[Amended 3-18-1997 by Ord. No. 97-3]
A. Annual sewer service charge bills will be prepared
and mailed in August of each year.
[Amended 12-15-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-19]
B. The Collector of Taxes shall cause notice of the amount
and due date to be given to the owner of the real estate or the tenant
or occupant, who shall be personally liable therefor. Such notice
shall substantially identify the estate with respect to which the
service charge is made, state the amount of the charge and refer to
the remedy available under this section. The notice shall be mailed
postpaid and directed to the last known address of the addressee.
If there are owners or tenants whose addresses are unknown, a similar
notice covering the service charges shall be published in a newspaper
of general circulation in the Town and such published notice shall
be a single collective notice for all such owners and tenants. No
irregularity in carrying out the provisions of this section shall
excuse the nonpayment of the charge or affect its validity or any
proceedings for the collection thereof as long as there is substantial
compliance with the provisions hereof. No deficiency in the notice
to the owner, tenant or occupant shall excuse the nonpayment by the
owners of the charges against their estates or affect the validity
thereof or any proceedings for the collection thereof.
C. A certificate of the Collector of Taxes of the Town
stating the amount of any delinquent service charge and its due date
and the name of the owner of the real estate and the name of the tenant
or occupant if addressed to a tenant or occupant who is not the owner
and an identification of the real estate shall be filed with the Town
Clerk as a public record, and notice of such filing shall be mailed
or sent or otherwise given to such owner. From the date of such filing
until the same is paid in full, such delinquent service charge together
with an interest and charges accruing thereon shall constitute a lien
upon the real estate on a parity with the lien for Town taxes.
D. The Collector of Taxes shall have the same rights
to enforce such liens and to collect the service charges and interest
and charges thereon as he has in the case of Town taxes.
E. Any person aggrieved by any such service may within 90 days of the mailing or publication of notice to him, file a petition for relief against the Town as respondent in the Superior Court, the same procedure as outlined in §
207-63F for assessment charges.
[Amended 4-23-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-2]
Appeals for waterline breaks or unusual usage shall be heard
by the Lincoln Town Council.
When charges and fees are based upon the water
usage for nonresidential units, such charges and fees shall be applied
against the total amount of water used from all sources unless, in
the opinion of the Director, significant portions of water received
are not discharged to a public sewer. The total amount of water used
from public and private sources will be determined by means of public
meters for private meters, installed and maintained at the expense
of the user and approved by the Director, subject to the direction
and control of the authorized agent.
When charges and fees are based upon water usage
and where, in the opinion of the Director, a significant portion (more
than 20%) of the total annual volume of water received from any metered
source does not flow into the public sewer because of the principal
activity of the user or removal by other means, the charges and fees
will be applied against the volume of water discharged from such premises
into the public sewer. Where industries have a private water supply,
all or part of which is discharged to the sewer, the amount of such
supply or the part thereof that is discharged to the Town system,
shall be metered and included in the charges made. Written notification
and proof of the diversion of water must be provided by the user,
and approved by the Director if the user is to avoid the application
of the charges and fees against the total amount of water used from
all sources. The user shall install a meter of a type at a location
approved by the Director at the user's expense. Such meters shall
measure either the amount of sewage discharged or the amount of water
diverted. Such meters shall be maintained at the expense of the user
and be tested for accuracy at the expense of the user when deemed
necessary by the Director.