A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to place, deposit,
or permit to be deposited in any unsanitary manner on public or private
property within the Town, or in any area under the jurisdiction of
the Town, any human or animal excrement, garbage, or other objectionable
waste.
B.
It shall be unlawful to discharge to any natural outlet
within the Town, or in any area under the jurisdiction of the Town,
any sewage or other polluted waters, except where suitable treatment
has been provided in accordance with subsequent provisions of this
Part 1.
C.
Except as hereinafter provided, it shall be unlawful
to construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool,
or other facility intended or used for the disposal of sewage abutting
on any street, alley, or right-of-way in which there is located a
public sanitary sewer.
D.
The owner of all houses, buildings, or properties
used for human occupancy, employment, recreation, or other purposes,
situated within the Town and abutting on any street, alley, or right-of-way
in which there is now located or may in the future be located a public
sanitary or combined sewer of the Town, is hereby required at his
expense to install suitable toilet facilities therein, and to connect
such facilities directly with the proper public sewer in accordance
with the provisions of this Part 1 within 180 days after date of official
notice to do so, and the private sewage disposal system shall be cleaned
of sludge and filled with clean bank-run gravel or dirt.
[Amended 5-10-2021 by Ch. No. 2001]
A.
No subsoil drain or rainwater conductor, cellar drain or catch basin,
sump pump, roof downspouts, steam engine exhausts or blowoffs shall
be discharged to a public sewer. No discharge should violate state
and federal plumbing codes. No person shall introduce or turn into
or cause to be introduced into any public sewer of the Town any steam
or gasoline or benzene or other highly volatile or flammable material.
B.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any surface water
or other water upon public streets, sidewalks, or other public right-of-way
or public property, either by collecting water upon a premises and
pumping or otherwise discharging water upon public property or by
changing the grade or surface of a premises or property so as to increase
the amount or rate of the discharge upon public property, at such
times or in such quantities that the water so discharged may enter
the public sewer system or freeze or otherwise become a hazard on
public property as determined by the Director of Public Works.
C.
Whenever the unique characteristic of the subject property, through no fault or prior action of the property owner, cause a physical challenge such that there is no reasonable means for a property owner to avoid discharge of water onto public property, the Town Manager may exempt the property owner from the requirements of Subsection B herein.
No person shall lay any sewers without first
having obtained a permit in writing from the Department of Public
Works on such form as it shall prescribe, and on the completion of
the work, such person shall, within 48 hours, return such permit to
the Department with his endorsement thereon of what he has done under
such permit.
The Department of Public Works, or its authorized
agents, are to have at all times facilities for inspecting the work
and materials while under the charge of the plumber or drain layer,
and, if required, no pipes or other materials for the drains can be
used until they have been examined and approved.
[Added 5-10-2021 by Ch.
No. 2001]
The Town, or duly authorized representatives of the Town, may
inspect buildings and facilities to ensure that the sewer connection
does not discharge, directly or indirectly, inflow/infiltration to
the Town sewerage system.
The least inclination that can be allowed for
water closets, kitchens and all other drains, not over six inches
in diameter, liable to receive solid substances, is one-quarter inch
to one foot. The depth of the crown of a drain at the curbline shall
be not less than five feet, unless otherwise specially granted by
the Department of Public Works.
All drains shall be laid as nearly as possible
in a straight line and grade, and any change in grade or direction
must be made with 1/8 bends.
The question of change in direction, either
vertical or horizontal, shall be determined by the engineer or inspector
of the Department of Public Works.
No privy vaults or cesspools can be connected
with the sewers.
A drain shall be connected only with the slant
or branch nearest to the property to be connected.
The location, material and workmanship of all
drains must be satisfactory to the Department of Public Works.
The inside of every drain, after it is laid,
must be left smooth and perfectly clean throughout its entire length
and to ensure the same, a scraper of suitable material of the shape
of the pipe and slightly less in diameter shall be drawn through each
length of pipe after the same has been laid.
All joints on sewer pipe shall be made tight
with neat hydraulic cement or a joint compound approved by the Department
of Public Works and on iron pipe with gaskets and lead.
Whenever it is necessary to disturb a drain
in actual use, it must in no case be obstructed without the special
direction of the Department of Public Works.
The Department of Public Works reserves the
right to refuse to connect with any plumbing or drain which has not
been examined and approved by it.
