[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of
the Town of South Berwick as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 7-9-1980[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: The rules and regulations governing
solid waste disposal, adopted 9-28-1987, are on file in the office
of the Town Clerk.
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Solid Waste Disposal Control and Recycling Ordinance of the
Town of South Berwick, Maine."
A.
Declaration of policy. This article is designed to
control solid waste material in the Town of South Berwick, Maine,
by providing for the establishment and enforcement of rules and regulations,
establishing limitations, prohibiting certain acts causing solid waste
disposal problems and providing for fines for violation of the provisions
of this article.
B.
Authority for this article is 38 M.R.S.A. § 1304-B.
[Amended 8-26-1991]
[Amended 12-8-2008]
In this article, the following terms shall have
the following meanings:
Any person employed by the Town of South Berwick to supervise
the solid waste transfer station and operate any necessary equipment.
Official Pay As You Throw bags.
Mattresses, box springs, furniture, tires and other waste
materials accepted at the South Berwick Transfer Station, not including
demolition debris, wood and yard waste.
Solid waste generated by stores, offices, restaurants, warehouses,
multi-unit rental units and condominiums within the Town. This definition
applies to those designated by the Planning Board to provide for the
disposal of all solid waste.
Debris resulting from construction, remodeling, repair or
demolition of structures, excluding asbestos and other special wastes.
Sheetrock and shingles are not considered construction and demolition
debris under this regulation.
Any waste which the federal and/or state government(s) have
determined to be hazardous in composition.
Solid waste generated by manufacturing facilities within
the Town.
Businesses that sell PAYT bags to South Berwick residents.
Municipal solid waste.
Apartment buildings containing four or more units.
"Pay As You Throw."
A person, firm or corporation that accumulates, collects,
stores, transports or disposes of more than one ton of waste per month.
Residents of South Berwick.
Solid waste generated by residential households or dwelling
units; this includes but is not limited to food scraps, garbage, trash,
refuse and junk.
The Town of South Berwick.
The municipal facility located in South Berwick for the collection
and processing of municipal solid waste, for eventual movement to
another waste facility.
Stoves, refrigerators, water tanks, washing machines, microwaves
and other appliances without freon.
[Amended 2-14-1994; 7-11-2005; 12-8-2008]
A.
The Town Council is hereby granted authority to establish
detailed operating rules and regulations for all municipal solid waste
collection and disposal facilities. The rules and regulations shall
be reviewed and revised as required to satisfy needs of the municipality,
changes in state and federal laws and regulations and the economics
of municipal solid waste disposal. The rules and regulations shall
include the operating hours of the facility. No person shall use the
facility outside of said hours of operation without specific written
consent of the South Berwick Town Council or its authorized agent,
if any. The rules and regulations will become effective 15 days following
adoption by the Town Council. Currently effective rules and regulations
shall be prominently displayed at the transfer station site and on
file in the municipal office.
B.
The use of the transfer station by any person shall
be at the strict direction of the attendant designated by the Town
Manager. No person shall violate any directives put forth by the attendant
in the use of the facility. If any person refuses to obey a directive
of the facility attendant, the attendant shall have the authority
to immediately refuse access to the facility to that person.
C.
No hazardous waste shall be delivered to the transfer
station.
D.
No industrial or commercial waste which creates a
problem of disposal by virtue of federal, state or local statutes,
rules, regulations, etc., controlling or prohibiting its disposal
shall be delivered to the transfer station.
E.
The South Berwick solid waste transfer station is
operated solely for the benefit of South Berwick residents and/or
property owners. Admission to the transfer station will be by permit
only. South Berwick residents and/or property owners will be issued
permits without charge upon application to the municipal office. The
Town Manager is authorized to issue temporary permits on a case-by-case
basis. Residents and/or property owners must display a permit on their
vehicle to gain access to the transfer station.
F.
All commercial and industrial businesses as defined
in this article must contract with a private contractor to transport
their waste to the MERC facility. No commercial or industrial waste
will be permitted to be disposed of in the hopper at the transfer
station.
G.
All private contractors must be properly licensed by the Town of South Berwick pursuant to § 115-16 of the Town of South Berwick's Flow Ordinance in order to collect MSW within the boundaries of South Berwick. Private contractors are responsible for the waste they collect and must dispose of it properly at the MERC facility as designated in § 115-13, Regulation of wastes.
(1)
Private contractors will be billed by the Town of
South Berwick for the tonnage they deliver to MERC according to the
following fee schedule. Tonnage delivered to MERC shall be billed
to the private contractor on a monthly basis, at the Town's contracted
rate plus $2/ton. A nominal administration fee shall be added to the
invoice each month, not to exceed $25.
