[Adopted 2-27-1967 by Ord. No. 85 (Ch. XVIII, Part 1, of
the 1973 Borough Code)]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, Bucks County, Pa.,
as presently or hereafter constituted.
The Borough of New Britain, Bucks County, Pa., or its duly
constituted and elected Borough Council, or in appropriate cases,
its authorized representatives.
Each single dwelling unit, household unit, flat or apartment
unit, store, shop, office, business or industrial unit or family unit
contained within any structure erected and intended for continuous
or periodic habitation, occupancy or use by human beings or animals
and from which structure sanitary sewage is or may be discharged.
An individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation
or group.
Improved property which adjoins, abuts on, or is adjacent
to, the sewer system or any portion thereof or any public street,
alley or way in which there is a sewer line.
The normal waterborne fluid wastes from residences, commercial
establishments, institutions and industrial establishments, limited
to the wastes from kitchens, bathrooms, water closets, lavatories
and laundries.
Refers to the sanitary sewer system plan of construction
for which has been prepared at the direction of the Authority by Roy
F. Weston, Inc., Newtown Square, Pa., for use by the Borough of New
Britain, and any improvements, additions or extensions that hereafter
may be made thereto by the Authority or the Borough to any part or
parts of any or all thereof.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The preamble to this article cited the
organization and purpose of the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority,
and that the Authority proposed to construct a sewage collection system
and other facilities for use by the Borough; that the Authority would
operate and maintain the system, in accordance with an agreement of
September 20, 1966, with the Chalfont-New Britain Township Joint Sewerage
Authority, regarding collection and treatment of sewage; that the
Borough Council, in order to promote the best interests of Borough
residents, believed it advisable to prohibit certain receptacles for
sewage, and in lieu thereof to require connections to the sewer system
where accessible.
When the sewer system in the Borough is completed and ready
for public use, the Borough shall cause notice of the fact to be given
by advertisement published once in one newspaper of general circulation
in the Borough, and such advertisement shall state that the sewer
system may be used by all persons owning occupied buildings on property
accessible to the sewer system, subject to the payment of any connection
charges and of annual sewer rentals in amounts as may from time to
time be fixed by the Authority.
A.
All persons owning any occupied building now erected upon property accessible to the sewer system shall, at their own expense, connect such building with the sewer system within 60 days after the date of publication specified in § 345-4.
B.
All persons owning any property accessible to the sewer system upon
which an occupied building is hereafter erected shall, at the time
of the erection of such building and at their own expense, connect
the same with the sewer system.
C.
All persons owning any occupied building upon property which hereafter
becomes accessible to the sewer system shall, at their own expense,
connect such building with the sewer system within 60 days after notice
to do so from the Borough.
D.
Where more than one occupied building, as hereinbefore defined,[1] is contained in a separate structure, a single common
connection to the lateral of the sewer system shall be permitted for
accommodating all units contained in such structure, except that separate
connections shall be required for each semidetached or row-type house
or structure.
It shall be unlawful for any person owning or occupying any property accessible to the sewer system to erect, construct or use or maintain or cause to be erected, constructed, used or maintained, any privy, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or other receptacle on such premises or otherwise for receiving sanitary sewage after the expiration or the particular period specified in § 345-5 hereof, or otherwise at any time to erect, construct, use or maintain any pipe, conduit, drain or other facility for the discharge of sanitary sewage into the gutters of the Borough, the storm sewers in the Borough or upon public or private property or otherwise, except into the sewer system.
Any person who erects, constructs, uses or maintains a privy,
cesspool, sinkhole, or septic tank on any property accessible to the
sewer system, or otherwise erects, constructs, uses or maintains any
pipe, conduit, drain or other facility for the discharge of sanitary
sewage in violation of this article, shall be deemed and shall be
declared to be erecting, constructing, and maintaining a nuisance
which nuisance the Borough is hereby authorized and directed to abate
in the manner provided by law.
No connection shall be made to the sewer system, except in compliance
with the ordinances and resolutions, as well as such rules and regulations
as may, from time to time, be enacted, adopted, approved or promulgated
by the Borough or the Authority.
A.
After the expiration of the particular periods specified in § 345-5 of this article, if any owner of an occupied building on property accessible to the sewer system shall have failed to connect such property with the sewer system as required by said § 345-5, the Borough shall cause a copy of this article and a written or printed notice requiring such connection to be made, which notice shall further state that its requirements shall be complied with within 30 days from the date thereof, to be served upon the owner or owners of such property so failing to connect to said sewer system either personally or by leaving the same with an adult member of the family with whom the said owner or owners reside. If the owner or owners of such property have no residence, or cannot be found, in the Borough, then a copy of such ordinance and such notice shall be posted upon such property and copy thereof left with the occupant of such property, if there be one, and shall further be mailed by registered United States mail to the owner or owners or his or their agent or attorney at his or their last known address.
B.
Upon the failure of any owner of an occupied building or property
accessible to the sewer system within the thirty-day period above
mentioned to make such connection, the Borough may make the same and
collect the cost thereof from the owner by a municipal claim or in
an action of assumpsit.
Any person desiring to do plumbing intended to be connected
to the sewer system shall obtain from the Secretary of the Borough
Council in the form to be provided, a permit entitling the applicant
to engage in regular or particular work during the calendar year in
which the permit is granted, for which permit a fee shall be charged,
as provided in the Borough Fee Schedule. The permit thus granted is
revocable at the will of the Borough and the permit is renewable from
year to year by endorsement or be exchanged for a new permit at the
discretion of the Secretary of Borough Council. No plumbing or connections
shall be made without such permit.
Any person who, for a period of at least one year previous to
the passage of this article has been regularly engaged in the plumbing
business in the Borough, shall be deemed competent to initially obtain
a permit, and all other persons, firms or corporations desiring to
do plumbing business in the Borough or to do a particular piece of
work to be connected with the sewer system, shall exhibit such evidence
of competency as said Borough from time to time may require.
Any person who shall neglect or refuse to take out a permit
or comply with the provisions of this article shall not be deemed
competent to perform any work intended to be connected with the sewer
system, and no work performed by such plumbers or other persons shall
be connected with the sewer system.
[Amended 11-6-1973 by Ord. No. 128[1]]
The provisions of this article are declared to be for the health,
safety and welfare of the citizens of the Borough, and every person
violating any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof,
be sentenced to pay a maximum fine $600 and costs of prosecution,
and, in default of payment of such fine and costs, to imprisonment
for 30 days. Provided: each thirty-day period during which such violation
of such provision shall continue shall be deemed to be a separate
offense. Provided further: each occupied building, as hereinbefore
defined, whether or not the owner thereof shall be permitted to connect
two or more occupied buildings or units by a single common connection
to a lateral of the sewer system or shall be required to make separate
connections for each occupied building or unit, shall constitute a
separate and distinct unit under the provisions of this article, and
the person or persons owning such occupied building, consisting of
multiple units contained in the same structure, who shall violate
any provision of this article, shall be subject to the aforesaid fine
for each and every one of such occupied buildings or units which are
in violation of any provision of this article.
