[Adopted 5-13-1974 by Ord. No. 79]
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise, the meanings of terms and phrases used in this article shall be as follows:
AUTHORITY
Franconia Township Sewer Authority, a Pennsylvania municipality authority.
BUILDING SEWER
The extension from the sewage drainage system of any structure to the lateral of a sewer.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
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.
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any improved property located in this township used wholly or in part for the manufacturing, processing, cleaning, laundering or assembly of any product, commodity or article or any other improved property located in this township from which wastes, in addition to or other than sanitary sewage, are discharged.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
Any and all wastes discharged from an industrial establishment other than sanitary sewage.
LATERAL
That part of the sewer system extending from a sewer to the curbline 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.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole or partial, of any improved property.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, company, association, society, corporation or other group or entity.
SANITARY SEWAGE
Normal water-carried household and toilet wastes from any improved property.
SEWAGE COLLECTION SYSTEM
All facilities, as of any particular time, for collecting, transporting, pumping and disposing of sanitary sewage and/or industrial wastes, owned, maintained and operated by or in behalf of the Authority.
SEWER
Any pipe or conduit constituting a part of the sewage collection system used or usable for sewage collection purposes.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Franconia, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, acting by and through its Board of Supervisors or, in appropriate cases, by and through its authorized representatives.
[Amended 5-19-2025 by Ord. No. 430]
A. 
The owner of any improved property located in this township and accessible to and whose principal building is within 150 feet from the sewage collection system, shall connect such improved property to the sewage collection system, 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 herein or otherwise shall be established by this township or the Authority from time to time. Transfer of ownership of any improved property within 150 feet of public sewer requires connection to public sewer, regardless of the condition of an existing on-lot disposal system.
B. 
All sanitary sewage and industrial wastes from any improved property, after connection of such improved property with a sewer shall be required under Subsection A of this section, 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.
C. 
Restrictions on placement or discharge of sanitary sewage or industrial wastes on private property or into natural outlets.
(1) 
No person shall place or deposit or permit to be placed or deposited upon public or private property within this township any sanitary sewage or industrial wastes in violation of Subsection A of this section.
(2) 
No person shall discharge or permit to be discharged to any natural outlet within this township any sanitary sewage or industrial wastes in violation of Subsection A of this section, except where suitable treatment has been provided which is satisfactory to this township.
D. 
Privy vaults, cesspools, sinkholes, septic tanks and similar receptacles.
(1) 
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 Subsection A of this section to be connected to a sewer.
(2) 
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 requested 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.
(3) 
No privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle at any time shall be connected with a sewer.
E. 
The notice by this township to make a connection to a sewer, referred to in Subsection A of this section, 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 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 to 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 sewage collection system, after 60 days' notice from this township, in accordance with § 112-2A, 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 providing 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 approve.d 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.
A. 
Every excavation for a building sewer shall be guarded adequately with barricades and lights to protect all persons from damage and injury.
B. 
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 sewage collection 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 to a sewer and the sewage collection system, which additional rules and regulations, to the extent appropriate, shall be and shall be construed as part of this article.
[Amended 9-12-1988 by Ord. No. 147; 6-10-1996 by Ord. No. 237; 3-8-1999 by Ord. No. 271]
This article shall be enforced by action brought before a District Justice in the same manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure. Any person who violates or permits the violation of this article shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding, be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 per violation or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each section of this article that is violated shall constitute a separate offense.
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.