[Adopted 9-1-1987 by Ord.
No. 218 (Ch. 18, Part 5, of the 1990 Code of Ordinances)]
This Article IV shall be known as "The Adamstown Borough Holding Tank Ordinance."
The purpose of this article is to establish procedures for the
use and maintenance of holding tanks 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 the Borough of Adamstown.
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise, the meanings of terms used in this Article IV shall be as follows:
The Borough Council of the Borough of Adamstown, Berks County
and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
A watertight receptacle which receives and retains sewage
and is designed and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of
the sewage at another site. Holding tanks include but are not limited
to the following:
CHEMICAL TOILETA toilet using chemicals that discharge to a holding tank.
RETENTION TANKA holding tank where sewage is conveyed to it by a water-carrying system.
VAULT PIT PRIVYA holding tank designed to receive sewage where water under pressure is not available.
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.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Borough.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, estate,
trust, corporation or other group or entity.
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, to animal or aquatic life or to the use of water
for domestic water supply or for recreation.
The Borough Council is hereby authorized and empowered to undertake
within the Borough the control and methods of holding tank sewage
disposal and the collection and transportation thereof.
The Borough Council is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt
by resolution such rules and regulations concerning sewage and to
enter into such agreements as it may deem necessary from time to time
to effect the purposes herein.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the Borough Council
shall be in conformity with the provisions herein, all other ordinances
of the Borough, all applicable laws and all applicable rules and regulations
of administrative agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Borough Council shall have the right and power to fix, alter,
charge and collect rates, assessments and other charges relating to
the use and maintenance of holding tanks at reasonable and uniform
rates as authorized by applicable law.
The collection and transportation of all sewage from any improved
property utilizing a holding tank shall be done solely by or under
the direction and control of the Borough Council, 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 holding tank
shall:
A.
Maintain the holding tank in accordance with this Article IV or any other ordinance of the Borough, any agreements with the Borough, the provisions of all applicable laws and the rules and regulations of the Borough Council and any administrative agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B.
Permit only Borough Council or a person approved by the Borough Council
to collect, transport and dispose of the contents of a holding tank.
[Amended 10-2-1990 by Ord. No. 244]
Any persons who violates any provisions of § 237-31 of this Article IV shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $200 and not more than $1,000 and costs and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment in the Lancaster County Prison for a period not to exceed 30 days.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violation of § 237-31 of this article shall constitute a nuisance and shall be abated by the Borough by seeking either appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.
