[Adopted 1-15-2007 by Ord. No. 345]
The purpose of this article is to establish procedures for the installation, use and maintenance of sewage grinder pumps and any associated force mains or low-pressure laterals. It is hereby declared that the enactment of this article is necessary for the protection, benefit and preservation of the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of Franconia Township.
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
ACT 537 PLAN
A municipality's Official Plan as defined in the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act, Act of January 24, 1966, P.L. 1535 (1965), No. 537, as amended, 35 P.S. §§ 750.1-750.20a ("Sewage Facilities Act" or "Act 537").
AUTHORITY
The Franconia Sewer Authority and the Board of the Franconia Sewer Authority, authorized by law to adopt resolutions regarding sewage collection, conveyance, treatment and disposal in Franconia Township, under the provisions of the Municipality Authorities Act of 2001 (2001, June 19, P.L. 287, No. 22, and as amended thereafter, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 5601 et seq.).
DEPARTMENT
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
GRINDER PUMP
Any electric motor-driven, submersible, centrifugal pump capable of macerating all material found in normal domestic sanitary sewage, including reasonable amounts of objects such as plastics, sanitary napkins, disposable diapers, rubber and the like, to a fine slurry and pumping this material through a small-diameter discharge. Grinder pumps can be used as one component of an area-wide low-pressure sewer system or to deliver wastewater from a single building to a gravity collector sewer system. In either case, the property owner's system will include the low-pressure lateral from the pump to the Authority's limit of responsibility for the publicly owned sewer system.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
Any property within Franconia 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 sewage shall or may be discharged.
LOW-PRESSURE SEWER SYSTEM
An alternative to a conventional gravity collector sewer system that relies on individual grinder pumps to deliver wastewater from buildings to a system of pressurized small-diameter pipes that serve an area of the municipality. The system is typically used where gravity sewers are not cost-effective and/or not feasible due to topography, excessive rock or other reason.
MUNICIPALITY
Franconia Township and the Board of Supervisors of Franconia Township of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
OFFICIAL PLAN REVISION
A change in the municipality's Act 537 Official Plan to provide for additional, newly identified future or existing sewage facilities needs, as defined fully in Section 1 of the Sewage Facilities Act, 35 P.S. § 750.1, which may include one or more of the following:
A. 
UPDATE REVISIONA comprehensive revision to an existing Official Plan required when the Department or municipality determines the Official Plan or one or more of its parts is inadequate for the existing or future sewage facilities needs of a municipality or its residents or landowners.
B. 
SPECIAL STUDYA study, survey, investigation, inquiry, research report or analysis which is directly related to an update revision. The studies provide documentation or other support necessary to solve specific problems identified in the update revision.
C. 
REVISION FOR NEW LAND DEVELOPMENTA revision to a municipality's Official Plan resulting from a proposed subdivision as defined in the Act.
PROPERTY OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole or partial, of any property located in Franconia Township.
SEWAGE
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals and any noxious or deleterious substance being harmful or inimical to the public health, or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of water for domestic water supply or for recreation or any substance which constitutes pollution under the Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. §§ 691.1- 691.1001).
The connection of existing properties or proposed land development to an existing or proposed sewerage system through the use of sewage grinder pumps, their associated low-pressure laterals, and/or force mains shall only occur after an Official Plan revision to the Municipality's Act 537 Plan, approved by both the Municipality and Department, designates that the proposed properties be served by such a connection.
A. 
The Authority is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt such rules and regulations concerning sewage which it may deem necessary from time to time to effect the purposes herein.
B. 
The Authority is hereby authorized and empowered to take such other actions as are necessary, including, but not limited to, entering into agreements with property owners that assure proper operation and maintenance of sewage facilities within the municipality's borders, including, but not limited to, sewage grinder pumps and any associated force mains or low-pressure laterals.
A. 
The Authority shall exercise its powers and legal authority set forth herein, and under all applicable statutes, ordinances, and other laws to effect the purposes of this article.
B. 
All grinder pumps and low-pressure sewer systems (and the installation, use, operation, maintenance, service, repair and replacement thereof) shall comply with the rules and regulations of the Authority in effect from time to time.
C. 
All grinder pumps and low-pressure sewer systems shall be connected to the sewage collection and conveyance system in full compliance with the rules and regulations of the Authority in effect from time to time.
D. 
The Authority shall specify the type of pumps and force main components to be used so that full service capability is available locally and on short notice.
E. 
The Authority and/or municipality shall bear no responsibility for the purchase, installation, use, operation, maintenance, service, repair, or replacement of the grinder pump and/or its low-pressure force main or lateral, except as otherwise set forth herein.
A. 
Each property owner served by a grinder pump shall have full responsibility for providing, installing, using, operating, maintaining, servicing, repairing and replacing his/her grinder pump and/or its low-pressure force main or lateral, unless otherwise set forth herein.
B. 
Each property owner served by a grinder pump shall have full responsibility for using the pump consistent with the manufacturer's instructions and shall avoid introducing into the sewerage system materials that may damage the impellers on the pump, including, but not limited to, plastic items or bulky paper, even though they may be designated as biodegradable in septic tanks.
C. 
The property owner shall be responsible for entering into a service contract with a private contractor for twenty-four-hour emergency repair or replacement service for grinder pump and low-pressure sewer system at the property owner's sole expense. In the event that the private contractor does not respond in a reasonable time period, the Authority, or its designated representative, shall have the right to make any necessary repairs at the property owner's sole expense.
D. 
Each nonresidential property owner served by a grinder pump shall either provide other means of wastewater disposal or close the structure and cease operations during any period when the grinder pump and low-pressure system serving that structure is inoperable.
E. 
Where the low-pressure force main or lateral is shared between property owners, they shall submit to the municipality and authority a declaration of easements, covenants and restrictions in recordable form setting forth the agreement of each benefited property owner with respect to the installation, use, operation, maintenance, service, repair, and replacement of the low-pressure sewer system, which agreement shall bind all future property owners. Following the approval of the low-pressure system by all applicable agencies, the municipality will not issue a permit for its installation until evidence is presented that the agreement has been recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
F. 
Property owners are required to disclose to prospective buyers the existence and condition of the grinder pump, in accordance with § 112-69 hereinafter.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violation of §§ 112-66 and 112-67 above shall constitute a nuisance and shall be abated by the municipality by either seeking mitigation of the nuisance or appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.
From and after the enactment of this article, it shall be the responsibility of any property owner whose property is served in whole or in part by a grinder pump who shall convey his, her or its property to another, to disclose to the new owner, prior to the sale of the property, that the property is served by such grinder pump equipment and that the said grinder pump is in good operating condition.
Any property owner or owners who shall fail to disclose to a new purchaser of any property which is served in whole or in part by a grinder pump the existence of the grinder pump and low-pressure installation equipment and the condition thereof and who shall also fail to certify to the Township that proper notification of the grinder pump service to the property in violation of this article shall be subject to a penalty of up to $500 for each such violation.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the Authority to effectuate this article shall be in conformity with the provisions herein, all other ordinances of the Township, and all applicable laws, and applicable rules and regulations of administrative agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.