[Adopted 2-15-1973 by Ord. No. 21573]
All sewers and branches thereof for the disposal of sanitary
sewage and/or industrial wastes within the Township at any time heretofore
and hereafter constructed or otherwise acquired by the Township and/or
any municipal authority the Township may cause to be created for such
purposes are hereby declared to be, for the purposes of this article
and the subject matter hereof, a common system of sanitary sewers
for the Township and are hereinafter called the "sewer system."
The owner or owners of each property accessible to and whose
principal building heretofore and/or hereafter constructed is within
150 feet of the sewer system shall connect therewith at any time within
60 days after notice to make such connection is served on such owner
or owners by the Township Supervisors either by personal service or
by registered mail. The terms "to connect," the "connection" and the
"sewer connection," as used herein, shall mean the extension of the
sanitary sewerage and/or industrial wastes drainage system of the
building or premises to the Y's or T's or extensions thereof forming
a part of the sewer system.
In case any property owner or owners of such building or premises
shall neglect or refuse to connect with the sewer system within the
sixty-day period immediately following service of the notice to connect
with the sewer system, the Township Supervisors or their agents may
enter upon such property and construct such sewer connection. Upon
construction of such sewer connection by the Township Supervisors
or their agents, the Township Supervisors shall send an itemized bill
of costs of the construction of such sewer connection to the owner
or owners of such property, which bill shall be payable forthwith.
In case the owner or owners neglect or refuse to pay such bill of
costs, the Township Supervisors may file a municipal lien for the
costs of said construction within six months after the completion
of the construction of such sewer connection, as provided by law,
or the Township Supervisors may pursue any other legal or equitable
remedy available to them to collect such bill of costs.
No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with
or opening into, use, alter or disturb the sewer system without first
obtaining a written sewer connection permit. Owners of premises desiring
or required to connect with the sewer system shall first make application
therefor in writing to the Township or its duly appointed agent for
such purposes, who upon approval of the application shall refer it
to the Township Secretary.
If the owner of the premises will have to connect with the sewer
system by means other than through an existing Y or T on the sewer
system and extension thereof to the curbline or cartway line of the
road or street, the Township Secretary, upon receipt of the approved
application, shall prepare and deliver to the applicant a form of
bond, payable to the Township in the amount the Township shall determine
from time to time but not less than $1,000, with sufficient corporate
sureties, to indemnify the Township against all damages for injury
to the sewer system; to replace in good condition any curbing, pavement
or earth disturbed; to indemnify and save harmless the Township for
five years from the completion of the work, from such repairs, costs
and expenses, all damages, injuries and such actions and suits as
are caused or occasioned by defective materials and workmanship, and
from all damages from any accident and from all costs and attorney's
fees incurred by reason of any matter or thing done, committed or
omitted by such owner, his agents or employees under such permit;
and to comply in all respects with the ordinances, rules and regulations
of the Township now in force or hereafter to be passed. Upon receipt
by the Township Secretary of the bond duly executed, he/she shall
submit the bond to the Township or its duly appointed agent for such
purpose for approval.
Upon the return to the Township Secretary of the bond approved
by the Township or its duly appointed agent for such purpose, in all
cases where a bond is required as above provided, and upon payment
of the sewer connection charge hereinafter provided, the Township
Secretary shall issue a sewer connection permit authorizing the applicant
to connect the premises with the sewer system.
[Amended 3-13-1975 by Ord. No. 31375; 10-13-1977 by Ord. No. 101377; 4-12-1979 by Ord. No. 41279; 1-14-1982 by Ord. No. 11482; 9-23-1985 by Ord. No. 92385[1]]
A.
There is hereby imposed upon the owners of all properties connecting
to the sanitary sewer system a service connection fee as follows:
(1)
Residential property.
(a)
Single-family dwellings: the sum of $650 per dwelling unit.
(b)
Multifamily dwellings: the sum of $650 per dwelling unit contained
within that building.
(c)
Mobile homes and house trailers: the sum of $650 for each.
(d)
Each separate building shall be considered an independent entity
for application of the connection fee outlined hereunder.
