ARTICLE 929
Sewers
929.01   Definitions.
929.02   Sanitary Board.
929.03   Use of public sewers required.
929.04   Connection to public sewers.
929.05   Discharge into public sewers.
929.06   Inspectors.
929.07   Amendments.
929.08   Stormwater utility.
929.09   Grease traps.
929.99   Penalty.
 
CROSS REFERENCES
Power to regulate utility systems - see W. Va. Code 8-12-5(32)
Sewer connections - see W. Va. Code 8-18-22
Power to collect charges - see W. Va. Code 8-12-5(32), 16-13-16
Review by Public Service Commission - see W. Va. Code 24-2-4(b)
Deposit limitations - see W. Va. Code 24-3-8
 
929.01  DEFINITIONS.
   Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
   (a)   “Biochemical oxygen demand" (BOD) means that quantity of oxygen  utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard  laboratory procedure in five days at twenty degree centigrade, expressed in milligrams per liter.
   (b)   "Board" means the Mayor and fellow members, respectively, of the Town of Eleanor, West Virginia, as constituting the Sewer Board of the town.
   (c)   "Building drain" means that part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet (1.5 meters) outside the inner face of the building wall.
   (d)   "Building sewer" means the extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal, also called "house connection".
   (e)   "Combined sewer" means a sewer intended to receive both wastewater and storm or surface water.
   (f)   "Council" means the Mayor and fellow members, respectively, of the Town  of Eleanor, West Virginia, as constituting the governing body of the town.
   (g)   "Easement" means an acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.
   (h)   "Floatable oil" means oil, fat or grease in a physical state such that it will separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in an approved pretreatment facility. A wastewater shall be considered free of floatable fat if it is properly pretreated and the wastewater does not interfere with the collection system.
   (i)   "Garbage" means the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and serving of foods.
   (j)   "Industrial waste" means the wastewater from industrial processes, trade or business as distinct from domestic or sanitary strength wastes.
   (k)   "Natural outlet" means any outlet, including storm sewers and combined sewer overflows, into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or groundwater.
   (l)   "May" is permissive (see "Shall").
   (m)    "Person" means any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group.
   (n)   "pH" means the logarithm of the reciprocal of the hydrogen-ion  concentration. The concentration is the weight of hydrogen-ion, in grams, per liter of solution. Neutral water, for example, has a pH value of 7 and a hydrogen concentration of 10-.
   (o)   "Properly shredded garbage" means the wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.
   (p)   "Public sewer" means a common sewer controlled by a governmental agency or public utility.
   (q)   "Sanitary sewer" means a sewer that carries liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions together with minor quantities of ground, storm and surface waters that are not admitted intentionally.
   (r)   "Sewage" means the spent water of a community. The preferred term is "wastewater".
   (s)   "Shall" is mandatory (see "May").
   (t)   "Slug" means any discharge of water or wastewater which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds for any period of duration longer than fifteen minutes more than five times the average twenty-four hour concentration of flows during normal operation and adversely affects the collection system and/or performance of the wastewater treatment works.
   (u)    "Storm drain" (sometimes termed "storm sewer") means a drain or sewer for conveying water, groundwater, subsurface water or unpolluted water from any source.
   (v)   "Manager" means the duly appointed representative of the Town who is charged with the responsibility of the day-to-day operations of the wastewater facilities of his/her authorized deputy, agent or representative.
   (w)   "Suspended solids" means total suspended matter that either floats on the surface of, or is in suspension in, water, wastewater or other liquids, that is removable by laboratory filtering as prescribed in "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater" and referred to as nonfilterable residue.
   (x)   "Town" means the Town of Eleanor, West Virginia.
   (y)   "Unpolluted water" means water of quality equal to or better than the effluent criteria in effect or water that would not cause violation of receiving water quality standards and would not be benefited by discharge to the sanitary sewers and wastewater treatment facilities provided.
   (z)   "Wastewater" means the spent water of a community. From the standpoint of source, it may be a combination of the liquid and water carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions, together with any groundwater, surface water and storm water that may be present.
   (aa)   "Wastewater facilities" means the structures, equipment and processes required to collect, carry away and treat domestic and industrial wastes and dispose of the effluent.
   (bb)   "Wastewater treatment works" means an arrangement of devices and structures for treating wastewater, industrial wastes and sludge. Sometimes used as synonymous with "waste treatment plant" or "wastewater treatment plant" or "water pollution control plant".
   (cc)   "Watercourse" means a natural or artificial channel for the passage of water either continuously or intermittently.
      (Ord. 02-06.  Passed 10-3-02.)
929.02 SANITARY BOARD.
   (a)   Established.  There is hereby created a Sanitary Board which shall supervise the construction, acquisition, equipment, custody, operation and maintenance of a sewage treatment plant and related works and shall be in charge of the collection of all revenues therefrom for the services to be rendered by said sewage works and shall exercise any and all the powers, duties and functions conferred upon like sanitary boards by Chapter 16, Article 13, Sections 1 through 24, inclusive, of the West Virginia Code, as amended.
   (b)   Composition.
      (1)   The Board shall consist of five members one of which shall be the Mayor, two members shall serve for a term of two years and two members shall serve for a term of three years and all vacancies shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term and appointment of successors shall be made by Town Council.
