Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes,
constituting slugs as defined herein.
If any waters or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in § 226-21 herein and which, in the judgment of the City Engineer and/or Director may have a deleterious effect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment or receiving waters or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the City Engineer and/or Director may:
A.
Reject the wastes;
B.
Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for
discharge to the public sewers;
C.
Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge;
and/or
D.
Require payment to cover the added cost of handling
and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges.
It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge directly or indirectly into public sewers or into any private sewer or any combined sewer discharging into a public sewer, sewage combined with industrial wastes or other wastes, industrial wastes or other wastes the characteristics of which, at the point of discharge, exceed the concentration limits prescribed for normal sewage under § 226-2 herein or fall within the categories prohibited under §§ 226-18 through 226-27 herein, except under the issuance of a permit therefor by the Director and upon such terms and conditions as may be established by the Director in the issuance of such a permit.
Each applicant for a permit to discharge sewage
combined with industrial wastes or other wastes into public sewers
shall fill out and file with the Director an industrial sewer connection
application as a prerequisite for the consideration of such a permit.
The following is a partial list of information to be furnished by
the applicant:
A.
Plot of the property showing accurately all sewers,
drains and house connections.
B.
Plans and specifications covering any work proposed
to be performed under the permit.
C.
A complete schedule of process waters and industrial
wastes produced or expected to be produced at said property or premises,
including a description of the character of each waste, the daily
volume and maximum rates of discharge and representative analyses.
D.
The name and address of the person or firm who will
be responsible for the performance of the work to be covered by the
permit and the name and address of the person or firm who will be
responsible for operating the facilities in accordance with the terms
and conditions of the permit.
Terms and conditions as may be required and
imposed by the Director in the issuance of the permit are as follows:
A.
A limitation upon the volume of sewage and the rate
of flow permitted from the premises.
B.
The installation and maintenance by the permittee,
at his own expense, of facilities or equipment for intermittent or
continuous measurement of sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes
discharged from the premises into a public sewer.
C.
The installation and maintenance by the permittee,
at his own expense, of detention tanks or other facilities or equipment
for reducing the maximum rates of discharge of sewage to such a percentage
of the twenty-four-hour rate as may be required by the Director.
D.
The installation and maintenance by the permittee,
at his own expense, of such preliminary treatment facilities as may
be required by the Director.
E.
The installation and maintenance by the permittee,
at his own expense, of a suitable control or sampling manhole or manholes
in any sewer discharging to a public sewer for which a permit is issued.
F.
The installation and maintenance by the permittee,
at his own expense, of grease, oil and sand interceptors, separators
or traps that are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes
containing such substances in excessive quantities or any flammable
waste or other harmful ingredients.
G.
The submission to and approval by the Director of
the plans for any of the facilities or equipment required to be installed
and maintained by the permittee;
H.
Such other terms and conditions as may be necessary
to protect the sewer system and carry out the intent and provisions
of these rules and regulations.
I.
Such terms and conditions may also provide that, subsequent
to the commencement of operation of any preliminary treatment facilities,
periodic reports shall be made by the permittee to the Director, setting
forth adequate data upon which the acceptability of the sewage, industrial
wastes or other wastes, after treatment, may be determined.
J.
Where preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities
are provided for any water or wastes, they shall be maintained continuously
in satisfactory and effective operation by the permittee at his expense.
K.
A violation by the permittee of the permit shall be
a cause for revocation or suspension of the permit.
Whenever sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes having characteristics other than prescribed for normal sewage as defined in § 226-2 herein or falling within the categories of waste prohibited from public sewers pursuant to these rules and regulations are discharged into public sewers from any premises, the City Engineer and/or the Director shall have the right to take samples and tests as may be necessary to determine the nature and concentration of such wastes and shall have the right to reassess his determinations by taking samples and tests at any time or by periodic rechecks without notice to the person discharging such wastes.
When required by the City Engineer and/or the
Director, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying
industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole, together
with such meters and other appurtenances in the building sewer as
are necessary to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement
of the wastes. Such manhole, when required, shall be accessibly and
safely located and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved
by the City Engineer and/or the Director. The manhole shall be installed
by the owner at his expense and shall be maintained by him so as to
be safe and accessible at all times.