(e)
Miscellaneous residential uses. The connection charge for miscellaneous
uses other than those listed above, such as hotels, motels and rooming
houses, shall be based on flow estimates prepared by the Engineer
of the Unity Township Municipal Authority and shall be based on the
standards set forth in 25 Pa. Code § 73.17(a) or any successor
section and calculated as follows: The total flow estimate as determined
by the Engineer shall be divided by 350 gallons per day to equal the
number of equivalent dwelling units (EDUs) (to the nearest 1/2 multiple).
The connection fee shall be $650 times the number of projected EDUs.
[Amended 4-25-1988 by Ord. No. O-3-88]
(2)
Nonresidential uses. The connection charge shall be based on flow
estimates prepared by the Engineer of the Unity Township Municipal
Authority and shall be based on the standards set forth in 25 Pa.
Code § 73.17(b) or any successor section and calculated
as follows: The total flow estimate as determined by the Engineer
shall be divided by 350 gallons per day to equal the number of EDUs
(to the nearest 1/2 multiple). The connection fee shall be $650 times
the number of projected EDUs.
[Amended 4-25-1988 by Ord. No. O-3-88]
(3)
Mixed residential and nonresidential uses. The connection fee shall
be $650 per dwelling unit for the residential uses plus $650 times
the number of projected EDUs as calculated for the nonresidential
uses under the formula set forth above for nonresidential uses.
B.
Customers served by other municipalities or sewer authorities. In the event of connection by a customer to any portion of the sanitary sewer system that is subject to a service agreement between the Unity Township Municipal Authority and any other municipality or sewer authority and in which service agreement there is a provision for the payment by the Unity Township Municipal Authority to the municipality or sewer authority of a connection charge resulting from the customer's connection, then the connection fee for the customer shall be the connection fee otherwise due and payable under Subsection A(1), (2) or (3) listed above and an additional sum equal to the amount of the connection charge payable by the Unity Township Municipal Authority to the municipality or sewer authority.
C.
In the event that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources
adopts successor standards to those set forth in 25 Pa. Code § 73.17,
said successor standards shall be due and binding hereunder.
D.
In the event that the proposed use is different from those uses set
forth in 25 Pa. Code § 73.17 or different from any other
standards set by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources,
then the flow estimates for the proposed use shall be determined by
the Engineer of the Unity Township Municipal Authority based on known
engineering data.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided that the fee schedule
should take effect immediately upon passage of the ordinance, provided
that any permits issued prior to the date of the ordinance should
be valid and binding, provided that actual connection was made to
the sanitary sewer system for which the permit was issued on or before
one year from the date of the ordinance.
[Added 1-14-1982 by Ord.
No. 11482; amended 9-23-1985 by Ord. No. 92385]
Of the amount due and payable under § 96-10 above, 46% of that amount shall be considered as payment on account of administration expense incurred by the Authority, and the balance shall be considered moneys due and payable on account of the connection fee contemplated under that certain trust indenture between the Unity Township Municipal Authority and Mellon Bank, N.A., as trustee, dated May 1, 1978.
All costs and expenses incident to the installation of the sewer
connection and connection of the premises with the sewer system shall
be borne by the owner or owners of the premises. The owner or owners
shall indemnify and save harmless the Township from any loss or damage
directly or indirectly caused by or arising out of such installation
and connection.
A separate sewer connection shall be provided for every principal
building, except that when a building stands at the rear of another
and no separate connection to the sewer system can be made through
an adjoining alley, court, yard or driveway, the sewer connection
from the front building may be extended to the rear building upon
written approval of the Township or its duly appointed agent for such
purpose.
All sewer connections, materials therefor, jointing materials
and methods used shall at all times be subject to the direction, supervision
and approval of the Township or its duly appointed agent for such
purpose.
The size and slope of the sewer connection shall be subject
to the approval of the Township or its duly appointed agent for such
purposes, but in no event shall the diameter be less than four inches
nor shall the slope of such four-inch pipe be less than 1/8 of an
inch per foot. The invert of the sewer connection at the point of
connection with the building or premises shall be at the same elevation
as or at a higher elevation than the invert at the point of connection
with the sewer system.
No person or person shall connect with the sewer system other
than through, by or into Y's or T's in the sewer system without a
special sewer connection permit and the designation of the location
of the Y's and T's by the Township or its duly appointed agent for
such purpose. No person shall drill into or tap any of the sewer system
without written permission from the Township or its duly appointed
agent for such purpose.