Sewer district capital improvement and debt
service charges shall be assessed by the Town Assessor against the
real and personal ratable property within the drainage district as
of December 31 of each taxable year. The adopted rate will be established
by the total real and personal ratable property within the drainage
district.
A.
An annual user charge will be imposed upon persons
whose premises are served by the sanitary sewer system of the Town
for the purpose of defraying costs of operation and maintenance of
the publicly held facilities. The method used for charge will be based
upon a unit charge. A unit will be based upon an average single-family
user wastewater flow in the sewer district. The charge will be in
accordance with methodology developed by the Director of Finance and
the Director of Public Works in accordance with 40 CFR 35.929-2. The
user cost system will be reviewed annually in accordance with 40 CFR
35.929-2(b), and the rate will be established by the Town Council.
B.
User charges will be as follows:
(1)
Each single-family dwelling shall be charged at the
rate of one unit.
(2)
Each multidwelling building shall be charged at the
rate of one unit for each dwelling unit or apartment unit.
(3)
Rooming houses, tourist homes, hotels and motels shall
be charged at the rate of one unit for each 400 square feet, or major
fraction thereof, of the gross floor area available for rent as determined
by outside premises foundation measurement and floor count.
(4)
Restaurants, taverns, bars, grills, lodges, fraternal,
charitable and religious organizations who maintain facilities for
the preparation and serving of food or beverages shall be charged
an equivalent number of units based on metered water consumption with
a minimum charge of one unit.
(5)
Gasoline service stations and automotive sales or
repair premises shall be charged at the rate of two units plus one
unit for each stall, space or floor area used for the washing of automotive
vehicles whether such stall, space or floor area is to be used for
washing by manual, semiautomatic or automatic means.
(6)
So-called car washes or other real premises devoted
exclusively to the washing of automotive vehicles by manual, semiautomatic
or automatic means shall be charged an equivalent number of units
based on metered water consumption with a minimum charge of one unit.
(7)
Lodges, charitable organizations, corporations or
associations organized and conducted principally to enable members
to meet for divine worship shall be charged at the rate of one unit,
unless otherwise chargeable under Subsection A(4) above.
(8)
Laundromats containing manual, semiautomatic, automatic
or coin-operated washers, dryers or extractors shall be charged an
equivalent number of units based on metered water consumption with
a minimum charge of one unit.
(9)
Dry-cleaning establishments, whether a portion of
facilities devoted to normal operation of a laundry or laundromat
or a premises devoted exclusively to manual, semiautomatic or coin-operated
cleaning agent, shall be charged an equivalent number of units based
on metered water consumption with a minimum charge of one unit.
(10)
Public or private schools and government installations
shall be charged an equivalent number of units based on metered water
consumption.
(11)
Commercial establishments, including but not
limited to retail stores, wholesale distributors, light manufacturers,
industrial plants, business operations, barber- and beauty shops,
banks, post offices, funeral homes, lunch bars and other types of
business enterprises not heretofore or hereinafter described, shall
be charged an equivalent number of units based on metered water consumption
with a minimum charge of one unit. The annual charge to industrial
users shall be in accordance with the Town's user charge industrial
cost recovery system in effect. The industry shall be required to
install acceptable flow-measuring devices on the wastewater outflow
if required by the Public Works Director.
(12)
Professional and business office establishments
shall be charged for metered water consumption with a minimum charge
of one unit for each separate office or business operation whether
the same is or is not rented or occupied by any person, firm or corporation.
(13)
Large industrial users. Large industrial users
are industrial plants which generate annual effluent flows in excess
of 10% of the total number of sewer units in the sewer budget during
the fiscal year two years prior to the fiscal year for which the sewer
use charge is to be assessed hereunder. The annual charge to these
users shall be in accordance with the Town's user charge industrial
recovery system in effect, shall be based on metered flow and shall
be computed as follows: 75% of the sewer unit charge for each sewer
unit discharged based on metered wastewater flow.
[Added 10-20-2008 by Ch. No. 1657[1]]
(14)
The Town reserves the right to assess charges
for use of the sanitary sewer system by contract in the event a customer
does not fall within any of the above classifications.
C.
