(a) Sewer Taps Generally.
(1) Tapping or opening Sewer Without Permit. No person shall cut, break, pierce or tap any public sewer or appurtenance thereof, or introduce any tube, pipe, trough or conduit into any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without written permit from the Sewer Board.
(2) Sewer Taps only by Authorized Persons. No person, except those persons duly employed or authorized by the Board for such purpose, shall tap the Town's sewer mains.
(b) Sewer Tap Construction.
(1) All costs and expenses incidental to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne, as prescribed by the rules and regulations for the Government of Sewer Utilities adopted by the Public Service Commission of West Virginia. The owner shall indemnify the Town from any loss of damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer.
(2) A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building; except where one building stands at the rear of another or an interior lot and no private sewer is available or can be constructed to the rear building through an adjoining alley, court, yard or driveway; the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer, but the town does not and will not assume any obligation or responsibility for damage caused by or resulting from such single connection aforementioned.
(3) Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by the Manager, to meet all requirements of this article.
(4) The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building sewer and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling the trench shall conform to the requirements of the Building and Plumbing Code provisions or other applicable rules and regulations of the Board. In the absence of Code provisions or in amplification thereof, the material and procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM and WPCF Manual of Practice No.9 shall apply. Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be brought to the building at an elevation below the basement floor. In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such building drain shall be lifted by an approved means and discharged to the building sewer.
(5) No person shall make connection of roof downspouts, foundation drains, areaway drains or other sources of surface runoff or groundwater to a building sewer or building drain which in turn is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer unless such connection is approved by the Board for purposes of disposal of polluted surface drainage.
(6) The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the Building and Plumbing Code or other applicable rules and regulations of the Town for the purpose set fourth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM and the WPCF Manual of Practice No. 9. All such connections shall be made gas tight and water tight and verified by proper testing. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials shall be approved by the Board before installation.
(7) The applicant for building sewer permit shall notify the Town when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection and testing shall be made under the supervision of the Board or its representative.
(8) All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways and other public property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the Town.
(c) Approval of Connection by Inspector.
(1) No sewer service shall be connected until the plumbing and connections incident thereto are inspected and approved by an inspector of the Board or its representative.
(2) No sewer service line shall be connected to the sanitary sewer system if that service line will contain flows other than sanitary wastewater. Roof drains, yard and area drains, footer drains or any line other than that which serves a sanitary plumbing system is prohibited from connection to the town system.
(d) Unauthorized Connections Prohibited.
(1) No person shall connect to or turn on any sewer service, or cut-m, interconnect, tap or make any alterations to any main or distribution or collection pipe of the town's sewer system or permit any connection of tapping to be made to the sewer system on his premises or the premises occupied by him or knowingly use the sewer service from connections in violation of any of the provisions of this article or any rules and regulations adopted by Council with respect thereto.
(2) Roof drains, yard and area drains, footer drains or any line carrying flow other than exclusively sanitary wastewater is prohibited from connection to the town's sanitary sewer system.
(e) Schedule of Rates and Charges; Use of Water Meters. For the payment of the proper and reasonable expense of operation, repair, replacement, improvements, additions, betterment, extensions, and the maintenance of the sewer system and for payment of the sums required to pay the principal and interest of all sewer revenue bonds as they become due, Council shall enact and may from time to time amend a schedule of just and equitable rates or charges for the use of and service rendered by the municipal sewer system and works of the Town, which schedule of rates or charges shall be based upon the metered amount of water supplied the premises; and each schedule shall be maintained on file in the office of the Town of Eleanor while it is in effect.
(1) Applicability of Rates. Applicable inside and outside the corporate limits of the Town.
(2) Availability of Service. Available for general domestic, commercial and industrial sanitary sewer service. (Ord. 02-06. Passed 10-3-02.)
(3) Sewer Service Rates. The monthly rate is based on water usage. All planned sewer users are on the water system and the water company serving the area has tentatively agreed to make necessary meter reading information available to the Town for billing purpose. The monthly sewer rates are as follows:
A. The monthly sewer rate shall be based upon water usage, and shall be based upon each one thousand (1,000) gallons of water used. The effective rates for each one thousand (1,000) gallons of water used shall be:
First 2,000 Gallons of Water Used Per Month $7.66 per 1,000 Gallons
Next 2,000 Gallons of Water Used Per Month $4.93 per 1,000 Gallons
Next 16,000 Gallons of Water Used Per Month $4.18 per 1,000 Gallons
Next 30,000 Gallons of Water Used Per Month $3.56 per 1,000 Gallons
Over 50,000 Gallons of Water Used Per Month $2.80 per 1,000 Gallons
B. The minimum monthly sewer rate for all unmetered customers of the municipal sewer system shall be in the amount of eighteen dollars and seventy-five cents ($18.75).
C. The minimum monthly sewer rate for bulk sewer discharged from another sewer collection system shall be in the amount of two dollars and sixty cents ($2.60) per 1,000 gallons.
D. There shall be no bill rendered for less than fifteen dollars and thirty-two cents ($15.32) which constitutes a minimum bill.
