[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.