If water meters are used to measure flow for industrial
or large commercial customers and the amount of sewage flow does not
warrant the installation of a wastewater meter in the opinion of the
Director of Public Works and the industrial or commercial customer
claims considerable consumption of water in product, process or cooling
not returned to the wastewater flow, then the Director may adjust
the flow to a lesser amount if the customer submits sufficient data
and evidence to support his claim. In order to claim such reduced
flow as a basis of sewer use charge, the customer shall notify the
Director at least six months prior to any claim for such flow adjustments
and follow the direction of the Director in maintaining records to
justify his claim. There is to be a minimum charge of one unit to
all whom the Director has adjusted their flow. Where measured water
use is not available, then the use shall be based on "Minimum Design
Requirements for Sewage Flow" tabulated in SD 3.01 of the "Rules and
Regulations Establishing Minimum Standards Relating to Location, Design,
Construction and Maintenance of Individual Sewage Disposal Systems,
as amended, July, 1973," of the State of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, Department of Health, with a minimum charge of one unit.
Industrial plants discharging wastes to the public sewer will be required
to pretreat their waste should it exceed limits set forth in the rules
and regulations. Flows will be based upon metered discharge. Charges
will be based upon an equivalent number of units. Should it be determined
that the strength of sewage exceeds the limits, an additional charge
would be made.
D.
Any bill unpaid shall constitute a lien against the
property.
A.
The facilities of the wastewater treatment plant shall
be available for disposal of septage waste as follows:
(1)
All disposal must be at the Margin Street wastewater
facility only unless authorized by, and under the supervision of,
the Director of Public Works or his designee.
(2)
Residential property owners located within the Town
may use the facility for residential septic tank waste.
(3)
Nonresidential property owners located within the
Town may use the facility for disposal of nonresidential septic tank
waste only upon a permit obtained from the Department of Public Works.
(4)
Permits issued pursuant to Subsection A(3) above shall be issued upon such conditions as may be imposed by the Director of Public Works and only upon a finding of compliance with the provisions of the Town's industrial Waste Pretreatment Ordinance as applicable.
(5)
Residential septic tank waste originating from neighboring
towns in Washington County, Rhode Island, with Rhode Island Department
of Environmental Management approved on-site wastewater management
plans may be accepted at the Town wastewater treatment facility from
October through May when capacity exists, as determined by the facility
superintendent, and only after the needs of Westerly residents has
been satisfied on any particular day.
[Amended 2-14-2005 by Ch. No. 1524]
B.
Trucked sewage/septage shall only be accepted at the
Town's wastewater treatment facility from sewage/septage waste haulers
holding permits issued by the Town for such purpose, and such permitted
hauler shall act as agent for the owner/generator of the waste in
delivering the waste to the facility and in remitting the fees therefor.
[Amended 2-14-2005 by Ch. No. 1524]
C.
No person shall dump or cause to be dumped trucked
sewage or septage, either individually or as an agent for another,
at the wastewater treatment plant at the Margin Street facility unless
the person has been issued and holds:
(1)
A septage disposal permit to remove, transport, and
discharge sewage/septage at the Town wastewater treatment plant, issued
by the Director of Public Works.
(2)
A disposal vehicle permit issued by the Department
of Environmental Management listing each vehicle to be utilized for
sewage/septage hauling.
D.
No person shall be issued a permit to dump trucked
sewage or septage into the public sewer system of the Town until such
person has stipulated in writing that he understands the terms of
this section and will abide by them.
E.
Before being used to discharge sewage/septage into
the public sewer system under the terms of a Town septage disposal
permit:
(1)
All vehicles shall be equipped with pumps, valves,
hoses and accessories so that the waste can be deposited at the designated
point without spillage.
(2)
All vehicles shall be airtight and free from leakage.
(3)
All apparatus shall be kept clean and well painted
and shall have the name of the waste hauling company upon it in plain
letters.
(4)
No vehicle at any time, used for hauling sewage/septage
to the Town wastewater treatment facility, shall be used to transport
hazardous waste or waste oils.
(5)
All vehicles shall be equipped with apparatus that
allows for the measurement of the volume of the septage contained
within the septage holding tank.
F.
All trucked sewage/septage discharged at the Town's
wastewater treatment plant shall be accompanied by a data sheet upon
which the following shall be recorded:
(1)
Date of origin.
(2)
Time of origin.
(3)
Date of dumping.
(4)
Time of dumping.
(5)
Property owner's name in full.
(6)
Street address of origin.
(7)
Town of origin.
(8)
Telephone number of originator.
(9)
Number of gallons originated.
(10)
Total capacity of truck.
(11)
Truck registration number.
(12)
Agent's name.
(13)
Agent's address.
(14)
Signature of agent's representative.
