This article is adopted pursuant to the authority of N.J.S.A. 40:63-52 et seq., as the same may be amended and supplemented, and references herein to such sections shall refer to said Laws of New Jersey.
All buildings in the Borough of Dunellen located upon a street in which a sanitary sewer is constructed shall be connected with the sanitary sewer.
If, after the passage of this chapter, the owner of any property affected thereby shall neglect, after notice given as in this chapter provided, to make any such connection, the Borough Sewer Utility may cause such connection to be made under the direction of the Plumbing Inspector or Sanitary Sewer Inspector, or other officer or employee of the Borough specifically designated for said purposes, or may award one or more contracts for the making of such improvement.
Before proceeding to make any such connection or awarding any contract for the making thereof, the Borough Sewer Utility shall cause notice of such contemplated connection to be given to the owner of any property affected thereby in accordance with methods prescribed by statute. The notice shall contain a description of the property affected, sufficiently definite in terms to identify it, as well as a description of the required connection, and notice that unless the connection shall be completed within 30 days after the service thereof, the Sewer Utility will proceed to make such connection or cause the same to be done, pursuant to the authority of this chapter and N.J.S.A. 40A:26A-1 et seq.
The notice may be served upon the owner or owners resident in the Borough in person or by leaving it at their usual place of residence with a member of their family above the age of 14 years, or, if any such owner shall not reside in the Borough of Dunellen, such notice may be served upon him personally or be mailed to his last known post office address, or it may be served upon the occupant of the property or upon the agent of the owner in charge thereof. Notice to infant owners or owners of unsound mind shall be served upon their guardians. When lands are held in trust service shall be made upon the trustee. When properties are held by two or more joint tenants, tenants in common or tenants by the entirety, service upon one shall be sufficient and shall be deemed and taken as notice to all.
A. 
Publication of notice where service impossible. If the owner of any such property is unknown or service cannot, for any reason, be made as above directed, notice shall be published at least once, not less than 30 days before the making of such connection by the Borough, in a newspaper circulating in the Borough. There may be inserted in the advertisement notice to the owner or owners of several different properties.
B. 
Proof of service. Proof of service or publication of such notices shall be filed within 10 days after such service, with the officer having charge of the record of tax liens in the Borough, but failure to file the same shall not invalidate the proceedings if service has actually been made as herein provided.
C. 
Notice unnecessary where notice of ordinance served or published. If notice of the pendency of this chapter shall have been given to a person owning a property affected thereby in the same manner as is provided in this section and as is provided in N.J.S.A. 40A:26A-1 et seq., then no further notice need be given to such owner, and the Borough Sewer Utility may proceed to make the required connection or to award a contract therefor.
D. 
By whom notice given and served.
(1) 
The notice shall be signed in the name of the Borough Sewer Utility by the Chairperson.
(2) 
The service shall be made as above set forth and, when made personally, shall be made by any adult designated by the Borough Sewer Utility's Chairperson.
When any such connection shall be made, a true and accurate account of the cost and expense shall be kept and apportioned to the property or properties thereby connected, and a true statement of such costs under oath shall be forthwith filed by the officer of the municipality in charge of such connection with the Sewer Utility. The Sewer Utility shall examine the same and, if properly made, shall confirm it and file such statement with the officer of the Sewer Utility charged with the duty of collecting such costs and fees. Said officer shall maintain a record of the charge.
Every such connection charge shall bear interest and penalties from the same time and at the same rate as assessments for local improvements in this Borough and, from the time of confirmation, shall be a first and paramount lien against the respective property or properties so connected with the sewer to the same extent as assessments for local improvements and shall be collected and enforced in the same manner. Every officer charged with the enforcement and collection of assessments for local improvements is hereby charged with the same duties in regard to the collection and enforcement of all charges for sewer connections.
The Sewer Utility may provide for the payment of any such sewer connection charge in installments in the same manner as assessments for local improvements are payable in installments in this Borough, in which case such installments shall bear the same rate of interest and be collected and enforced in the same manner as are installments for assessments on local improvements.
The Borough Sewer Utility may award contracts for the construction of such sewer connections in the same manner and after the same advertising as in the case of other contracts and may, in lieu of awarding separate contracts for the making of such connections, award a contract to the lowest responsible bidder for making all such connections which the Borough may desire to have made within a period of one year or less.
No such charge for sewer connection, as set forth herein, shall be invalid by reason of any error or omission in stating the name of the owner or owners of properties affected by such connections nor for any other informality, where such property or real estate has actually been improved by such sewer connection.
A. 
Notwithstanding the authority by this chapter to make connections, as aforesaid, there shall be no obligation on the part of the Borough or its Sewer Utility to make any such sewer connection of any given property, and this chapter shall be deemed to be in addition to, and alternative to, any other ordinance of the Borough relating to required connections to sanitary sewers.
B. 
Specifically, nothing herein shall be deemed to alter or affect the powers of the County Health Officer to enforce the Plumbing Code of the Borough of Dunellen or of the Municipal Court, or any other court having jurisdiction thereof, to impose fines and penalties upon any owner of property who shall neglect or refuse to make connection to a sanitary sewer upon proper notice to make such connection.
Whenever connection is made of any property to a sanitary sewer pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, the owner or owners of such property and the occupant or occupants thereof shall fully cooperate with the Borough, its Sewer Utility and with the contractor making such connection, to permit access to and in said building during usual daytime hours for the purpose of making such connection.