[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Dickinson as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 4-1-2002 by Ord. No. 3-2002]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the “Mandatory
Water Connection Ordinance of Dickinson Township.”
The background of this article and the legislative intention of the
Board of Supervisors (“Board”) in enacting it are as follows:
A.
The Township of Dickinson is a municipal township of
the second class.
B.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
reenacted and amended the Second Class Township Code by P.L. 350, No. 60,
on November 9, 1995, effective May 7, 1996 (hereinafter called “code”).
D.
The Board of Supervisors has determined that mandatory
connection to the municipal water supply promotes public health, safety and
welfare.
E.
The Board of Supervisors has also determined that it
is in the best interest of owners of properties abutting public water facilities
to connect to such facilities, thereby eliminating the risk of undetected
contamination of private wells.
F.
The Board of Supervisors has determined that it is in
the best interest of all users of the public water supply system to have mandatory
connections in order to equitably and economically apportion the cost of the
public water supply among all of the owners of property abutting the system.
Every owner of property abutting and accessible to facilities of a water
system provided by the Dickinson Township Municipal Authority shall connect
with and use the system. For the purposes of this requirement, a property
shall be deemed to be accessible to such water system if any portion of a
structure upon or in which water is provided for human consumption is within
500 feet of the system. The following owners of property are exempt from this
mandatory connection requirement under the specified circumstances:
A.
Those industries and farms which, on the effective date
of this article, have their own supply of water for uses other than human
consumption may continue to use their own water for that purpose, but are
required to use the municipal water system to provide water for human consumption.
B.
Owners of unimproved tracts shall not be required to
connect until such time as human consumption of water occurs on the premises.
All persons required to connect to the municipal water system shall
pay such rates, fees, assessments and charges which are imposed by resolution
of the Dickinson Township Water Authority.
If any owner of property abutting a water system fails to connect with
and use the system, as required by this article, within 90 days after notice
to do so has been served by the Board of Supervisors, it or its agents may
enter the property and construct the connection. Thereupon the Board of Supervisors
shall send an itemized bill of the cost of construction of connection to the
owner of the property to which connection has been made, which bill is payable
immediately, or the Board of Supervisors may authorize the payment of the
cost of construction of connections in equal installments as provided under
Article XXXIII of the Second Class Township Code. If any charge or authorized
installment is not timely made, the same shall be recoverable by the Township
Solicitor as other debts due the Township are by law recoverable.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this article shall,
upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a District Justice
under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary
offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than
$1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant
may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day
or portion thereof that such violation continues or is permitted to continue
shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this article that
is violated shall also constitute a separate offense.