(15)
Signature of treatment plant attendant.
(16)
Permit number of commercial originator.
G.
If a single tank load of sewage/septage delivered
to the Town's wastewater treatment plant has more than one point of
origin, a separate data sheet must be submitted for each such point.
At the discretion of the Director of Public Works, or his authorized
agent, any residential or commercial property owner may be required
to permit the Public Works Department to determine the capacity of
the septic tank or cesspool serving any premises originating trucked
sewage or septage to be discharged at the treatment plant.
H.
All dumping must be made by appointment and cleared
with the dumping station attendant upon arrival at the authorized
dumping station, between the hours of 7:45 a.m. and 3:45 p.m. Monday
through Friday; 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Saturday and Sunday (excluding
celebrated holidays).
I.
No dumping shall be permitted after 4:00 p.m. on any
day except upon prior approval of the Director of Public Works or
his designee.
J.
Acceptance of trucked sewage/septage on other than
the date of origin shall be at the discretion of the Director of Public
Works or his duly authorized agent.
K.
All dumping on days and times other than outlined in Subsection H of this section must be cleared by the attendant of the wastewater treatment plant and shall be subject to a surcharge of $150 for a minimum of a four-hour period regardless of truck capacity and in addition to the established fee. If more than one septic hauler uses the facility during this four-hour period, the fee of $150 shall be pro rated.
L.
No permit shall be issued until evidence of liability
insurance is provided to the Director of Public Works.
M.
All charges shall be billed by the Department of Public
Works to permitted sewage/septage waste haulers on a monthly basis
and are payable within 30 days of the billing date. All accounts shall
be paid before the next billing date. A delinquent account shall be
the basis for the Director of Public Works to, after written notice,
cancel any permit and declare any escrow or bond to be forfeited.
N.
No permit shall be issued until a bond or cash escrow
deposit in the sum of $1,000 is provided to the Director of Finance
to be maintained for the duration of the permit.
O.
The Director of Public Works shall provide record
reporting forms and shall cause to be kept a record of all dumping
of trucked sewage/septage into the public sewer system of the Town.
A.
Any person authorized to use the public sewerage system
for the dumping of trucked sewage/septage or other liquid sanitary
wastes shall pay to the Westerly Sewer Department $0.08 for each gallon
dumped into the system, the origin of which is within the limits of
the Town of Westerly.
[Amended 2-14-2005 by Ch. No. 1524; 9-25-2023 by Ch. No. 2044]
B.
Any person authorized to use the public sewerage system
for the dumping of trucked sewage/septage or other liquid sanitary
wastes shall pay to the Westerly Sewer Department $0.10 for each gallon
dumped into the system, the origin of which is outside the limits
of the Town of Westerly.
[Amended 2-14-2005 by Ch. No. 1524; 9-25-2023 by Ch. No. 2044]
C.
Householders within the sewer district who are subject
to a sewer user charge and who, under the current regulations of the
Department of Public Works, cannot connect to the sewer system shall
have their cesspools or septic tanks pumped out as required upon notification
to the Director of Public Works, or his designee within the Public
Works Department. No charge shall be levied upon tank trucks for any
portion of a load which consists of such wastes, provided that evidence
of load origin, certified by the property owner or occupant and the
tank truck operator, shall be furnished to the Town's wastewater plant
operator or the dumping station attendant.
A.
The Department of Public Works shall and it is hereby
ordered to make an assessment upon all estates abutting upon that
portion of any street or highway in which any sewer or main drain
has been located, not previously assessed, and upon such estates as
may be given a right of entrance to such sewer or main drain, at a
rate of the actual cost of the particular job for each front foot
of such estates upon such streets or highway, but only for its frontage
upon such street or for the right of entrance to such sewer or main
drain, provided that where any such assessment is levied on two sides
of a corner lot, such assessment shall be abated or cancelled to 50%
of the total front footage of both sides with a maximum abatement
or cancellation of 200 feet.
B.
The Department of Public Works shall make a report in writing of all assessments made in accordance with the provisions of Subsection A hereof and shall, within 30 days after making such assessments, give notice to the owners of the estates so assessed of such assessment by mailing notice of such assessment to such persons at their place of residence. Within 30 days from and after making the report, the Department shall forthwith make a copy of the same and deliver it to the Town Treasurer, who shall proceed and collect the several sums of money, therein expressed, of the persons and estates liable therefor at the times directed by this section.
C.
