[Amended 6-11-1984 by Ord.
No. 4-84]
The short title of this chapter shall be the "City of Taneytown Sewer
Use Code."
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this section, shall
have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context
clearly indicates a different meaning. Words, terms and phrases are as follows:
ACT or THE ACT
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the "Clean
Water Act," as amended, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.
BOD (biochemical oxygen demand)
The quantity of oxygen, expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l),
utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory
procedure in five days at 20º C.
CITY
The City of Taneytown, Maryland, or its authorized deputy, agent
or representative.
GARBAGE
Solid waste resulting from the domestic and commercial preparation,
cooking and dispensing of food and from handling, storage and sale of produce.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
Any property 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 and/or industrial wastes shall be or may be
discharged.
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any room, group of rooms, building or other enclosure used or intended
for use, in whole or in part, in the operation of one business enterprise
for manufacturing, fabricating, processing, cleaning, laundering or assembling
any product, commodity or article or from which any process waste, as distinct
from sewage, shall be discharged.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Solid, liquid or gaseous substances, waterborne waste or form of
energy discharged or escaping in the course of any industrial, manufacturing,
trade or business process or in the course of development, recovering or processing
of natural resources, but not sewage.
INTERFERENCE
The inhibition or disruption of the sewage treatment plant processes
or operations which contributes to a violation of any requirement of the city's
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The term includes
prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal by the city in accordance with
Section 405 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1345) or any criteria, guidelines
or regulations developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA),
the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act or more stringent state
criteria (including those contained in any state sludge management plan prepared
pursuant to Title IV of SWDA) applicable to the method of disposal or use
employed by the city.
Mg/l
Milligrams per liter.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole or partial,
of an improved property.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation,
association, joint-stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity or any
other legal entity or their legal representatives, agents or assigns. The
masculine gender shall include the feminine, and the singular shall include
the plural where indicated by the context.
pH
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen
ions, expressed in gram equivalent per liter of solution, indicating the degree
of acidity or alkalinity of a substance.
PRETREATMENT or TREATMENT
The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants
or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a
less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing
such pollutants into the sewerage facilities. The reduction or alteration
can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes or process changes
or by other means, except as prohibited by federal regulations.
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS
Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment,
other than a national pretreatment standard imposed on an industrial user.
QUALIFIED ANALYST
A.
Any person holding an undergraduate degree in chemistry or in a closely
allied field (e.g., biology or sanitary engineering); or
B.
Any other person who has demonstrated competency in wastewater analysis
by having analyzed satisfactorily a minimum of three reference wastewater
samples as supplied upon request by the city.
SEWAGE
The normal water-carried household and toilet waste from any improved
property, excluding, however, the effluent from septic tanks or cesspools,
rain, stormwater and groundwater, as well as roof or surface water, drainage
or percolating or seeping waters or accumulation thereof, whether underground
or in cellars or basements.
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT
That portion of the sewerage system designed to provide treatment
to wastewater, including, but not necessarily limited to, any arrangement
of devices and structures used for treating sewage and authorized industrial
waste.
SEWERAGE SYSTEM
Any sanitary sewers that convey wastewater to the sewage treatment
plant, but not including pipes, sewers or other conveyances not connected
to a facility providing treatment. For the purposes of this chapter, "sewerage
system" shall also include any sewers that convey wastewaters to the sewerage
system from persons who are, by contract or agreement with the city, users
of the city's sewerage system.
SLUG
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 five times the average twenty-four-hour
concentration or flow during normal operation.
STANDARD METHODS
An abbreviated expression used to denote Standard Methods for the
Examination of Water and Wastewater, a manual published by the American Public
Health Association specifying official analytical procedures for the measurement
of wastewater parameters.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
Solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in
water, sewage or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory filtering.
TOTAL SOLIDS
The sum of dissolved and undissolved constituents in water or wastewater.
