[Adopted 6-15-1993 by Ord. No. 93-19]
A. 
Establishment; control. A Department of Sewer Utility ("Department") is hereby created in and for the Borough of East Rutherford, which Department shall be under the control and supervision of the borough. The Mayor shall, upon the advice and consent of the Borough Council, appoint a Director of Sewer Utility ("Director"). The Director shall serve at the pleasure of the Mayor. The Mayor may, with or without cause, remove or replace such Director.
B. 
Director. In the event that the position of Director of the Department becomes or remains vacant through removal, resignation, retirement or otherwise, then in that event, the Borough Clerk of the Borough of East Rutherford shall assume all duties and obligations of the office of Director. The Director shall perform all duties and functions and shall be accountable to the Mayor and Council, as set forth in the general ordinances of the borough which pertain generally to the administrative procedures of the borough.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Part I, Administrative Provisions, of the Code of the Borough of East Rutherford.
It is the purpose of this article to empower the Borough of East Rutherford through the Sewer Utility to perform all such reasonable and necessary functions in connection with the providing of sewage disposal and treatment as afforded to the borough by the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:63-1 et seq., without limitation, and the collection of fees therefor. The provisions of this article are subject to the ability of the Borough of East Rutherford to provide sewage service to the extent permitted by law and in accordance with the terms and conditions of any existing contracts which are legally binding upon the Borough of East Rutherford.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
CUSTOMER
The party contracting for sewer service to a property as hereinafter classified.
A. 
Residential classes.
(1) 
Single-family residential dwellings comprised of a building under one roof owned by one or more parties and occupied by a single-family residential unit.
(2) 
Multifamily residential dwellings, being:
(a) 
A "duplex" or "double house" having a solid, vertical partition wall, making it capable of divided ownership.
(b) 
A building owned by one party or more than one party consisting of more than one apartment and using in common one hall and one entrance.
(c) 
A building owned by one party or more than one party having a number of apartments and one or more means of entrance.
B. 
Commercial, industrial and institutional uses.
C. 
Combination residential and commercial, industrial and institutional uses.
DIRECTOR
The duly appointed Director of the Department of Sewer or, in the absence of such director, the Borough Clerk of the Borough of East Rutherford.
LICENSED OPERATOR
The duly appointed operational administrator of the Sewer Utility and in particular shall be understood to be the borough agent, servant or employee in charge of the day-to-day operation, installation and maintenance of the sanitary sewer facilities heretofore operated by the East Rutherford Sewerage Authority. Such operator shall be properly licensed and qualified by the State of New Jersey to perform the necessary functions attendant to this position.
PHYSICAL CONNECTION
Any connection, cross-connection, bypass, valve, pipeline or any like device which permits or may permit any flow of wastes from any source into the sewage system operated by this utility.
SEWAGE
The water-carried wastes created in and carried, or to be carried, away from residences, hotels, apartments, schools, hospitals industrial establishments or any other public or private building, together with such surface or groundwater and industrial wastes as may be present.
SEWAGE SYSTEM
The plants, structures and other real and personal property acquired, constructed or operated or to be acquired, constructed or operated by the Sewer Utility, including sewers, conduits, pipelines, mains, pumping and ventilating stations, sewage treatment or disposal systems, plants and works, connections, outfalls, compensating reservoirs and other plants, structures, boats, conveyances and other real and personal property and rights therein and appurtenances necessary or useful and convenient for the collection, treatment, purification or disposal in a sanitary manner of any sewage, liquid or solid wastes, night soil or industrial wastes;
SEWER UTILITY
The Department of Sewer of the borough acting pursuant to the direction of the borough through its elected officials and performing all functions pertaining to the treatment of sewage heretofore performed by the East Rutherford Sewerage Authority.
UTILITIES COLLECTOR
The duly appointed employee of the borough authorized to collect fees and charges and to process applications for sewer service.
The Borough Council of the Borough of East Rutherford is hereby empowered to adopt by resolution such portions of the current rules regulating the East Rutherford Sewerage Authority as it deems proper and necessary in order to enable the Department to perform the purposes enumerated herein and any additional rules. In addition, the borough is hereby empowered to retain the professional services of such sanitarian, engineer or other expert as the borough shall determine to be necessary for the purpose of establishing appropriate rules and regulations affecting the installation, maintenance, repair and control of plumbing and drainage of buildings and the connection thereof to the facilities of the Sewer Utility. These rules and regulations may be adopted by the borough by resolution and by reference if appropriate.
There is hereby established a transition period of 120 days' duration, during which time the Director of the Department shall assume the operation of the Sewer Utility functions heretofore carried out by the East Rutherford Sewerage Authority. During such transition time, which may be extended by resolution of the borough for such reasonable time as it deems proper and just, the Director of the Department shall utilize the rules and procedures as established by the East Rutherford Sewerage Authority which, pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:49-5.1, are annexed to this article and which have been and are now filed in the office of the Clerk of the borough and which will remain on file there for the use and examination of the public, except where such rules and procedures are inconsistent with the provisions of this article.
To the extent not specifically set forth herein, the Mayor and Council of the Borough of East Rutherford specifically reserves unto itself all those certain powers, rights and responsibilities as set forth at length in N.J.S.A. 40:63-1 et seq. and N.J.S.A. 40:62-7 et seq., which provisions may be deemed by the borough necessary for the operation of the Municipal Sewer Utility created hereby.