All measurements, tests and analyses of the
characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in
these rules and regulations shall be determined in accordance with
the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water
and Waste Water, published by the American Public Health Association,
and shall be determined at the control manhole or upon suitable samples
taken at said control manhole. In the event that no special manhole
has been required, the control manhole shall be considered to be the
nearest suitable one downstream in the public sewer to the point at
which the building sewer is connected. Sampling shall be carried out
by customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents
upon the sewage works and to determine the existence of hazards to
life, limb and property.
[Amended 9-11-1984 by Ord. No. 61-1984]
No person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently
break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure,
appurtenance, or equipment which is part of the City of Cohoes sewerage
system. Any person violating this provision shall be subject to immediate
arrest under charge of criminal tampering.
[Amended 9-11-1984 by Ord. No. 61-1984]
A.
The City Engineer and/or the Director and/or the Administrator
of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and/or the Commissioner
of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation or
other duly authorized employee of the City and/or the county and/or
the Environmental Protection Agency and/or the New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation bearing proper credentials and identification
shall be permitted to enter all properties for the purpose of inspection,
observation, measurements, sampling and testing the quantity and quality
of waste discharges to the sewers or waterways or facilities for waste
treatment in accordance with the provisions of this article.
B.
While performing the necessary work on private properties referred to in Subsection A above, the City Engineer and/or the Director and/or the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and/or the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation or other duly authorized representative shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the property owner.
[Amended 9-11-1984 by Ord. No. 61-1984; 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 11-2006]
The City Engineer and/or the Director and/or
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and/or the
Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
or their duly authorized representatives bearing proper credentials
and identification shall be permitted to enter all private properties
through which the City holds a duly negotiated easement for the purpose
of but not limited to inspection, observation, measurement, sampling,
repair and maintenance of any portion of the sewerage works lying
within said easement. All entry and subsequent work, if any, on said
easement shall be done n full accordance with the terms of the duly
negotiated easement pertaining to the private property involved. Said
public officials shall be authorized to enter private property to
inspect or make repairs where there are emergency circumstances that
affect the public health or where an administrative search warrant
is obtained.
A.
A violation of the provisions of this article and
rules and regulations is an offense and each such violation may be
punished by a fine of not more than $250 or by imprisonment not exceeding
15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
[Amended 12-10-1996 L.L. No. 4-1996]
B.
In lieu of or in addition to such fine or imprisonment,
or both, each such violation shall be subject to a civil penalty not
exceeding $100 for any one case, to be recovered in an action or proceeding
brought by the Corporation Counsel of the City of Cohoes in a court
of competent jurisdiction. Each day of a continuing violation shall
be subject to a separate such fine, imprisonment or civil penalty.
The Corporation Counsel may maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the City in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with these rules and regulations or restrain by injunction any violation of these rules and regulations, notwithstanding the provisions of § 226-32 hereof for a penalty or other punishment.
Where any violation of these rules and regulations
causes expense to the city, such violation may also be punished by
a civil suit against the violator, brought by the Corporation Counsel
of the City of Cohoes in the name of the City in a court of competent
jurisdiction, to recover such additional cost.
[Adopted 7-10-1984 by L.L. No. 4-1984]
A.
CITY
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
OTHER WASTES
PART (in relation to the term "sewer system")
SEWAGE
SEWER SYSTEM
As used in this article, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
The City of Cohoes.
Any liquid, gaseous, solid or other waste substance or a
combination thereof resulting from any process of industry manufacturing,
trade or business or from the development or recovery of any natural
resources.
Garbage, refuse, decayed wood, sawdust, shavings, bark, sand,
lime, cinders, ashes, offal, oil, tar, dye stuffs, acids, chemicals
and all other discarded matter not sewage or industrial waste.
All lateral sewers or all branch sewers or all interceptor
sewers or all trunk sewers and any sewage treatment and disposal works,
each part with necessary appurtenances, including sewage pumping stations.
The water-carried human or animal wastes from residences,
buildings, industrial establishments or other places, together with
such groundwater infiltration and surface water as may be present.