(2)
All invoices sent to the private contractor must be
paid in full within 30 days of the date of invoice. Failure to pay
the Town will result in a revocation of the company's ability to dispose
of MSW under the Town's contract with MERC and shall result in the
Town initiating collection proceedings. The private contractor shall
be responsible for all collection costs.
[Amended 6-12-2006; 12-8-2008]
A.
All solid waste shall have recyclable commodities
separated out and in a readily handleable form when brought to the
transfer station. The list of acceptable recyclable materials shall
be established, and may be revised from time to time, by order of
the South Berwick Town Council.
B.
Safety requirements prohibit the removal of items
from the wood or steel bins.
C.
All residential solid waste shall be delivered to
the transfer station in PAYT bags as designated by the South Berwick
Town Council. The Town will provide two bag sizes to choose from:
fifteen-gallon; thirty-three-gallon.
D.
PAYT bags will be sold at various locations throughout
the Town of South Berwick. Out-of-town merchants may also sell South
Berwick PAYT bags.
E.
Merchants will purchase bags in bulk quantity and
agree to sell the bags at cost. Merchants will be required to sign
an agreement outlining these arrangements. These agreements will be
kept on file in the Town Clerk's office.
[Amended 12-8-2008]
Any person who violates any provision of this
article commits a civil violation, punishable by a civil penalty of
not less than $200 and not more than $2,500 for each violation. Penalties
shall be recovered upon complaint made by the Town. Each day upon
which a violation continues shall be considered a separate violation.
The Town shall be entitled to recover its attorney's fees and court
costs in any action in which the court finds that a violation has
occurred. In addition to penalties, the Town may seek injunctive relief
to prevent the continuance of an ongoing or recurring violation. The
Town may also pursue any of the remedies set forth in Subsections
A, B and C below:
A.
Roadside littering. Any person found to have littered public or private property with MSW, construction and demolition debris, bulky waste, tires or any other trash will be prosecuted by the Police Department in accordance with Title 17 M.R.S.A. Chapter 80, Litter Control.
B.
Public health. Any individual who is found to be accumulating
solid waste in an unapproved location which is deemed to be injurious
to the public health and safety by the South Berwick Health Officer
shall be dealt with in the following manner:
(1)
Written warning, with seven days to remove trash.
(2)
If after seven days the trash has not been removed,
the Health Officer may cause the removal of the solid waste. All costs
associated with the removal of the solid waste shall be billed to
the property owner.
(3)
Failure to pay the costs for the removal of the solid
waste will constitute a lien against the real estate enforceable in
the same manner as real estate taxes, including possible loss of the
property for nonpayment.
C.
Unacceptable materials. Any person caught throwing
unacceptable materials in the hopper, bulky waste, construction debris
or other designated area of the transfer station shall be prosecuted
in the following manner:
In any case where a provision of this article
is found to be in conflict with a provision of any other ordinance
or code of the Town of South Berwick existing on the effective date
of this article, the provision which establishes the higher standard
for the promotion and protection of health and welfare for the community
shall prevail.
[Adopted 3-9-1987]
This article shall be known as the "Town of
South Berwick, Maine, Solid Waste Flow Control Ordinance."
[Amended 8-26-1991]
This article is enacted pursuant to the authority
granted in 30-A M.R.S.A. §§ 3001 through 3007, 3351
and 3352.
A.
The municipality has a statutory obligation to provide
a solid waste disposal facility for domestic and commercial waste
generated within the municipality and is authorized to provide such
a facility for industrial waste and sewage treatment plant sludge,
pursuant to 38 M.R.S.A. § 1305, Subsection 1. Municipal
solid waste contains valuable recoverable resources, including energy,
which, if recovered, reduce the cost of solid waste disposal. Because
energy recovery technology is complex, most energy recovery facilities
have high capital costs and long payback periods. To remain cost-effective
and operate efficiently during their useful lives, energy recovery
facilities require a guaranteed steady supply of waste during their
entire useful life. Consequently, a municipality that wants to utilize
an energy recovery facility for processing municipal solid wastes
generally must agree to provide the facility with a steady supply
of solid waste for a relatively long period.
B.
The municipality must exercise its legal authority
to control the collection, transportation and disposal of solid waste
generated within its borders to ensure delivery of a steady supply
of waste to the energy recovery facility designated herein. The municipality
finds that use of an energy recovery facility to process acceptable
solid waste is an environmentally sound and economically viable solution
to the solid waste disposal problem and thereby protects the public
health, welfare and safety of the citizens of the municipality.
A.
All terms not specifically defined herein shall have
their ordinary meanings; words used in the present tense include the
future, and the plural includes the singular.
B.
