[Adopted 12-13-1999 by Ord. No. 5-1999]
Willistown Township hereby accepts the continuing
offer of dedication of Quaker Sewer, Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation,
and, thereby, Willistown Township acquires ownership of the easements
more fully described in the Sanitary Sewage Cross-Easement Agreement
recorded in Chester County in Deed Book 3528, Page 2258 et seq., as
amended by the First Addendum recorded in Chester County in Deed Book
4181, Page 133 et seq., and legal title to the improvements, to a
certain community sewage collection and disposal system more fully
described in Appendix A appended hereto,[1] made a part hereof and incorporated herein by reference
(the "community sewage system"); which community sewage system serves
or will serve some 202 townhouse units, more or less, made a part
of a certain residential land development known as Willistown Chase/Penns
Preserve.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is on file in the
Township offices.
From and after the effective date of this article,
no septic tank or other means of sewage disposal shall be constructed
on those lands now served by the community sewage system, and it shall
be unlawful for any person to cause or permit the flowing, discharge
or drainage of waste, sewage or other similar wastes from said lands
except into the community sewage system.
From and after the effective date of this article,
each owner, lessee and invitee with respect to the lands served by
the community sewage system shall be subject to this article, including
but not limited to the penalties and remedies contained herein, and
the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant hereto.
[Amended 4-9-2007 by Ord. No. 4-2007]
The Board of Supervisors of Willistown Township
shall prescribe by resolution the charge or charges to be assessed
against each person or persons whose property is served by the community
sewage system; which charges in the aggregate shall be fixed in an
amount not less than the projected cost to the Township of operating,
maintaining, repairing and, if necessary, replacing the community
sewage system, including without limitation the cost of any contract
for the operation, maintenance, repair and replacement, the cost of
administrative services in administering and monitoring any such contract
and in assessing and collecting the charges assessed against the users
of the community sewage system, the cost of such consultants as are
retained to provide advice and assistance in matters having to do
with the community sewage system, the cost of insuring against potential
liabilities and risks associated with the community sewage system,
and a reasonable capital reserve for the eventual major repair and
replacement of the community sewage system. Such charge or charges
as may be prescribed by the annual resolution of the Board of Supervisors
shall be paid to the Township Treasurer, on a quarterly basis, and
the charge for each calendar quarter shall be billed and payable within
30 days of the billing date.
Once set by the Board of Supervisors and assessed
against property served by the community sewage system, the charges,
together with penalties, interest, costs and reasonable attorneys
fees, shall constitute liens against the properties and may be collected
in the same manner as other sewer charges and municipal liens.
All money received as a result of assessment
of the sewer charges shall be maintained as a special reserve fund
and shall be used only for the payment of the costs of administering,
operating, maintaining, repairing, replacement and, if necessary,
enlarging the community sewage system and for a reasonable capital
reserve in connection therewith.
[Amended 4-13-2009 by Ord. No. 3-2009]
A.
The charges for sewer service shall be subject to
a penalty of 5% if not paid on or before the 30th day after the billing
date. If not paid within 120 days after the date of the bill, the
Township shall have the right to cut off sewer service from the delinquent
premises and not to restore the same until all delinquent bills against
the same and the cost of cutting off and restoring service shall have
been paid.
B.
All persons connected to the sewer system must give
the Township their correct addresses. Failure to receive bills will
not be considered an excuse for nonpayment nor permit an extension
of the period during which bills are payable at face.
C.
Payment made, as evidenced by the United States Post
Office mark, on or previous to the end of the period during which
the bills are payable at face, will be deemed to be a payment within
such period.
D.