TOXIC SUBSTANCE
Any substance or combination of substances that is listed as toxic
in regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency or is present in sufficient
quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or
interfere with any sewage treatment process, to constitute a hazard to humans
or animals, to create a public nuisance or to create any hazard in the sewerage
system or in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant.
UNAUTHORIZED WASTE
Any waste which is not in compliance with the provisions of this
chapter or which is discharged into the sewerage system by a person in violation
of any provision contained in this chapter.
UNGROUND GARBAGE
Garbage that has not been shredded to such a degree that all its
particles will be carried freely under normal sewer flow conditions, with
no particle greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension.
USER
Any person who contributes or causes or permits the contribution
of wastewater into the city's sewerage system.
WASTEWATER
The liquid and water-carried industrial or domestic wastes from dwellings,
commercial buildings, industrial facilities and institutions, whether treated
or untreated, which is contributed into or permitted to enter the sewerage
system.
The owner of each improved property connected to the sewerage system
shall be responsible for all acts of tenants or other occupants of such improved
property insofar as such acts shall be governed by provisions of this chapter.
The owner of any improved property required by this chapter to have
sanitary facilities for sewage disposal shall be responsible for the proper
installation of such facilities. The occupant or person having immediate use
and control of such property shall be responsible for maintaining the facilities
in sanitary and usable condition, unless by contractual arrangement between
the parties the owner expressly agrees to retain such responsibility.
[Added 10-8-2001 by Ord.
No. 11-2001]
A. The property owner will furnish and install, at the property
owner's sole expense, all such piping and equipment that is necessary to connect
from the property owner's property line to the City's sewer main. All such
equipment and materials shall be approved by the City prior to installation
and shall be installed by a licensed master plumber who shall be approved
by the City prior to any such work being performed.
B. Title to all sewer lines and laterals from the sewer
main to the property line is vested in and shall at all times remain the sole
property of the City and shall not be trespassed upon or interfered with in
any respect. This property and equipment shall be maintained by the City after
completion of the work.
C. The sewer lateral from the property line to the building
shall be installed at the expense of the property owner. For this installation,
the property owner shall employ a licensed master plumber to do the work.
Materials and methods of construction shall be in accordance with established
codes adopted by the City and shall be subject to the approval of the City.
The sewer lateral between the property line and the building and all fixtures
on or in the building of the property owner or applicant shall be maintained
by the property owner and the work shall be performed by a licensed master
plumber in a manner satisfactory to the City.
D. All sewer house connections shall be six-inch PVC (polyvinyl
chloride) pipe, with a cleanout at or near the property line.
E. No sewer lateral shall be laid in the same trench with
any gas, water, or any other utility or facility of a public service company
or within three feet of any other excavation or fault.
F. In the event of a complaint regarding a sewer stoppage,
the Director of Utilities for the City will promptly determine whether the
main sewer line is clear and, if not, the stoppage will be cleared as soon
as possible. If the main-line sewer is found to be clear, the complainant
will be so informed and he/she shall then, at his or her own expense, employ
a licensed master plumber to determine the location of the stoppage, to relieve
the stoppage and to clean out the lateral line. If, upon investigation by
City officials or their representatives or agents, the pipe between the property
line and the main line sewer is found to be damaged, then the City, at its
sole expense, will have the option either to repair or replace the damaged
pipe.
Any building or structure within the meaning of Chapter
205, Zoning, §
205-1B, and located on land which abuts upon a street or other public way containing a sanitary sewer must be equipped with sanitary sewage disposal facilities connected to that sanitary sewer.
Where this chapter requires a particular type of sewage disposal facility,
the use of any other type, or disposal by any other means, is hereby expressly
prohibited unless approved by the Council. The Council approves exceptions
to the provisions of this chapter only when the lot size, soil composition,
lay of the land or other unusual circumstances make the installation and use
of the prescribed facilities unfeasible, and provided that conditions favor
those installations as adequate for protection of the public health.