The borough, through the Department, shall have a right of access to any customer's premises and to all equipment and property of the borough at reasonable times for the purpose of reading meters, inspecting, repairing or replacing equipment used in connection with the supplying of sewer services or for the removal of equipment or property. The customer shall obtain for the Department all necessary permission from tenants or others for access to equipment or property. Customers shall not permit access to meters or other Department property, except by authorized employees of the Department or other authorized state or local inspectors.
Any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this article, or any succeeding ordinances or resolutions pertaining to the subject matter of this article which might be enacted or adopted, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed 90 days, or both. Each and every day that any violation continues shall be deemed to be and shall be a separate offense, separately punishable as aforesaid.
All connection, user and other fees and charges set forth in this article shall draw the same interest from the time that they became due as taxes upon real estate in the borough and shall be a lien upon the premises connected until paid. The borough shall have the same remedies for the collection thereof, with interest, cost and penalties as it has for all collection of taxes upon real estate.
Each contractor or other person performing work on borough public property for the purpose of installing sanitary sewer connections shall post a bond acceptable to the borough. All work shall be adequately guarded with barricades, lights and other measures for protection to the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, curbs and other public property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the borough.
A. 
Sewer service connections shall be made upon written application to the Director on forms furnished by the Director and signed by the owner of the property or by a duly authorized agent.
B. 
No application for service will be accepted for installation between December 15 and April 15, unless the property owner agrees to pay the additional cost that may be incurred because of adverse weather conditions during this period.
Approval of an application for a sewer connection can only be made if it has been determined that a sewer main approved by the Sewer Utility exists in front of the applicant's property or in the public right-of-way. The main shall extend the length of the applicant's property, and if it does not so extend, it shall be extended at the applicant's expense in accordance with Sewer Utility specifications.
No person or persons shall in any manner, without permission, connect or disconnect or tamper or interfere with any property of the Sewer Utility of the Borough of East Rutherford such as pipes or conduits, meters, valves, instruments or other accessories or property.
A. 
The Department may refuse to connect to any customer's piping system or to supply sewer services to a system if said system has not been designed or installed in accordance with the applicable regulations or if any parts of the piping system have not been installed at sufficient depth to prevent freezing.
B. 
The borough shall not be responsible for any inadequacy of sewer service should the customer make alterations, changes or additions to an existing system without notifying the Department Director in advance of any proposed alterations, changes or additions. In case of defective service, the customer shall not interfere with meters or other property of the Department, but shall immediately notify the office of the Director.
Complaints concerning the character of the service furnished or the reading of meters or bills rendered shall be made at the Department office to the Collector or the Director of the Department in writing. A record of such complaints will be maintained by the Department to show the names and addresses of the complainants, dates and nature of the complaints and the action taken thereon.
The existing publicly owned and operated sanitary sewer system of the borough, previously operated by the East Rutherford Sewerage Authority, is hereby declared to be a utility of the Borough of East Rutherford. Such utility shall hereafter be referred to as the "Sewer Utility," which shall be operated by the Department of Sewer Utility (Department), under the control of the Director of such Department.
All future revenue and accounting therefor from said Sewer Utility shall be on a dedicated utility basis in conformance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40A:4-35. All moneys derived from the operation of said Sewer Utility and any other moneys applicable to its support shall be segregated and kept in a separate fund which shall be known as the "Sewer Utility Fund," and all disbursements for the operation and maintenance of said Sewer Utility shall be taken from said Sewer Utility Fund.
The dedicated budget of this Sewer Utility shall include appropriations for operating expenses, capital improvements, debt service and for the portion of all other deferred charges and statutory expenses as may be required.
The owners of all houses, buildings and properties constructed after the enactment of this article, situated within the Borough of East Rutherford 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 sewer of the borough, are hereby required at their expense to connect all sanitary and other plumbing facilities directly with the proper public sewer, in accordance with all of the pertinent ordinances of the borough, prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy.
The owners of all houses, buildings and properties existing at the time of the enactment of this article and having approved private sanitary sewer facilities will be required at their expense to connect all sanitary and other plumbing facilities directly with the proper public sewer where such connections are considered necessary in accordance with the rules, regulations and ordinances of the borough and of the County Board of Health. Such connectors shall be made in accordance with all of the pertinent ordinances of the borough within 180 days of the date of official notice to do so.
A. 
Sump pumps. It is a violation for any person or user of this system to connect or discharge, by any means, into the system any materials, chemicals or drainage other than sanitary sewage. The Director shall serve notice to such persons or users to remove such discharge immediately.
B. 
Broken lines. The Director shall also serve notice to a user of the utility having broken service lines that cause infiltration into the system to repair the same no later than 14 days from said service of notice pertaining to such violation.
The Borough Council is hereby authorized to establish from time to time the charges and fees for sewer and incidental services to be provided by the Sewer Utility. The schedule of charges shall be and the same are hereby fixed and established for the collection, disposal and treatment of sanitary sewage material collected in public sanitary sewers located within the Borough of East Rutherford to be charged to all customers of the Sewer Utility and properties served by the public sewage collection system located within the Borough of East Rutherford, set charges as set forth in Exhibit B, annexed hereto and made part hereof, the same being the charge currently in effect for the Authority.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: For current provisions, see Article II of this chapter.