The admixture with sewage as above defined or industrial waste or
other wastes as hereinafter defined, also shall be considered sewage
within the meaning of this article.
All sewer pipes and other appurtenances which are used or
useful in whole or part in connection with the collection treatment
or disposal of sewage, industrial waste and other wastes and which
are owned, operated or maintained by the City, including sewage pumping
stations and sewage treatment and disposal works and on-site wastewater
disposal systems, if any.
B.
Whenever the context requires, words in the singular
number shall be deemed to include the plural, and words in the plural
number shall be deemed to include the singular.
The City of Cohoes or its City Engineer shall
determine the total annual cost of operation and maintenance of the
sewer system which are necessary to maintain its capacity and performance,
during its service life. The total annual cost of operation and maintenance
shall include, but need not be limited to, labor, repairs, equipment
replacement, maintenance, necessary modification, power, sampling,
laboratory tests and a reasonable contingency fund.
A.
Pursuant to the authority granted by Subdivision 26-a
of § 20 of the General City Law and pursuant to Article
14-F of the General Municipal Law, the City of Cohoes hereby establishes
a scale of sewer rents and does hereby impose such sewer rents on
the real property within the City subject thereto as herein set forth.
B.
All premises or real property within the City using
the sewer system or any part or parts thereof shall be subject to
a sewer rent charge.
C.
The charges for operation and maintenance attributable
to flows through the sewer system shall be distributed among all users
of the wastewater system based upon the flow volume of the users.
D.
The sewer rent charge shall be equal to a percentage
of the water bill charged to all premises or real property within
the City for water supplied by the city. Each user's cost contribution
to the sewage system shall be determined by the user's annual wastewater
service charge. Residential users and nonresidential users shall be
considered one class of users. The Board of Managers shall determine
such percentage.
[Amended 12-27-2001 by Ord. No. 25-2001]
E.
The City of Cohoes shall review the total annual cost
of operation and maintenance of the sewer system not less often than
every two years and will revise the sewer rents as necessary to assure
equity of the user charge system established herein and to assure
that sufficient funds are obtained to adequately operate and maintain
the city's sewer system.
A.
The sewer rents shall be billed to each premises or
parcel of real property as aforesaid at such time or times as water
charges are now billed and shall be collected in like manner.
B.
Sewer rents shall be due at such time or times as
water charges are now due and payable and shall be collected by such
City official or officials as now charged with the collection of water
charges.
Sewer rents shall constitute a lien upon real
property upon which sewer rents have been established and imposed.
The City may enforce the collection of delinquent
sewer rents pursuant to § 452 of the General Municipal Law.
If any owner of real property on which a sewer
rent has been imposed deems himself aggrieved because such real property
is not served by the sewer system or any part or parts thereof or
an error has been made in computing such sewer rent he may file an
application for a refund of all or part of such sewer rent. Such application
shall be verified by him and shall set forth the amount of refund
sought and the grounds therefor. Such application shall be presented
to the City Treasurer and he shall forward such application to the
Common Council with his recommendations in relation thereto. The Common
Council may, by a 2/3 vote, authorize a refund of all or part of such
sewer rent or charge.
Pursuant to § 453 of the General Municipal
Law, revenues derived from sewer rents shall be credited to a special
fund to be known as the "Sewer Rent Fund." Disbursements therefrom
shall be made pursuant to such section of the General Municipal Law.
None of such sewer rents shall be deemed a tax
against any real property within the city.
A.
The discharge of any waters containing toxic or poisonous
solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or
by interaction with other waste, to contaminate the sludge of any
municipal system or to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment
process constitute a hazard and/or have an adverse effect on the waters
receiving any discharge from a treatment works is hereby prohibited.
B.
Each user which discharges any toxic pollutant that
causes an increase in cost of managing the effluent or the sludge
of a wastewater treatment works shall pay for such increased cost.
This system of establishing and imposing sewer
rents to users of the sewage system within the City of Cohoes shall
be consistent with Section 204, Subsection (b)(1)(A), of the Clean
Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq., as amended) or 40 CFR
Part 35.