All sewer charges, together with all penalties and
fees thereon, not paid on or before the 30th day after the billing
date shall be deemed to be delinquent. It shall be the duty of the
Township to proceed to collect such delinquent charges, together with
penalties, fees and costs accrued thereon, including attorneys' fees,
either by action at law or by filing a lien or liens for the same
in the office of the Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas of
Chester County, Pennsylvania, and such liens, together with penalty,
costs, and interest accrued thereon, including attorneys' fees, shall
be filed and collected in accordance with the law. Interest in the
amount of 10% per annum shall begin to accrue on the date of the filing
of a lien.
The Township reserves the right to, and may
from time to time, adopt, revise, amend and readopt such rules and
regulations as it deems necessary and proper for the use and operation
of the Community Sewage System, and all such rules and regulations
shall be and become a part of this article.
Connection to the community sewage system shall be required as provided in § 105-2 of this chapter. No connection shall be made to the community sewage system except in compliance with this article as well as such rules and regulations which may, from time to time, be enacted, adopted, approved or promulgated by the Township. The Township hereby waives the payment of sewer connection fees for the 202 Willistown Chase/Penns Preserve townhouse units.
The Township and its agents and employees shall
have the right of access to and may enter any building, property,
lands, premises or place as may be reasonably necessary to carry out
the provisions of this article and the rules and regulations promulgated
hereunder. In connection with such inspection or investigation, samples
may be taken of any solid, semisolid, liquid or contained gaseous
material for analysis.
If at any time after the effective date of this
article, an integrated municipal sewer system is made available by
the Township for connection to all of the properties served by the
community sewage system, the owners of said properties shall be subject
to all rules and regulations governing connection to and use of said
sewer system, and all money maintained in connection with the community
sewage system on the date of connection of the last of said properties
to the municipal sewage system, less the cost of discontinuance thereof
and disconnection therefrom, shall constitute a credit benefiting
said properties and against the payment of any sewer connection or
tapping fees charged in connection therewith.
The provisions of this article are declared
to be for the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Township,
and persons violating any provisions of this article, upon conviction
before any District Justice, shall be fined not more than $1,000 and
cost of prosecution and collection activities or by imprisonment in
the county jail for a term not to exceed 30 days, or both such fine
and imprisonment. The continuation of such violation for each successive
day shall constitute a separate offense, and the person or persons
allowing or permitting the continuation of the violation may be punished
as provided above for each separate offense.
In addition to the penalties provided in § 105-102, the Township is authorized to file appropriate actions at law or in equity in the Court of Common Pleas in and for Chester County or before any other body having jurisdiction over the persons and activities herein regulated to abate any violations of the provisions of this article. Violations of this article are declared to be public nuisances, abatable as such.
Without limiting the foregoing, it is the intent
and purpose of the Board of Supervisors of Willistown Township to
declare and create a separate sanitary sewer district consisting of
the lands served by the community sewage system to be known as the
"Penns Preserve Sewer District."
For all ordinances or resolutions or parts of
ordinances or resolutions, insofar as they are inconsistent herewith,
the more stringent ordinance or resolution shall apply.
This article and any rules and regulations hereunder
shall become effective immediately and shall be applicable to all
properties within the Penns Preserve Sewer District. The Township
reserves the right to make such changes from time to time as in its
opinion may be desirable or beneficial and to amend this article or
to change the fees in such manner and at such times as, in its opinion,
may be advisable.
If any sentence, clause, section or part of
this article is for any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal
or invalid, such unconstitutionality, invalidity or illegality shall
not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses,
sections or parts of this article. It is hereby declared that it is
the intent of the Board of Supervisors of Willistown Township that
this article would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal
or invalid sentence, clause, section or part thereof not been included
therein.
Nothing herein shall be construed to relieve
any party from paying any fees, costs, charges or reimbursements required
pursuant to the Sanitary Sewage Cross-Easement recorded in Chester
County in Deed Book 3528, Page 2258 et seq., as amended by the First
Addendum recorded in Chester County in Deed Book 4181, Page 133 et
seq., and/or the Sewer Services Agreement recorded in Chester County
in Deed Book 4181, Page 168 et seq.