E. Connection Charge. Subsequent to the completion of project construction there shall be a charge for connection to the system of four hundred and fifty dollars ($450.00).
F. Disconnect-Reconnect/Administrative Fees.
1. Whenever water service has been disconnected for non- payment of sewer bills in conjunction with a water service termination agreement with the West Virginia American Water Company, a disconnection fee of $25.00 shall be charged; or in the event the delinquent sewer bill is collected by the water company, an administrative fee of $25.00 shall be charged.
2. Whenever water service, which has been previously disconnected or otherwise withheld for non-payment of a sewer bill in conjunction with a water service termination agreement with West Virginia American Water Company, is reconnected, a reconnection fee of $25.00 shall be charged.
G. Returned Check Charge. If a check received is returned by the bank for any reason, the bank’s charge to the Town shall be the Town’s charge to the customer for such returned check and under no circumstances shall the fee collected by the Town exceed $25.00.
H. Leak Adjustment. $0.50 per 1,000 gallons is to be used when a bill reflects unusual water consumption which can be attributed to eligible leakage on customer’s side of the meter. This rate shall be applied to all such consumption above the customer’s historical average usage. (Ord. 13-02. Passed 12-19-13.)
(4) Multiple occupancy. Where multiple service is rendered through one water meter, the monthly sewer bill shall not be less than the amount provided for above for the first service, all other services will pay the amount of ten dollars ($10.00) per service receiving water service through such meter.
(5) Bulk service. The minimum monthly sewer service rate for bulk sewer discharge from another sewer collection system shall be in the amount of $1.75 per 1,000 gallons.
(6) Transport service. The fee charged for vehicles transporting and dumping sewage into the treatment facility shall be thirty dollars ($30.00) per load with a 2500 gallon maximum capacity.
(7) Service connection. The fee for a tap connection shall be one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00). The fee for customer service shall be twenty-five dollar ($25.00) deposit. This deposit shall be refunded at the end of one year, plus interest as required by the Public Service Commission of West Virginia, to customers keeping their account currently paid, or to customers after moving and payment of final bill is received.
(8) Service reconnect. The fee for a service reconnect shall be forty dollars ($40.00), if the sewer users are on the water system and the water company serving the area has terminated service due to the collection of delinquent sewer bill.
(f) Waiver of Minimum Sanitary Charge.
(1) The Board shall have the authority to waive a customer's minimum monthly sewer charge based upon the following terms and conditions.
A. A written request for waiver must be made by customer to the Sanitary Board no less than thirty days in advance of the desired effective date.
B. The residence of the customer for which the waiver is sought must remain vacant for no less than three months from the effective date of the waiver.
C. The water meter at the residence, which is the subject of the waiver request, must remain intact.
D. There shall be no waiver of the sewer charge for customers vacating their residences for extended vacations.
(2) The Board is not limited to the above factors in consideration of a waiver but has the discretion to consider other factors relevant to the waiver request.
(g) Town Subject to Established Rates or Charges. The Town shall be subject to the established charges and rates, or to charges and rates established in harmony therewith, for services rendered the Town and shall be deemed to be a part of the revenues of the sewage system and works and be applied as provided for the application of such services.
(h) User’s Responsibility to Keep Sewer Clean. The owner, tenant or occupant of the property shall be continuously responsible for maintaining and keeping the sewer the sewer pipe leading to and between the plumbing system of his premises to the Town's connecting sewer clean and free from obstruction, and shall not cause or suffer or permit any article or thing, liquid as well as solid, to be introduced into the pipe which causes a stoppage thereof. In the event of any such obstructions or stoppage, the Town shall have the right to make arrangements to cut off the water connection, which shall not be reconnected until such sewer pipe is cleaned and maintained properly; and in the further event of the failure of such user to remedy such obstruction or stoppage, the Board shall have the right to enter upon the premises and make necessary repairs, the costs and expenses of which shall be included as part of the charges against such premises.
(i) Leaks; City Not Liable for Damage.
(1) No allowance or adjustment of any sewer bill shall be made for water leaks of any nature occurring on the user's side of the meter if the water so leaked enters the sewer.
(2) Neither the Town nor Council shall be liable for any damage resulting from the bursting of any sewer main, service pipe or valve, or from discontinuing the operation of its sewer valve, or from discontinuing the operation of its sewer collection, treatment and disposal facilities, for repairs, extensions or connections, or from accidental failure of the sewage collection, treatment and disposal facilities from any cause whatsoever. In cases of emergency, Council shall have the right to restrict the use of its sewage collection, treatment and disposal facilities in any reasonable manner for the protection of the Town and its sewer system.
(j) Tampering With Sewer Appurtenances. No person shall turn, lift, remove, raise or tamper with any cover or any manhole, basin, inlet or other appurtenance of any public sanitary and/or storm sewer without a written permit from the Board.
(k) Entering Sewer; Injury to Sewer.
(1) No person, other than one employed by the Town while on duty, shall enter any public sanitary and/or storm sewer or appurtenance thereof without a written permit from the Board.
(2) No person shall break or damage any public sewer or appurtenance of part thereof.
(Ord. 02-06. Passed 10-3-02.)