[Added 7-25-2012 by Ord. No. 18-2012]
The implementation of this article will aid the Borough by limiting
and reducing the inflow of additional water into the sanitary sewer
systems. By prohibiting the discharge of water from any roof, surface,
ground, sump pump, swimming pool, other natural precipitation, and
other sources of inflow into the Borough's sanitary sewer system,
the Borough is seeking to reduce costs as well as protect against
other damaging affects. The Borough's sanitary sewer system will and
has on occasions in the past been overloaded and flooded, thereby
creating the potential to cause significant damage or threat to individual
property as well as the system. Further, all water that enters the
system must be treated at the sewage treatment plant. Therefore, by
reducing and eliminating this inflow of clean water into the sanitary
sewer system and the subsequent unnecessary treatment, the expenses
to the Borough and the citizens will be reduced and will assist in
protecting the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the
Borough.
A.
Prohibited discharges. No person or entity shall discharge or cause
to be discharged any stormwater, groundwater, roof runoff, yard drainage,
yard fountain, swimming pool, pond overflow, or any other substance
other than sanitary sewage into the sanitary sewer collection system.
No person, business or other entity shall discharge or cause to be
discharged any hazardous substances into any public sewers.
B.
Amnesty period for disconnection.
(1)
On or before December 31, 2012, any person, business, or other entity
who shall have a connection described above and who shall voluntarily
report said connection to the Borough, so that said illicit connection
shall be remedied, shall have any and all permit, connection and inspection
fees waived by the Borough. This waiver of fees applies only to Borough
fees and does not include the actual cost of remediation.
(2)
After December 31, 2012, any person, business, or other entity who
shall have a connection described above and shall fail to voluntarily
report such connection by December 31, 2012, shall be liable for all
permit fees, inspection fees, and connection fees as required by the
Borough to remedy the illicit connection.
C.
Manner of disconnection.
(1)
Any property owner, tenant, landlord, or other person with a property interest who shall have a connection in violation of this article or has not obtained a waiver pursuant to § 479-79 shall immediately remove such connection and correct such situation. If not removed or corrected within 120 calendar days after receiving a notice of violation which has been personally delivered or delivered via certified mail, the Borough shall impose a surcharge in the amount provided for in § 479-76.
(2)
All disconnections of said illicit connections shall be accomplished
by a complete and permanent method and performed in a competent manner
and approved and inspected by the Borough Building Inspector, any
Borough Subcode Inspector, Borough Fire Code Official and/or Borough
Engineer. Any disconnection, plugging, capping, rerouting, altering,
or modifying must be done in accordance with all applicable state
and municipal buildings codes.
(3)
Upon issuance of the surcharge pursuant to § 479-76, if the property owner, tenant, landlord, or other person with a property interest remedies the illicit connection, said property owner, tenant, landlord, or other person with a property interest shall call the Borough's Building Department for an inspection of the connection by the Borough's Building Inspector, a Borough Subcode Inspector, Borough Fire Code Official or Borough Engineer, and, upon certification that the illicit connection has been remedied, the surcharge shall be lifted, beginning the month following the inspection and certification. If, however, on a subsequent and periodic inspection for which a property was subject to the surcharge, the illicit connection exists, the surcharge amount as provided for in § 479-76 shall be calculated from the previous inspection date.
A.
The Building Inspector, Borough Engineer, Borough Fire Code Official
and/or a Borough Subcode Inspector, as long as they display the proper
credentials and identification, shall be permitted to request entrance
to any property for the purpose of inspecting, observing, testing
and sampling to confirm that there is no sump pump or other prohibited
discharge into the sanitary sewer system in accordance with this article.
B.
Any owner, tenant, landlord, or other person with a property interest who shall refuse entrance to the Building Inspector, Borough Engineer, Borough Fire Code Official or Borough Subcode Inspector shall immediately become subject to the monthly surcharge noted in § 479-76 of this article. Said property shall remain subject to the monthly surcharge until such time as an inspection is permitted to ensure compliance by the Borough of all terms of this article.
A.
B.
If the surcharge is not paid and received by the Borough of North
Haledon, a lien shall be imposed upon the property as per N.J.S.A.
40:14B-42.
C.
Said surcharge shall remain on the property and sewer utility bill
until such time as the Borough Building Inspector or Borough Engineer
certifies that the property owner, tenant, landlord, or other person
with a property interest is in full compliance with this article.
Any property owner who shall be assessed a surcharge pursuant
to this article shall have a right to appeal to the Municipal Court
for the purposes of proving compliance with this article.
The Borough shall assist and provide guidance to any property
owner, tenant, landlord, or other person with a property interest
in remedying the situation as it involves a matter of public concern
to the resident's health, safety and welfare of the community in remedying
the illicit connection. Except as specifically set forth in this article,
all costs associated to comply with this article shall be borne by
the property owner, tenant, landlord, or other person with a property
interest.
Any person, business or other entity who shall, by inspection or voluntary reporting, be determined to be in violation of any section of this article shall be permitted to file for a waiver of the surcharge requirement of § 479-76, if they can prove that they have exhausted all possible remedial measures. Remedial measures include but are not limited to the installation of a dry well, the connection to a storm sewer, and/or use of one's own property for discharge of the water, so long as such discharge does not adversely affect any neighboring property owner. Upon certification of the Building Inspector and/or Borough Engineer, the person, business, or other entity shall be granted such waiver, but only for such time as to when a remedy becomes available. If such remedy is made available by the Borough, the Borough shall notify the person, business, or other entity that they shall comply with this article within 120 days of receiving said notice. Failure to comply will result in the imposition of a surcharge as per § 479-76.