ACCEPTABLE WASTE
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
COLLECTION FACILITY
DISPOSAL FACILITY
ENERGY RECOVERY FACILITY
MUNICIPALITY
UNACCEPTABLE WASTE
As used herein, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
All solid wastes of the type presently accepted at the transfer
station used by the municipality, including all ordinary household,
municipal, institutional, commercial and industrial wastes, with the
following exceptions:
[Amended 12-8-2008]
Demolition or construction debris from building
and roadway projects or locations.
Liquid wastes or sludges.
Abandoned or junk vehicles.
Hazardous waste, that is, waste with inherent
properties that make it dangerous to manage by ordinary means, including
but not limited to chemicals, explosive, pathological wastes, radioactive
wastes, toxic wastes and other wastes defined as hazardous by the
State of Maine or the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976,
as amended, or other federal, state or local laws, regulations, orders
or other actions promulgated or taken with respect thereto.
Dead animals or portions thereof or other pathological
wastes.
Water treatment residues.
Tree stumps.
Tannery sludge.
Waste oil.
Discarded white goods, including but not limited
to freezers, stoves, refrigerators and washing machines.
A building or container or designated area in which acceptable
waste is deposited and temporarily stored for transfer to the energy
recovery facility.
[Amended 12-8-2008]
The facilities designated by the municipality as the storage
and/or disposal sites for unacceptable wastes.
The facility designated herein which processes and recovers
energy and/or useful materials from acceptable waste generated in
the municipality.
The Town of South Berwick, Maine.
All solid waste of the type municipalities are required to
regulate by 38 M.R.S.A. § 1305, as amended, which specifically
excludes industrial and sewage treatment plant sludge, and not included
in the definition of "acceptable waste."
A.
In accordance with the provisions of 38 M.R.S.A. § 1304-B,
the municipality hereby designates the Maine Energy Recovery Company
facility located in Biddeford, Maine, as the energy recovery facility
and disposal facility for acceptable waste.
B.
The Town also designates a municipally owned and operated
transfer station on Agamenticus Road in South Berwick, whose operation
shall be conducted in accordance with the rules and regulations of
the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Town of South
Berwick Solid Waste Disposal Control and Recycling Ordinance,[1] as the temporary disposal facility for acceptable waste.
C.
The Town further reserves that it may designate an
alternate disposal facility for a specified time period for acceptable
waste, should circumstances require it, upon a majority vote of the
municipal officers.
The accumulation, collection, transportation
and disposal of acceptable waste and unacceptable waste generated
within the municipality shall be regulated in the following manner:
A.
All acceptable waste generated within the municipality
shall be deposited at the municipal transfer facility or directly
at the energy recovery facility.
B.
All unacceptable waste generated within the municipality
shall be deposited only at a suitable disposal facility which is designed
for the express purpose of handling said unacceptable waste.
The following categories of waste shall be exempted
from regulation by this article:
A.
Materials from manufacturing, processing or packaging
operations which are segregated from solid waste and salvaged for
alternate use or reuse by the generator or sold to third parties.
B.
Glass, metal or other noncombustible materials which
are separated from acceptable waste by the generator as part of a
recycling program approved by municipal officers.
C.
Cardboard, paper or other combustible materials which
are separated from acceptable waste by the generator as part of a
recycling program approved by the municipal officers, provided that
any such recycling program shall not reduce the Btu content of acceptable
waste below the Btu level acceptable to the energy recovery facility.
This article shall be administered by the municipal
officers. Their powers and duties are as follows:
A.
To adopt reasonable rules and regulations as needed
to enforce this article.
B.
To consider all license applications and to grant
or deny each application within 15 days after receipt of a completed
application at the municipal offices or within such other time as
the municipal officers and the applicant shall agree is reasonable.
C.
To review any alleged violation of this article and
to impose appropriate penalties therefor after notice and hearing
as required by this article.
D.
To institute necessary proceedings, either legal or
equitable, to enforce this article.
A.
No person, firm or corporation shall accumulate, collect,
store, transport or dispose of acceptable waste or unacceptable waste
generated within the municipality without obtaining a license from
the municipal officers, except that a person, firm or corporation
that accumulates, collects, stores, transports or disposes of less
than 1/4 ton (500 pounds) per month of its own waste shall not be
required by this section to obtain such a license.
[Amended 12-8-2008]
B.
Any person, firm or corporation required by this article
to obtain a license shall make application to the municipal officers,
providing the information required. Each application shall be accompanied
by a nonrefundable one-time application fee of $250.
[Amended 12-8-2008]
C.
The application shall contain all information required
by the municipal officers, including but not limited to a description
of the activity(ies) engaged in, e.g., collection, transport or disposal
of acceptable and/or unacceptable waste; types and amount of waste
handled in each service area; a description of the facility(ies) operated
and used; and an equipment inventory, including, for vehicles, a description
of the make, model and year of each vehicle used for collection or
transportation of solid waste. All information provided shall be revised
annually upon application for license renewal. If the municipal officers
determine the application is incomplete, they shall notify the applicant,
in writing, of the specific information necessary to complete it.
