(A) General. No connection to any town-owned trunk sanitary sewer shall be allowed until a permit is obtained and payment as a contribution to aid in construction has been made into the town’s Sewage Collection Fund, which is a depository of such contributions and designated funds. These contributions shall be regarded as a benefit as defined by the Town Council. This is a benefit cost intended to provide funds for sewage collection and improvement projects by the town or owners of real estate and provide owners of real estate such protection as is afforded by the provisions of statutes of the state for sanitary sewerage facilities constructed by said owners of real estate under contract with the town.
(B) Amount.
(1) These costs, designated as availability costs shall be fixed by the town as hereinafter provided. Such availability costs shall be and are hereby established in the sum of $1,100 per single-family residence, to be served or its waste load equivalent, as defined in § 55.10 of this code, and shall be from time to time updated and fixed by the town.
(2) Project costs, in all cases, shall expressly include reasonable and documented construction costs, legal costs, engineering costs, construction inspection costs and easement acquisition costs as shall be administered and defined by the Town Council. Easements in each case, as may be required by the Town Council, must be obtained by the owner of the real estate. Projects which shall be funded from the Sewage Collection Fund shall include new trunk and interceptor sewers, improvements to existing trunk or intercept sewers and such sewage collection improvements projects as determined by the Town Council.
(3) The availability cost of $1,100 per equivalent dwelling unit or its waste load equivalent may be allocated to and paid into the project cost of the specific interceptor extension (off-site interceptor and on-site oversizing) for which it is paid.
(4) The applicant-owners of real estate applying for sewer extensions shall make payments to the Town Clerk-Treasurer for such payment in accordance with costs set forth. Payments are due and shall be made in accordance with § 55.03 of this code.
(5) Payment of the availability cost may be made in cash or by the dedication to the town’s sewer system facilities consisting of interceptor sewers, forced mains, lift stations and other related sewer system facilities other than on-site sewers and service lines acceptable to and preapproved by the Town Council. To the extent that the cost of such dedicated property is less than the required availability cost, the owner or developer shall pay the balance of said cost in cash.
(6) Trunk sewer extension projects shall be, in accordance with the latest development plan, developed and approved by the Town Council. Plans and specification for specific trunk sewerage extensions, and for all local, lateral and sub-trunk sewers, shall be submitted to and receive approval from the Town Council and all applicable regulatory agencies prior to start of construction (a copy of all such approvals shall be filed with the town’s Sewer Department in the Town Hall within ten days after receipt of approval).
(C) Additional funds contributed.
(1) The availability costs shall be strictly nonrefundable. If by prior agreement, in order to extend the trunk sewer system, additional funds are necessary to extend the sewer to the owners of real estate, such additional funds advanced or contributed by said owners of real estate for the extensions and/or oversizing to meet the requirements of the town, are refundable, without interest. However, such refunds may be made only from the developer availability accounts deposits.
(2) In no event will any of the town sewerage revenues be used, committed or encumbered to repay any such funds advanced or contributed, nor will the town’s General Fund be used, committed or encumbered to repay any such funds advanced or contributed. It is expressly declared that such repayment, if any, will be made under the provisions of and will be repaid only from funds deposited in the Sewage Collection Fund on the basis of first in, first out. No provision of this chapter shall be construed as a guarantee by the town that the owners of real estate advancing funds will be fully reimbursed therefor.
(D) Accounts.
(1) Two separate accounts will be established from the availability costs assessed and proceeds shall be placed in the Sewage Collection Fund which will consist of the two funds set out below. In one account will be deposited 25% of the assessed availability cost which shall be used, at the discretion of the Town Council, for work on the existing sewerage. The name of this account will be the town availability account.
(2) The second account will be established from 75% of the availability cost assessed. This second account shall be used for reimbursement, refunds, repayment to owners of real estate for extension and/or re-sizing to meet requirements of the town and for which a prior written agreement was negotiated. The name of this account will be the developer availability account.
(E) Oversizing.
(1) Refunding of costs for oversizing to meet town requirements shall be made only for the portion of the oversizing which lies within the real estate owner’s development as requested in writing by the Town Council. In the event the availability cost does not provide sufficient funds to extend and/or oversize the trunk sewer, as needed, no such sewer extension into the development, or oversizing, will be considered by the Town Council unless the owners of real estate desire to advance and pay the excess costs of the project.
(2) In the event oversizing of sewage lift stations and other applicable appurtenance and/or oversizing and extensions of trunk sewers constructed within their development by owners of real estate are necessary to deliver sewage from other areas to the trunk sewer, or from one trunk to another, such oversizing shall be deemed to be part of the trunk sewer cost to the extent of the oversizing only, and as such, would be considered for refund under provisions of division (C) above.
(3) Any required extensions to the property line by owners of real estate necessary to deliver sewage from other areas to the trunk sewer, or from one trunk to another, will be considered part of the trunk sewer cost and not part of the on-site local sewer cost and as such, would be considered for refund under provisions of division (C) above.
(F) Repayment method. Repayment, reimbursement or refund for oversizing or extension costs must be requested by the real estate owner at the time of application for sewer extensions and should be requested from the Town Council. The amount of eligible repayment will be negotiated with the Town Council prior to signing of the final plat by the Plan Commission, and in the event there is not a final plat to be executed then this must be accomplished prior to the filing for approval of the sewer extension (infrastructure) with the state’s Department of Environmental Management. The amount of eligible repayment, reimbursement or refund set by the Town Council for oversizing shall be for construction, labor and materials only. The repayment, reimbursement or refund for sewer extension shall be the project cost as defined in division (B) above.
(Ord. 2 1994, passed 4-5-1994)