§ 51.10 BUILDING SEWERS AND CONNECTIONS.
   (A)   No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the Director of Service.
   (B)   The owner or his or her agent shall make application in such form as the city may designate from time to time. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, drawings, specification or the information considered pertinent by the Director of Service. All commercial and industrial applicants shall provide the city with an “as built” drawing upon completion of the installation.
   (C)   Sewer capacity fee. A sewer capacity fee of $2.50 per average daily gallonage of standard strength sewage as determined by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Suggested Sewage Flow Guide shall be charged except as follows:
      (1)   Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, the minimum sewer capacity fee shall be $1,000.
      (2)   New sewer taps located outside the corporation limits of the city shall be charged at the above rate plus 200%.
      (3)   In the event a use is applied for that is not specifically set forth on the Ohio Environmental Agency (EPA) Suggested Sewage Flow Guide and Director of Public Services shall have the authority to determine a capacity fee through interpretation of said schedule. In making the interpretation the Director of Public Services may consult and be advised by such persons as he or she determines are necessary and proper. When an interpretation is required the applicant shall be provided with a written explanation of the method(s) used in arriving at the amount of the capacity fee, a copy of which shall be kept on record in a permanent log kept for such purpose.
      (4)   When any or all of the cost of a water system improvement project is covered by a grant of funds by a federal, state or local governmental agency and/or assessments against the properties which water capacity fees may become due, the city may reduce or eliminate water capacity fees for any or all of the properties served by the water system improvement project.
   (D)   The fee for the sewer permit shall be paid to the City Treasurer at the time the application is filed.
(Ord. 21-1990, passed 4-24-90; Am. Ord. 47-2000, passed 12-12-00; Am. Ord. 41-2002, passed 7-23-02; Am. Ord. 49-2004, passed 11-9-04)
   (E)   All costs and expenses incident to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the city from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer.
   (F)   A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building; except where one building stands at the rear of another on 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 building sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer.
   (G)   Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by the Service Director, to meet all requirements of this chapter.
(Ord. 14-1985, passed 3-27-85; Am. Ord. 41-2002, passed 7-23-02; Am. Ord. 49-2004, passed 11-9-04)
   (H)   The building sewer shall be cast iron soil pipe, ASTM specification (A74-75) or equal vitrified clay sewer pipe, ASTM specification (C-700-78a) or equal, O-ring clay pipe; or other suitable material approved by the Service Director. Joints shall be tight and waterproof. Any part of the building sewer that is located within ten feet of a water service pipe shall be constructed of cast iron soil pipe with leaded joints. Cast iron pipe with leaded joints may be required by the Service Director where the building sewer is exposed to damage by tree roots. If installed in filled or unstable ground, the building sewer shall be of cast iron soil pipe, except that nonmetallic material may be accepted if laid on a suitable concrete bed or cradle as approved by the Service Director.
(’59 Code, § 933.07)
   (I)   The size and slope of the building sewer shall be subject to the approval of the Service Director, but in no event shall the diameter be less than six inches. The slope of such six-inch pipe shall be not less than one-eighth inch per foot.
(’59 Code, § 933.08)
   (J)   Wherever possible, the building sewer shall be brought to the building at an elevation below the basement floor. No building sewer shall be laid parallel to or within three feet of any bearing wall, which might thereby be weakened. The depth shall be sufficient to afford protection from frost. The building sewer shall be laid at uniform grade and in straight alignment insofar as possible. Changes in direction shall be made only with properly curved pipe and fittings.
   In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such drain shall be lifted by approved artificial means and discharged to the building sewer.
   All excavations required for the installation of a building sewer shall be open trench work unless otherwise approved by the Service Director. Pipe laying and backfill shall be performed in accordance with ASTM specification except that no backfill shall be placed until the work has been inspected.
(Ord. 14-1985, passed 3-27-85; Am. Ord. 49-2004, passed 11-9-04)
   (K)   All joints and connections shall be made gas tight and watertight.
   Cast iron pipe joints shall be firmly packed with oakum or hemp and shall be lead ring O pipe. No paint, varnish or other coatings shall be permitted on the jointing material until after the joint has been tested and approved.
   All joints in vitrified clay pipe or between such pipe and metals shall be made with approved hot- poured joining material or cement mortar as specified below.
   Material for hot-poured joints shall not soften sufficiently to destroy the effectiveness of the joint when subjected to a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit, and shall not be soluble in any of the wastes carried by the drainage system. The joint shall first be caulked tight with jute, hemp or similar approved material.