It shall be unlawful for any person willfully or maliciously to deposit
any material in any toilet, bathtub, sink or other plumbing fixture which
may result in the obstruction of any sanitary sewer. This liability on the
part of occupant shall not relieve the owner of the responsibility of cleaning
any resultant chokage which shall subject the occupant to the penalties of
this chapter upon proper proof of such willful malicious act.
Any extension of the city's sanitary sewer system shall be made at the
expense of the developer or property owner unless and until it is deemed to
be in the best interests of the health, safety, economics or community development
of the city that the Council, by affirmative vote, allow other means of financing
such extension of the city's sanitary sewer system, including but not limited
to city participation in bearing any portion of the cost of the same.
[Amended 8-9-1999 by Ord.
No. 8-99]
The city shall not provide sewer services outside the corporate limits
of the city.
[Amended 8-9-1999 by Ord.
No. 8-99]
The violation by any person or persons who individually, collectively
or through others violate any provision of this chapter or of the rules and
regulations of the Council is declared a municipal infraction. The penalty
for violation shall, unless otherwise specified herein, be $50 for each initial
offense and $100 for each day any violations continue.
The city reserves the right to adopt, from time to time, such additional
rules, regulations, fees and penalties as it shall deem necessary and proper
in connection with use and operation of the sewerage system, which rules,
regulations, fees and penalties shall be, shall become and shall be construed
as part of this chapter.
All improved properties within the corporate limits of the city shall
be connected to the sanitary sewage system of the city.
In the event of a failure of any property owner to so connect to the
sanitary sewage system, the Council shall have the power and authority to
order the connection made by any competent contractor of its choice and shall
have the right to impose the costs thereof as a charge against and a lien
upon that property, which costs shall be due, payable and collectible in the
same manner as are the ad valorem taxes of the city.
[Amended 8-9-1999 by Ord.
No. 8-99]
It shall be unlawful for any person, persons, firm or corporation to
have or maintain within the corporate limits of the city any outdoor toilet
or privy. Any violation of this section is declared to be a municipal infraction.
The penalty for violation shall be $50 for each initial offense and $100 for
each day the violation continues.
The schedule of rates and charges for sewer services furnished by the
city shall be as established by the Mayor and Council from time to time by
resolution.
The sewage charge hereby imposed and levied shall be collected by the
Clerk at the same time and in the same manner as the charge for water furnished
and supplied is collected. Upon the failure of any user of the sanitary sewage
system to pay the charge levied and imposed within 30 days after the statement
of the charges due, the city, or its agents or employees, after five days'
written notice, may discontinue the supply of water to or for the property
or premises owned or occupied by any delinquent user. Any unpaid bills shall
be and remain a lien upon the premises served until paid and may be collected
in the same manner as taxes levied upon real estate by the city, and bills
for any service shall be directed to the owner or owners of the premises served.
[Added 11-9-1992 by Ord.
No. 9-92]
A. Any property owner, developer or individual seeking site
plan approval or subdivision approval must obtain sewer allocation for any
part of a proposed project that is to be recorded in the land records of Carroll
County before final approval by the city. Sewer allocation will be based upon
approved Maryland Department of the Environment (MDOE) regulations.
B. Sewer allocations will be assigned and held in reserve
at no charge for one year following the effective date of approval. The sewer
allocation can be renewed once for a one-year period only upon payment of
a sewer allocation reservation fee (SARF). The sewer allocation reservation
fee is $250 per lot or dwelling unit that does not possess a valid building
permit. The fee set forth herein is in addition to any fee or charge which
may now or hereafter be made by the city.
C. A sewer allocation shall be effective for a period of
one year from the date of allocation. If actual construction on the proposed
project has not commenced by the end of that period, as evidenced by the possession
of a valid building permit, the allocation shall expire unless renewed for
the additional year.
D. After the allocation has expired, the owner, developer
or individual must reapply for sewer allocation.
E. Notification of the passage of this section is to be
made to the current owner of the property for which the allocation was granted
by certified mail.