[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of East Brunswick 4-5-62, as amended 3-22-65 by Ord.
No. 65-9; amended in its entirety 7-26-65 by Ord. No. 65-22; and as Secs. 12-1 through
12-4 and 12-6 of the Revised General Ordinances. Subsequent amendments
noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
SEWAGE
Any and all liquid waste containing animal or vegetable matter
in suspension or solution, and the water carrying waste from the discharge
of toilets, laundry tubs, washing machines, sinks and dishwashers,
or any other source of water carrying bodily waste of human beings
or waste containing putrescible material.
The owner of any house, building or structure located on a street
along the line of any sewer which is now in operation or is constructed
in the future in the Township of East Brunswick shall connect the
drainage of all sources of sewage in his house, building or structure
to the sewer. Each house shall have a separate connection to the sewer
system.
[Amended 3-11-91 by Ord. No. 91-27; 9-27-10 by Ord. No. 10-22]
Any single-family dwelling which, because of its location cannot drain into a sewer line by gravity, may be granted an exception to use a pre-existing individual sewerage disposal system which complies with all applicable provisions of this Code as follows: Application shall be made to the East Brunswick liaison to the Middlesex County Health Department, who shall transmit the application to the Middlesex County Health Department and the East Brunswick Sewer Utility. If both the Middlesex County Health Department and the East Brunswick Sewer Utility approve the exemption, the East Brunswick liaison shall issue a written exemption. A single-family dwelling may be exempt from the requirement to connect with a public sewer if requiring the connection would impose an unnecessary hardship on the owner of the premises. No exemption will be granted if it would result in the continuation of, or creation of, an unhealthy or unsanitary condition. A single-family dwelling containing a washing machine or laundry tub located in the basement prior to construction of the public sewer line does not qualify for this exception, and the washing machine and tub must be connected to the sewer line, even if pumping is required for the tub and/or washing machine. If there is a change in the sanitary sewer system that would eliminate the need for a pump or otherwise remove the basis for the claimed hardship, the East Brunswick liaison, after receiving written approval from the Middlesex County Health Department and the East Brunswick Sewer Utility, shall send written notice to the homeowner advising that the exemption has been rescinded. The homeowner will thereupon be required to connect to the sewer system in accordance with Section
177-2 of the Code.
Connections shall be made within thirty (30) days after the service of notice as provided in §
177-5.
The Director of Health and Welfare shall give at least thirty (30) days' notice to the owner of property affected before proceeding to award a contract for the making of the connection or causing it to be made by the municipality as provided in §
177-10.
A notice given under this chapter shall contain a description
of the property affected, sufficient to identify it, and a statement
that if the connection is not made within thirty (30) days after service
of the notice, the township shall make it or cause it to be made at
the owner's expense under the authority of N.J.R.S. 40:63-54.
No special form of notice shall be required.
A. Notices under this chapter shall be served as follows:
(1) Upon owners resident in the township, personally or by leaving the
notice at their usual place of residence with some member of their
family above the age of fourteen (14) years.
(2) Upon owners not resident in the township, personally or by mailing
the notice to the owner's last known post office address or by
service upon an occupant of the property or an agent of the owner
in charge of the property.
(3) Where service cannot be made under Subsection
A(1) or
A(2), the notice may be served by publishing it once in a newspaper circulating in the township. One (1) published notice may relate to several different properties.
B. Owners who are infants or of unsound mind or the beneficiaries of
trusts shall be given notice by service upon their guardians or trustees.
Where there is more than one (1) owner of the same piece of property,
service upon one (1) owner shall be notice to all.
Proof of service shall be filed with the Tax Collector of the
township within ten (10) days after service is made.
Failure to file proof of service, misstatement of the name of
the property owner or similar errors or omissions in the giving of
notice shall not invalidate any charge imposed for a sewer connection
where an actual benefit to the property results.
[Amended 4-8-85 by Ord. No. 85-653]
If any property owner fails to make the required connection
with the sewer system within thirty (30) days after being served with
notice to do so, the Township Council may cause the connection to
be made under the supervision of the Director of Public Works and
Water Resources or may award one (1) or more contracts to make it.
Contracts for the making of sewer connections shall be awarded
in the same manner and after the same advertising as any other municipal
contract. In lieu of awarding separate contracts for the making of
each connection, the Township Council may award one (1) contract for
the making of all connections which the township may desire to have
made within a period of one (1) year or less.
[Amended 4-8-85 by Ord. No. 85-653]
When any sewer connection is made by the township or under a
contract awarded by the township, an accurate record of all expenses
shall be kept. Where several properties are involved, the expense
shall be apportioned among them. Upon completion of the work, a sworn
statement as to the expenses incurred shall be filed with the Township
Clerk by the Director of Public Works and Water Resources. The Township
Council shall examine the statement and, if it is properly made, shall
confirm it and file it with the Township Tax Collector. The Tax Collector
shall record the sewer connection charge in the same manner in which
assessments are recorded.
Every sewer connection charge shall, from the time of its confirmation,
be a first lien upon the property affected and shall bear interest
and penalties and be collected and enforced in the same manner as
assessments for local improvements.
The Township Council may, by resolution, provide for the payment
of sewer connection charges in installments. In that event they shall
be payable, bear interest and be collected and enforced in the same
manner as assessments for local improvements.
All buildings or structures in the Township of East Brunswick
used by human beings as dwellings or for eating, sleeping, working,
recreation or entertainment purposes shall be provided with toilets
of the flush or water-closet type, which shall be maintained in a
sanitary and proper working order at all times. All buildings or structures
subject to the provisions of this section which do not have toilets
or in which the toilets are not in sanitary and proper working order
are declared to be a nuisance and unfit for human habitation, and
the Director of Health and Welfare may order such buildings to be
vacated until the terms of this section have been complied with.
No person shall alter, plug up or otherwise tamper with any
culvert, drain, drainage ditch, storm sewer, sanitary sewer, appurtenances,
manhole or catch basin.
Editor's Note: This section was originally adopted as Section
I-40 of a General Police Ordinance, adopted 5-8-51 and as Sec. 4-10
of the Revised General Ordinances.