[Amended 2-11-2009 by Ord. No. 5184]
No regulated earth disturbance activities within the municipality shall commence until approval by the City of Easton of the BMP operations and maintenance plan which describes how the permanent (e.g., post construction) stormwater BMPs will be properly operated and maintained.
A. 
The BMP operations and maintenance plan for the project site shall establish responsibilities for the continuing operation and maintenance of all permanent stormwater BMPs, as follows:
(1) 
If a plan includes structures or lots which are to be separately owned and in which streets, sewers and other public improvements are to be dedicated to the City of Easton, stormwater BMPs may also be dedicated to and maintained by the City of Easton;
(2) 
If a plan includes operations and maintenance by a single owner or if sewers and other public improvements are to be privately owned and maintained, then the operation and maintenance of stormwater BMPs shall be the responsibility of the owner or private management entity.
B. 
The City of Easton shall make the final determination on the continuing operations and maintenance responsibilities. The City of Easton reserves the right to accept or reject the operations and maintenance responsibility for any or all of the stormwater BMPs.
It shall be unlawful to alter or remove any permanent stormwater BMP required by an approved BMP operations and maintenance plan or to allow the property to remain in a condition which does not conform to an approved BMP operations and maintenance plan unless an exception is granted in writing by the municipality.
A. 
The property owner shall sign an operations and maintenance agreement with the City of Easton covering all stormwater BMPs that are to be privately owned. The agreement shall be substantially the same as the agreement in Appendix C of this chapter.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix C is included at the end of this chapter.
B. 
Other items may be included in the agreement where determined by the City of Easton to be reasonable or necessary to guarantee the satisfactory operation and maintenance of all permanent stormwater BMPs. The agreement shall be subject to the review and approval of the municipality.
Stormwater management easements shall be provided by the property owner if necessary for access for inspections and maintenance or for preservation of stormwater conveyance, infiltration, detention areas and other BMPs by persons other than the property owner. The purpose of the easement shall be specified in any agreement under § 507-32.
A. 
The owner of any land upon which permanent BMPs will be placed, constructed or implemented, as described in the BMP operations and maintenance plan, shall record the following documents in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds for Northampton County within 90 days of approval of the BMP operations and maintenance plan by the City of Easton:
(1) 
The operations and maintenance plan or a summary thereof.
(2) 
Operations and maintenance agreements under § 507-32.
(3) 
Easements under § 507-33.
B. 
The municipality may suspend or revoke any approvals granted for the project site upon discovery of the failure of the owner to comply with this section.
A. 
If stormwater BMPs are accepted by the City of Easton for dedication, the City may require the applicant to pay a specified amount to the Municipal Stormwater BMP Operations and Maintenance Fund to help defray costs of operations and maintenance activities. The amount may be determined as follows:
(1) 
If the BMP is to be owned and maintained by the City, the amount shall cover the estimated costs for operation and maintenance in perpetuity, as determined by the City.
(2) 
The amount shall then be converted to present worth of the annual series values.
B. 
If a BMP is proposed that also serves as a recreation facility (e.g., ball field, lake), the City may adjust the amount due accordingly.