[Adopted 11-10-1981 by Ord. No. 582; amended in its entirety 6-10-2003 by Ord. No. 685]
No person shall fail to pay sewage fees imposed by the Borough or for which the Borough is responsible. A service charge of $25 will be in addition to the amount due on his/her sewer payment notice. All accounts are due in full in 30 days from the date of the notice. Payment will be made in cash or certified funds.
All accounts which are more than 30 days delinquent of payment of sewage are subject to termination of their water service. To effectuate said termination, any authority is hereby authorized and required at the request of the Borough of Churchill or its agents to terminate the water supply to such premises until all such overdue sanitary sewer service charges, together with all penalties, are paid. Termination can be requested prior to the filing of a claim or lien being filed for nonpayment of sanitary sewer charges. Any termination shall be done by any authority and shall comply with provisions of the Act of November 26, 1978, P.L. 1255, 68 P.S. 399.1, and the Act of April 14, 1949, P.L. 482, as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 2261 et seq.
A. 
If an account is 30 days delinquent, the Borough Manager shall send to the person whose account is delinquent a notice of termination of water service.
B. 
Notice of termination shall be given in the following ways:
(1) 
By United States mail, first class and certified, receipt requested, postage prepaid; and
(2) 
By personal service by posting a written notice at the main entrance to the premises.
C. 
The notice of termination shall contain the following:
(1) 
The amount to be paid.
(2) 
The date of the notice of termination.
(3) 
The date of termination, which shall be at least 15 days from the date of the notice of termination.
(4) 
Notice that, unless the Borough receives complete payment of the amount shown prior to the date of termination, water service shall be terminated.
(5) 
Notice that, in lieu of paying the entire amount shown, a residential customer, prior to the date of termination, may notify the Borough that he disputes the correctness of all or part of the amount shown, if all or part of the amount shown was not the subject of a previous dispute.
D. 
If, prior to the date of termination, the Borough has not received complete payment of the amount shown on the notice of termination; or the person whose account is delinquent has not notified the Borough that he disputes the correctness of all or part of the amount shown on the notice of termination, then the Borough shall cause to be terminated the water service, provided that the person whose account is delinquent on the date of termination.
A. 
Any person who disputes any penalty or order to terminate service may request, in writing, a hearing to challenge the propriety of such penalty or termination. All requests for a hearing shall be made to the Borough Manager within 15 days of notice of the penalty or notice of termination of service. Upon request for hearing, all proceedings will stay.
B. 
The hearing will be conducted by the Mayor or his designated agent. The Mayor or his agent will hold a hearing. The Mayor or designated agent will, within 24 hours, notify the person whose account is delinquent of his decision.
C. 
The Mayor, in deciding to waive the penalty or cause water supply to be terminated, shall consider the following:
(1) 
Payment history of the person relative to delinquent sanitary sewage accounts.
(2) 
Prior notices of delinquency.
(3) 
Promptness of household in response to the notice of delinquency.
(4) 
Other criteria bearing on the general welfare of the Borough.
Any person whose water supply is terminated because of a delinquent sewage fee shall pay all costs incurred by the Borough in shutting off and turning on the water supply.
Nothing contained in this article shall preclude the Borough of Churchill from filing a claim or lien for unpaid delinquent sewer service charges.