All assessments ordered to be made under the authority
of this section shall be due and payable within 60 days from the day
of the lodgment of the assessment with the Town Treasurer; provided,
however, that if the owner of any estate liable to such assessment,
within 60 days after notice of a sewer assessment thereon, shall notify
the Town Council in writing to apportion the same, such Town Council
shall apportion such assessment into 20 equal parts and shall certify
such apportionment to the Assessor of Taxes of the Town, and the Assessor
shall add one of such part, with interest, at a rate not to exceed
the actual rate such Town must pay to hire money, from time to time,
for such installation from the date of such apportionment to the annual
tax of the estate for each of the 20 years next ensuing. All assessments
remaining unpaid after the time for payment stated in the order making
the same shall draw interest from such time until paid, and all liens
for the collection of such assessment shall continue until the same
are paid, with interest as aforesaid.
D.
Upon failure to pay the assessment or any of the installments
thereof at the time the same become due and payable as aforesaid,
the whole assessment then remaining unpaid shall become due and payable
and shall be collected as the ordinary taxes of the Town are collected.
Persons availing themselves of the aforesaid option to make payments
in 20 annual installments may, at any time thereafter that an installment
becomes due, pay the portion of such assessment then remaining unpaid,
with all interest due thereon, and on every portion thereof, up to
the time of such payment, and thereupon their estates shall be free
from such assessments.
E.
The owner of any land not so assessed may be permitted
by the Department to connect such land with a sewer upon his written
application therefor addressed to the Department, under such terms
and conditions as the Department shall impose and upon the payment
to the Town treasurer of such sum of money as the Department shall
require therefor; but no connection with a sewer shall be made until
the owner of the land intending to connect the same therewith shall
have executed to the Town a release of all damage which may at any
time happen to such estate in any way resulting from such connection.
F.
If the total front footage of any undeveloped and
unplatted estate abutting upon that portion of any street or highway
in which any such sewer or main drain has been constructed, not previously
assessed, exceeds 200 feet, upon the application of the owner thereof
submitted to the Town Council in writing within 60 days after notice
of a sewer assessment thereon, for the postponement of the payment
of such assessment, the Town Council shall postpone the payment of
such portion of such assessment which exceeds 200 feet on undeveloped
and unplatted estates until the time of development or platting of
such estates with interest at a rate not to exceed the actual rate
the Town must pay to hire money, from time to time, for such installation;
all such postponed assessments, together with interest, shall constitute
and remain a lien against the property against which it was assessed
until the same is paid in full.
G.
The Town Council may abate from any assessment made
as aforesaid on irregular shaped lots, upon the application of the
owner thereof submitted to the Town Council in writing within 60 days
after notice of a sewer assessment thereon, such portion thereof as
they shall deem proper; and in such exceptional cases as the Town
Council deems to require exceptional treatment, may postpone the payment
of such portion of the assessment as seems to the Town Council to
equitably require such postponement upon such terms and conditions
as the Town Council shall by ordinance fix and determine; all such
postponed assessments shall constitute and remain a lien against the
property which it was assessed until the same is paid in full with
such charges for interest thereon as the Town Council shall prescribe
in the terms of postponement.
H.
Upon passage and the making of the assessments aforesaid,
of this section, the Department of Public Works of the Town is directed
to cause to be recorded in the land evidence records of the Town a
lien upon all estates assessed under the provisions of this section.
I.
The Department of Public Works is further hereby directed
to record in the land evidence records of the Town a release of any
recorded lien upon the aforementioned estates when the assessment
made upon such estate is paid in full.
J.
Passage of this section shall in no way affect already
existing assessments.
K.
All applications for the abatement, cancellation or
postponement of the payment of any assessment made hereunder must
be made at the office of the Department of Public Works on a form
prescribed and furnished by it.
[Added 5-10-2021 by Ch.
No. 2001]
The Town shall be responsible for all main sewer lines. The
property owner shall, at their expense, be responsible for the repair
and maintenance of the lateral sewer line and building drain within
the boundaries of the property, including the "Y" connection, "T"
connection and any shielded flexible rubber transition coupling as
approved by the Department of Public Works. As a condition of the
use of the public sewer system, it is the property owner's responsibility
to install and manage and maintain any such "Y" connection, "T" connection
and any shielded flexible rubber transition coupling. Such responsibility
shall have no effect on the Town's right-of-way and access rights
as may be necessary to maintain and support the integrity of the public
sewer system.
