[Adopted 8-6-1990 by Ord. No. 4-1990]
The purpose of this article is to establish procedures for the
use and maintenance of existing and new privies designed to receive
and retain sewage, whether from residential or commercial uses, and
it is hereby declared that the enactment of this article is necessary
for the protection, benefit and preservation of the health, safety
and welfare of the inhabitants of this municipality.
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
Towanda Municipal Authority.[1]
Any property within the Borough upon which there is erected
a structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy
or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sewage
shall or may be discharged.
The Borough of Towanda, Bradford County, Pennsylvania.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Borough.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity.
A watertight receptacle, whether permanent or temporary,
which receives and retains sewage, where water under pressure or piped
wastewater is not available, and is designed and constructed to facilitate
the ultimate disposal of the sewage at another site.
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or
excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals,
and any noxious or deleterious substance being harmful or inimical
to the public health or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of
water for domestic water supply or for recreation, or any substance
which constitutes pollution under the Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. §§ 691.1
through 691.1001).
A.
The Authority is hereby authorized and empowered to undertake within
the Borough the control and methods of privy use, sewage disposal
and sewage collection and transportation thereof.
B.
The Authority is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt such rules
and regulations concerning sewage which it may deem necessary from
time to time to effect the purposes herein.
C.
The Authority shall have the right and power to fix, charge and collect
rates, assessments and other charges in the area served by its facilities
at reasonable and uniform rates as authorized by applicable law.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the Authority shall
be in conformity with the provisions herein, all other ordinances
of the Borough, and all applicable laws, and applicable rules and
regulations of administrative agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A.
The property owner must show that site and soil suitability testing
of the lot has been conducted by the Sewage Enforcement Officer and
that the site meets the Title 25, Chapter 73 (Standards for Sewage
Disposal Facilities), requirements for the ultimate sewage disposal
by an approved on-lot system, if water under pressure or piped wastewater
becomes available to the lot.
B.
At such time that water under pressure becomes available, the property
owner must remove the privy and replace the privy with an approved
on-lot system.
D.
Specific conditions for use of privies shall be incorporated in the
permit applications and permit for the proposed use of a privy.
E.
The Authority is provided the opportunity to inspect the privy for
proper operation, maintenance and content disposal.
The collection and transportation of all sewage from any improved
property utilizing a privy shall be done solely by or under the direction
and control of the Authority, and the disposal thereof shall be made
only at such site or sites as may be approved by the Department of
Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The owner of an improved property that utilizes a privy shall:
A.
Maintain the privy in conformance with this or any ordinance of this
Borough, the provisions of any applicable law and the rules and regulations
of the Authority and any administrative agency of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
B.
Permit only the Authority or its agent to collect, transport and
dispose of the contents therein.
C.
Abandon the privy consistent with applicable public health and environmental standards and obtain a permit for and install an approved on-lot system meeting Chapter 325 standards in the event that water under pressure or piped wastewater becomes available to the property.
D.
Permit the Authority to enter upon lands to inspect the privy for
proper operation, maintenance and content disposal.
Any person who violates any provisions of §§ 239-18, 239-19 and 239-20 shall, upon conviction thereof by summary proceedings, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 and, in default of said fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment in the county prison for a period not in excess of 30 days.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violation of § 239-20 above shall constitute a nuisance and shall be abated by the municipality or the Authority by either seeking mitigation of the nuisance or appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.