The owner or owners holding sewer connection permits shall notify
the Township Secretary when the sewer connection is ready for inspection
and connection with the sewer system. In no case shall backfill be
placed until such inspection has been made.
All excavations for sewer connections shall be adequately guarded
with barricades and lights to protect the public from hazards. All
streets, sidewalks and public property disturbed in the course of
making a sewer connection shall be restored in a manner satisfactory
to the Township or its duly appointed agent for such purpose.
[Amended 4-25-1988 by Ord. No. O-3-88]
After 60 days have elapsed since the owner or owners received
notice to connect with the sewer system as above provided, the owner
or owners shall forthwith abandon all privies, cesspools, sinkholes,
septic tanks and other receptacles on the premises for receiving sewage
and/or industrial wastes, and at no time thereafter shall erect, construct,
use or maintain any pipe, conduit, drain or other facility for the
discharge of sewage and/or industrial wastes except into the sewer
system, and all privy vaults or cesspools or similar receptacles for
human excrement shall be cleansed and filled under the direction of
the Township or its duly appointed agent for such purpose and no connection
shall be permitted from any privy vault or cesspool to the sewer system.
[Amended 4-21-1989 by Ord. No. O-2-89]
No owner, tenant, user, contractor or any person, corporation
or entity shall discharge or permit the discharge of any of the following
into any portion or portions of the public sanitary sewerage system
(hereinafter "sewer system") within the Township:
A.
Stormwater, surface water, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, including,
but not limited to, private lateral line infiltration and inflow,
cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters or waste from
any source, including, but not limited to, infiltration in excess
of 200 gallons per inch diameter of sanitary sewer collection pipe,
per mile, per day; or inflow from any source.
[Amended 8-11-2016 by Ord. No. O-2-2016]
(1)
Sanitary sewer lateral line testing/inspection.
(a)
Designation of authority. The Unity Township Municipal Authority,
its agents, workmen, designees and assigns (hereafter the "Authority")
are hereby granted all rights, duties, powers necessary to administer
and enforce the terms of this section on behalf of the Township of
Unity, including, but not limited to, the promulgation of reasonable
rules and regulations for same. Any rules and regulations promulgated
by the Authority for the administration and/or enforcement of this
section, including any amendments thereto, shall be and are incorporated
herein by reference thereto as if they were specifically set forth
herein.
(b)
Request for certification. At least 20 days prior to the date of sale, transfer, assignment, mortgage and/or hypothecation of any property referenced in Subsection A(1)(a) above, a formal request must be made to the Authority to seek and determine compliance with this article and the Authority resolutions, rules and regulations.
(c)
Inspection/test administration (pass/fail). Authority personnel,
or a contracted agent(s) of the Authority, will perform all inspections
and tests necessary to carry out the purpose of this section.
(d)
Time of repair/replacement. The identified source of possible
infiltration and inflow must be repaired or replaced as directed by
the Authority within 60 days of property owner/representative receiving
written notice.
(e)
Inspection procedures. Inspection procedures will be in accordance
with the requirements set forth in the Authority's resolutions, rules
and regulations.
(f)
Fees/costs. Fees and costs for the above inspection and testing
services are established by the Authority through resolution which
may be amended from time to time.
(g)
Remedy and enforcement. Failure of any property owner, assignee,
transferee or purchaser to comply with this article and/or the Authority
resolutions, rules and regulations shall be a violation of this article
and any such Authority rules and regulations. The Authority, its employees
and agents, are hereby authorized and empowered to act on behalf of
the Township of Unity to initiate and pursue any legal or equitable
remedies available under the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Act,
including, but not limited to, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 5607(d)(17),
as well as any remedy available to the Township under the Second Class
Township Code or otherwise, to enforce the terms of this section and/or
the Authority resolutions, rules and regulations relating to same.
The Authority may, by resolution, impose fines and/or penalties for
any violation of this section.
(h)
Appeals. The Authority may from time to time implement an appeal
process regarding enforcement under this section.
(i)
Occupancy permits. No property subject to testing under this
section shall be eligible to request or receive an occupancy permit
from the Township unless the owner of same produces a certificate
issued by the Authority that the property has been tested and is in
compliance with those rules and regulations of the Authority associated
with same.
B.
Garbage, unless the garbage is first properly shredded and will be
carried freely under flow conditions normally prevailing in public
sewers with no particle greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension.