The municipal officers shall be informed immediately, in writing,
of any changes in or additions to equipment, including vehicles.
D.
Licenses shall not be transferable. In the event of
an emergency or vehicle breakdown, a licensee shall be issued a special
license for a satisfactory replacement vehicle upon the furnishing
of all information required for a licensed vehicle.
E.
All licenses shall expire one year from the date of
issue unless otherwise stated on the license or revoked or suspended
sooner in accordance with the provisions of this article.
F.
Annual renewal license fees shall be $100, with an
additional fee of $50 for each vehicle licensed or $50 for each applicant
licensed for activities not involving the transport of solid waste.
License fees shall be prorated based upon the number of months for
which the license is issued. License fees shall not be refunded in
the event that a license is suspended or revoked.
[Amended 12-8-2008]
Any license issued may be suspended or revoked by order of the municipal officers after benefit of a hearing in accordance with the procedures in § 115-18 for the following causes:
A.
Anyone denied a license or whose license is suspended or revoked pursuant to § 115-17 shall be entitled to a hearing before the municipal officers, if such request is made, in writing, within 30 days of the denial, suspension or revocation.
B.
Such hearings shall be held within 30 days after receipt
of the written request for a hearing.
C.
The licensee or applicant shall be notified, in writing,
as to the time and place of the hearing at least 10 days prior to
the hearing date. The applicant or licensee has the right to be represented
by counsel, to offer evidence and to cross-examine witnesses.
D.
A determination shall be made by the municipal officers
within 10 days after the conclusion of the hearing, and notice of
the decision shall be served upon the applicant or licensee by registered
mail, return receipt requested.
E.
The municipal officers' final determination relative
to the denial or suspension or revocation of a license and the period
of suspension or revocation shall take effect as provided in the notice
but no later than 10 days after the date notice of such final determination
has been mailed by registered mail, return receipt requested, to the
applicant and shall be conclusive. Notice of the final determination
shall set forth the reasons for the denial, suspension or revocation
and the effective dates thereof, together with a statement that such
decision may be appealed as provided in this article.
F.
Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating
to the municipal officers' determination shall be directly reviewable
by the Superior Court pursuant to M.R. Civ. P., Rule 80B.
A.
All provisions of this article are enforceable by
duly authorized police officers and the municipal officers.
B.
Any person who violates any provision of this article is subject to arrest and, if convicted, to punishment as provided in § 115-20.
C.
Whenever the municipal officers determine that there
has been a violation by virtue of noncompliance, they shall give notice
of such violation to the person(s) responsible by personal service
or by registered mail, return receipt requested.
(1)
The citation shall include a statement of reasons
and shall allow reasonable time for performance of any act it requires.
(2)
The citation may contain an outline of remedial action
which, if taken, will effect compliance.
(3)
The citation shall state that unless corrections are
made within the allotted time, the violator is subject to prosecution
and/or to license revocation or suspension pursuant to the provisions
of this article.
A.
Criminal penalties. Any person who violates this article
shall be guilty of a Class E crime for each violation.
B.
Any person who violates any provision of this article
commits a civil violation, punishable by a civil penalty of not less
than $200 and not more than $2,500 for each violation. Penalties shall
be recovered upon complaint made by the Town. Each day upon which
a violation continues shall be considered a separate violation. The
Town shall be entitled to recover its attorney's fees and court costs
in any action in which the court finds that a violation has occurred.
In addition to penalties, the Town may seek injunctive relief to prevent
the continuance of an ongoing or recurring violation.
[Amended 12-8-2008]
The municipal officers may, on written application,
grant a variance from a specific provision of this article in a specific
case, subject to appropriate conditions, where such variance is in
harmony with the general purpose and intent of this article and the
agreement between the municipality and the energy recovery facility.
This article may be amended in the same manner
as any other ordinance of the municipality, subject to the contractual
obligations outlined in the contract between the municipality and
the energy recovery facility.
This article shall become effective April 7,
1987, except that provisions dependent upon the energy recovery facility
designated herein shall become effective on the date that the energy
recovery facility begins commercial operations, provided that the
municipality provides notice of commencement in the manner required
for publication of ordinances. Any person, firm or corporation required
to obtain a license hereunder shall have 30 days from the date of
adoption of this article to secure such license, which shall become
effective on the date specified therein.
[Added 12-8-2008]
Because the Town's new Pay As You Throw system is scheduled to commence on January 1, 2009, and because that system will be implemented and governed by the amendments to Chapter 115, Articles I and II, enacted by the Town Council on December 8, 2008, the Town Council finds and declares that an emergency exists within the meaning of Article II, Section 11, of the Charter, and therefore said amendments shall take effect on January 1, 2009.
