[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Borough of Hopatcong
12-21-1994. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to enact rules and regulations which
will foster and advance the control of rats and mice in the Borough of Hopatcong,
thereby furthering the public health, welfare and safety of the Borough's
citizens and to provide penalties for violators.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall
have the following meanings:
Any condition, such as exposed or unprotected foods, grains, garbage
or liquid, which will attract and/or offer food for rats and mice.
Any structure, whether public or private, that is adapted for occupancy
or transaction of business; for rendering of professional services; for amusement;
for the display, sale or storage of goods, wares or merchandise; or for the
performance of work or labor, including but not limited to hotels, apartments,
buildings, tenement houses, rooming houses, office buildings, public buildings,
stores, theaters, markets, restaurants, grain elevators, abattoirs, warehouses,
workshops, factories and all outhouses, sheds, barns or other structures on
the premises.
The person who has the use of or occupies a building or a part or
fraction thereof, whether the actual owner or tenant. In the case of vacant
buildings or any vacant portion of a building, the owner, agent or other person
having custody of the building shall have the responsibility of an occupant
of a building.
The actual record owner of the building, whether an individual, a
partnership or a corporation, or the agent of the building or other person
having custody of the building or to whom the rent is paid.
All vacant lots, lands, parks, yards, alleys, cellars and docks.
The elimination or extermination of rats or mice within buildings
or premises in such a way that the buildings or premises shall be completely
free of rats or mice and there is no evidence of rat/mouse infestation remaining,
by any or all accepted measures, including but not limited to poisoning, fumigation
or trapping.
Any condition which provides a hiding place, shelter or protection
for rats or mice, thus favoring their multiplication and continued existence
in or upon any building or premises under or outside of a structure of any
kind.
A form of construction to prevent the ingress of rats or mice into
buildings, apartments, sheds or other structures on the premises from the
exterior or from one building to another. It shall consist essentially of
treating all actual or potential openings in exterior walls, ground or first
floors, basements, roofs and foundations that may be reached by rats or mice
from the ground by climbing or burrowing with material impervious to rat and
mouse gnawing.
A.
All buildings or structures wherein foodstuffs are prepared,
stored, kept, handled, sold or offered for sale shall comply with the regulations
prescribed herein for the ratproofing and mouseproofing of buildings and structures,
and no license from this Borough to conduct or carry on such a business shall
be issued to any person until there has been compliance with the provisions
of this section.
B.
The permitting or allowing of any buildings, portions
of buildings or premises within the Borough to be maintained in an unsanitary
condition so as to become infested or liable to become infested with rats
or mice is hereby declared to be a nuisance and unlawful.
C.
The Health Officer or any other designated employee of
the Borough shall be authorized and empowered to take whatever reasonable
measures he deems necessary and to make unannounced and periodic inspections
of the interior or exterior of any building, structure or premises for the
purpose of determining its compliance with the previous subsections of this
section.
D.
In the event that it shall be determined that a building,
portion of building or premises is not rat/mouseproof, rat/mouse-free or upon
which a condition exists which offers harborage for rats or mice, a written
notice or order shall be served upon the owner and, if other than the owner,
occupant to abate and remedy the condition and to take such rat- or mouse-control
measures as may be deemed necessary.
Upon receipt of a written notice or order from the Department of Health,
the owner or occupant of any building, portion of a building or premises specified
therein shall take immediate measures for correcting the conditions in the
building or premises. If the work and improvements have not been completed
in the time specified in the written notice or within the time established
by a written extension granted by the Department, the owner or occupant shall
be deemed guilty of an offense under the provisions of this section.
In the event that the owner or occupant of a building, portion of a
building or premises fails, neglects or refuses to comply with the notice
or order of the Health Officer, the Health Officer shall be authorized, at
his discretion, to take such steps as may be necessary to ratproof or mouseproof
and free the building, portion of the building and premises from rats or mice
at the expense of the owner or occupant. All bills, incurred by the Health
Officer in connection therewith shall be presented to the owner and, if different
than the owner, occupant of the building, portion of the building or premises
affected. In the event that such bills are not paid within 10 days after presentation,
the Health Officer is hereby authorized to institute an appropriate court
action in the name of the Borough to recover the costs from the owner, occupant,
or both, as the case may be.
The following regulations to control breeding, multiplication and spread
of rats and mice within the Borough of Hopatcong shall apply. No person shall:
A.
Throw, place or deposit or permit any person under his
control or employment to throw, place or deposit any putrid substance, night
soil, filth of any kind, garbage, rubbish, refuse piles, old lumber or any
other unwholesome material in any building, cellar, yard, vacant lot, alley,
lane, sidewalk or street, canal, lake or river or upon any private lot or
public ground within the Borough or otherwise create or allow to remain any
rat or mouse harborage within or upon any building, portion of building or
premises within the Borough of Hopatcong of which he is the owner or occupant
or which is within his control.
B.
Accumulate or permit the accumulation of, on any open
lot or other premises, any old lumber, boxes, barrels, bricks, stones, scrap
metal, motor vehicle bodies or parts of similar materials or any articles
of junk which provide rat or mouse harborage unless the same shall be placed
on open racks that are elevated not less than 18 inches above the ground,
evenly piled or stacked.
C.
Dump or permit the dumping or placing of, on or within
any land, building, portion of building or premises or on any water or waterway
within the Borough any dead animal, butcher's offal, seafood or any waste
vegetables, animal matter or any food products whatsoever.
D.
Keep any food for feeding poultry, horses, dogs or other
animals or birds unless it is kept and stored in rat/mouse-free and rat/mouseproof
containers, compartments or rooms, and unless kept in a rat/mouseproof building.
E.
Place food in the open for the feeding of any domesticated
fowl, bird or animal, except in such containers as will prevent the scattering
of such food upon the ground. After feeding, such food shall not be allowed
to remain where it is accessible to rats and mice.
F.
Feed wild birds other than in suitable containers for
the food. Containers shall be elevated at least 48 inches above ground level.
Any spillage of eaten or uneaten food shall be removed.
G.
Leave, dump or permit to accumulate any garbage, rubbish,
waste or manure in any building, portion of building or premises in the Borough
so that the same shall or may afford a harborage or breeding place for rats
or mice. Rats and mouse burrows, dens or other exterior harborage shall be
treated under methods directed by the Department of Health.
H.
Place, store or dump in any building, portion of building
or upon any premises any garbage or refuse upon which rats or mice may feed,
except in suitable metal or other containers fitted with tight covers.
A.
Every building and premises in the Borough, whether public
or private, vacant or occupied, shall be rat/mouseproof and freed of rats
and mice within three months from October 31, 1994, and shall thereafter be
maintained in a rat/mouseproof and rat/mouse-free condition.
B.
The owner, agent or occupant of all rat/mouse-stopped
buildings or structures shall maintain them in a rat/mouse-stopped condition
and repair all breaks or leaks that may occur in the rat/mouse stoppage.
C.
No person shall remove the ratproofing or mouseproofing
from any building or premises for any purpose without failing to restore the
same in a satisfactory condition or to make any new openings in areas that
have previously been closed or sealed against the entrance of rats.
[Amended 9-27-1995]
Any person who violates and neglects to comply with any provision of
this chapter or the regulations established herein or notice issued pursuant
thereto shall, upon conviction thereof, be liable to a penalty consisting
of one or more of the following: a period of incarceration not to exceed 30
days, a period of community service not to exceed 30 days and a fine of not
less than $100 and not more than $250.