C.
Wastes containing any gasoline, naphtha, fuel oil or other liquids,
solids or gases which by reason of their nature or quality may cause
fire or explosion or be in any other way injurious to persons or to
the structures of the sewer system or to its operation.
D.
Wastes having a temperature in excess of 150° F. or less than
32° F.
E.
Wastes having a pH lower than 6.5 or higher than 9.0 or having any
corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazards to structures,
equipment or personnel of the sewer system.
F.
Wastes containing any noxious or malodorous gas or substance which
either singly or by interaction with sewage or other wastes is likely,
under the rules and regulations of the Unity Township Municipal Authority,
to create a public nuisance or hazard to life, or prevent entry to
sewers for their maintenance and repair.
G.
Wastes, containing ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal,
glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, hair, chemical or paint
residues, greases, paunch manure, cotton, wool, plastic or other fibers,
lime slurry or any other solid or viscous material of such character
or in such quantity as may cause an obstruction to the flow in sewers
or otherwise interfere with the proper operation of the sewer system.
H.
Wastes containing insoluble, nonflocculent substances having a specific
gravity in excess of 2.65.
I.
Wastes containing soluble substances in such concentration as to
cause the specific gravity of the waste to be greater than 1.1.
J.
Wastes containing chemical substances.
(1)
Wastes containing any of the following substances in concentration
exceeding those shown in the following table as measured by an acceptable
method:
|
Substances
|
Concentration
(mg/l)
|
|---|---|
|
Phenolic compounds as C
|
1
|
|
Cyanides as CN
|
0
|
|
Cyanates as CNO
|
0
|
|
Iron as Fe
|
7
|
|
Trivalent Chromium as Cr+3
|
1
|
|
Hexavalent Chromium as Cr+6
|
0.05
|
|
Nickel as Ni
|
1
|
|
Copper as Cu
|
0.5
|
|
Lead as Pb
|
0.5
|
|
Zinc as Zn
|
0.5
|
(2)
Wastes containing other chemical or other matter detrimental to the
operation of a sewage treatment plant or sanitary sewers causing erosion,
corrosion or deterioration in sewers, equipment and structures of
a sewage treatment plant.
K.
Wastes containing more than 100 milligrams per liter by weight of
tar, fat, oil or grease.
L.
Wastes containing more than 10 milligrams per liter of any of the
following gases: hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide or
any of the halogens.
M.
Wastes containing a toxic or poisonous substance, in a sufficient
quantity to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process,
constitute a hazard to humans or animals or create any hazard in the
sewer system, and such toxic wastes shall include but shall not be
limited to wastes containing cyanide, chromium and/or copper ions.
N.
Any waste containing a toxic substance in quantities sufficient to
interfere with the biochemical processes of the sewage treatment works
or that will pass through the sewage treatment works and exceed the
state and/or federal requirements in respect thereto.
O.
Any waste containing toxic radioactive isotopes.
P.
Any waste containing the effluent from a privy, septic tank, sinkhole
or cesspool, or other receptacle for receiving and holding sanitary
sewage for an extended period of time, before discharge to the sewer
system.
Q.
Any waste which hereafter is designated as unacceptable by reason
of rules and regulations imposed upon the Unity Township Municipal
Authority by any state or federal agency, or which the engineer of
the Unity Township Municipal Authority recommends as unacceptable.
[Amended 3-13-1975 by Ord. No. 31375]
Wherever applications for permits, payments of fees or the issuance
of permits or the filing of a bond are required under this article,
the proper agency for handling the transaction shall be the Unity
Township Municipal Authority at its general office or an agent to
be hereafter designated by resolution by the said Unity Township Municipal
Authority.
The Unity Township Municipal Authority is hereby designated
by the Unity Township Board of Supervisors as its exclusive agency
for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this article.
[Amended 11-28-2000 by Ord. No. O-10-00]
Any person violating any provision of this article shall, upon
conviction thereof by the District Justice in a summary criminal proceeding,
be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, together with costs
of prosecution and reasonable attorneys' fees or, in default thereof,
by imprisonment for not more than 30 days. Following written notice
by the Unity Township Supervisors or their duly appointed agent that
a violation exists, each full week that a person shall continue such
violation shall constitute a separate enforceable offense.