      (2)   The Board shall hold not less than one regular meeting a month. Regular meetings of the board shall be the second Thursday of each month.
   (c)   Organization.  The Mayor shall act as chairman of the Sanitary Board, and upon organization of the board they shall meet and elect a vice chairman and also designate a secretary and treasurer, who may be separate persons or one in the same. Council reserves the right to fix by ordinance the compensation of the members of the board and the secretary and treasurer thereof, and also to require and fix the amount of bond which any or all of said officials may be required to furnish.
   (d)   Powers and Duties.  The Sanitary Board shall have the custody, administration, operation and maintenance of the sewage works and said works shall be under the complete supervision and control of the Sanitary Board. The Board shall have the power to take all steps and proceedings to make and enter into any and all contracts and agreements necessary and incidental to the performance of its duties and the execution of its powers in regard to the construction, maintenance and operation of a sewage treatment facility and shall be empowered to exercise all of the duties, obligations and powers conferred by Chapter 16, Article 13, Sections 1 through 24, inclusive, of the West Virginia Code, as amended.
   (e)   Regulations Enforced.
      (1)   In addition to the specific authority granted by this article, the Sanitary Board shall make and enforce such other rules and regulations subject to the approval of Council for the safe, economical and efficient management, control and protection of the Town's public sewerage system, for the construction and use of house sewers and connection to the sewerage system, for the construction and use of all other connections thereto, and for the regulation, collection, rebating and refunding of such sewerage charges as may be needful or necessary from time to time.
      (2)   Provided that such rules and regulations shall not become effective until the same have been approved by Council by ordinance or resolution and spread upon the records of Council as notice to the public of the provisions of such rules and regulations.  (Ord. 02-06.  Passed 10-3-02.)
929.03  USE OF PUBLIC SEWERS REQUIRED.
   (a)   Authority to Establish and Maintain a Sewer.  For state law as to authority of the Town to establish and maintain a sewer system and sewage treatment and disposal system and to acquire property necessary therefor, see West Virginia Code 16-13A-1 and 8. As to authority of the Town to make "low cost improvements", including the construction, renewing and preparing of storm, sanitary and combined sewers, see West Virginia Code 16-13A-7. As to authority of the Town to levy assessments for sewer improvements, and to regulate sewer connections, see West Virginia Code 16-13A-1 et seq. As to the jurisdiction of the Town for the purpose of this article, see West Virginia Code 16-13A-8. As to the requirement that the method of drainage and the system for extra disposal conform to plans, specifications and instructions of the State Department of Health, see West Virginia Code 16-1-9.
   (b)   Declaration of Necessity.
      (1)   The use of the sewer system of the Town is determined and declared to be essential for the protection and preservation of the public health, comfort, safety, economy and general welfare of the inhabitants of the Town and the area served thereby.
      (2)   The owner, tenant or occupant of premises which abut on a street, easement or other public way containing a sewer service, or which, in the judgment of Council is located within such a distance thereof that sewer service is reasonably available thereto and upon which premises a building or other inhabitable structure has been or shall be erected for residential, commercial or industrial use, or where persons are employed or congregate, shall be required to connect the building or structure to thesewer system or to such a part of the sewer system as may from time to time be extended or become reasonably available, and shall thereafter refrain from using or cease to use any other method in place of the sewer services which are now, or may hereafter become, available; and shall thereafter pay all charges, rates or fees as herein, or may hereafter be provided for. All such connections shall be in accordance with the rules and regulations which are adopted from time to time by Council and such rules and regulations may provide for reasonable charges, fees or deposits required for making such connections.
      (3)   For provisions as to authority of the Town to compel owners, etc., of property abutting on or near the street in which public sewer is laid and upon which any building, etc., is erected, to connect such property to the sewer, see West Virginia Code 16-13A-9.
   (c)   Application for Sewer Service Required. 
      (1)   No person, including public bodies as well as natural persons, shall make an initial cut-in or connection with the Town sewer system and use that system without first making written application for such connection and service to Sanitary Board and paying all costs, charges, fees and deposits incident thereto. Such application shall be made on forms prescribed and furnished by the Board, and shall constitute an agreement by the applicant with the Town to abide by all provisions of this article and such application rules and regulations of Council in regard to the use of the sewer system. Such application for service by firms, partnerships, associations and corporations shall be submitted only by their duly authorized agent, and the official title of such agent shall be signed to the application.
      (2)   The application shall grant or cause to be granted to the Town, without cost, all rights, easements, permits and privileges which are necessary for the rendering of sewer service. Duly authorized employees of the Board shall have access at all reasonable hours to the premises of the applicant for the purpose of installing or removing any of its property, examining pipes or fixtures, of for any purpose incidental to the rendering of sewer service.
   (d)   Permit for Connection; Tapping Charge.  No person, whether property owner, drain layer or otherwise, shall connect with or tap a town sewer, either directly or indirectly, without first having a permit from the board and having paid a tapping or maintenance charge fixed by law. In all cases, the tapping and maintenance charges for tapping a town sewer shall be as specified from time to time by Council in an appropriate schedule, which shall be maintained on file in the office  of the Town; and until such a schedule is prescribed by Council pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section, the tapping and maintenance charges for the Towns sewers shall be in effect immediately prior to the effective date of this section.
(Ord. 02-06.  Passed 10-3-02.)
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