   Cement joints shall be made of packing a closely twisted jute or oakum gasket, of suitable size to fill partly the annular space between the pipes. The remaining space shall be filled and firmly compacted with mortar composed of one part of Portland cement and three parts of mortar sand. The material shall be mixed dry; only sufficient water shall be added to make the mixture workable. Mortar which has begun to set, shall not be used or retempered. Lime putty or hydrated lime may be substituted to the extent of not more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the volume of the Portland cement that may be added.
   Other joining material and methods may be used only by approval of the Service Director
(’59 Code, § 933.12)
   (L)   The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall be made at the “Y” branch, if such branch is available at a suitable location. If the public sewer is twelve inches in diameter or less, and no properly located “Y” branch is available, the owner shall at his or her expense install a “Y” branch in the public sewer at the location specified by the Service Director. Where the public sewer is greater than twelve inches in diameter, and no properly located “Y” branch is available, a neat hole may be cut into the public sewer to receive the building sewer, with entry in the downstream direction at an angle of about forty-five degrees. A forty-five degree ell may be used to make such connection, with the spigot end cut so as not to extend past the inner surface of the public sewer. The invert of the building sewer at the point of connection shall be at the same or at a higher elevation than the invert of the public sewer. A smooth, neat joint shall be made, and the connection made secure and water tight by encasement in concrete. Special fittings may be used for the connection only when approved by the Service Director.
   The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the Service Director when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection shall be made under the supervision of the Service Director or his or her representative.
   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 city.
   No person or corporation shall hereafter lay any pipe or conduit for any purpose whatsoever in any street within five feet on either side of a public sewer in any street without permission of the Service Director.
   Any settlement of the surface over a drain on any street or public way occurring within six months after the laying of such drain shall be repaired by the Service Director at the expense of the drain layer, if the repairs are not made by the drain layer within twenty-four hours after notice to repair is given to such drain layer by the Service Director.
   Connections to the interior of buildings or any work in the interior of the buildings shall be made only by the owner himself or herself or a plumber duly licensed to do such work in accordance with the statutes of the state and the rules of the Board of Health, and the licensed drain layer is strictly prohibited from extending his or her work into the interior of buildings, although a licensed plumber may lay drain.
   The owner himself or herself or a licensed drain layer shall give his or her personal supervision to the drain-laying work and shall be present during the excavating for the same. The permit for the work issued by the Service Director must be kept on the line of work and shown to the Service Director or his or her authorized agent or to any police officer upon demand.
   There shall be two classes of licenses for persons working on or connecting plumbing with sewers: one for plumbers, and one for drain layers. In either case, the plumber or drain layer shall make application on a special form furnished by the city. An annual license fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) shall be paid to the city through the office of the Service Director at the time the application for either of such licenses is filed, and the Director is to issue all licenses hereunder.
   Every person to whom a license is granted, whether as a plumber or as a drain layer, shall file a bond with the Service Director to the approval of such Director, with at least two sureties or an approved surety company, in the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000), conditioned to indemnify and save harmless the city from all damage arising from the laying of drains or from connections made with the public sewers.
   Upon the failure of any licensed plumber or drain layer to fully comply with all the terms and requirements of this chapter, the Service Director may revoke his or her license for a period of six months or longer at the option of such Director.
(Ord. 14-1985, passed 3-27-85; Am. Ord. 31-1998, passed 1-26-99; Am. Ord. 49-2004, passed 11-9-04) Penalty, see § 51.39
   (M)   Sealing sewers.
      (1)   The owner of every lot or parcel of land within the corporate limits shall seal or permanently plug the sewers located on such property when a structure is removed or burned on the property unless a new structure is to be built immediately on the site and the existing sewer is to be incorporated into the new structure. The sealing or plugging of the sewer shall be inspected by the Service Director before being covered by a contractor.
      (2)   Whoever violates this subsection is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(Ord. 31-1989, passed 8-22-89; Am. Ord. 49-2004, passed 11-9-04)
   (N)   Separability of provisions. Each section and each part of each section of this chapter is hereby declared to be an independent section or part of a section and, notwithstanding any other evidence of legislative intent that if any section or part of a section or any provision thereof, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is found to be invalid, the remaining sections or parts of sections and the application of such provision to any other person or circumstances, other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby, and it is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that these sections or parts of sections would have been adopted independently of such sections or parts of a section so held to be invalid.
(Am. Ord. 41-2002, passed 7-23-02; Am. Ord. 49-2004, passed 11-9-04)