(A) No unauthorized person(s) shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter, or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the Superintendent.
(B) Should the Superintendent refuse to approve any such application, the offended applicant may by letter petition Council to review such refusal. The letter petitioning for such review shall be lodged in the City Treasurer’s office at least 24 hours prior to the regular Council meeting at which such offended applicant desires to be heard. If, upon such review, Council is satisfied that the proposed connection complies with the requirements of this chapter it may, by majority vote, authorize and direct the Mayor to approve the application to cause the permit to be issued.
(C) (1) There shall be two classes of building sewer permits: for residential and commercial service, and for service to establishments producing industrial wastes. In either case, the owner(s) or his or her agent shall make application on a special form furnished by the city. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications, or other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the Superintendent.
(2) A tap fee of $150, or other amount deemed appropriate by the Municipal Court, for a residential or commercial building sewer permit and a tap fee of $150, or other amount deemed appropriate by the Municipal Court, for an industrial building sewer permit shall be paid to the city at the time the applications are filed.
(D) All costs and expenses incidental to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner(s). The owner(s) shall indemnify the city from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer.
(E) 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 front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer, but the city does not and will not assume any obligation or responsibility for damage caused by or resulting from any such single connection aforementioned.
(F) Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by the Superintendent, to meet all requirements of this chapter.
(G) The size, slope, alignment, materials, or construction of a building sewer and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing, and backfilling the trench, shall all conform to the requirements of the Building and Plumbing Code or other applicable rules and regulations of the city. In the absence of code provisions or in amplification thereof, the materials and procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM International and Water Pollution Control Federation (“WPCF”) Manual of Practice No. 9 shall apply.
(H) 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.
(I) No person(s) shall make connection of roof downspouts, foundation drains, area way drains, or other sources of surface runoff or ground water 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 Superintendent for purposes of disposal of polluted surface drainage.
(J) 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 city, or the procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM and the WPCF Manual of Practice No. 9. All such connections shall be made gastight and watertight and verified by proper testing. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be approved by the Superintendent before installation.
(K) The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the Superintendent 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 Superintendent or his or her representatives.
(L) 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.
(Ord. passed 1-29-1996) Penalty, see § 52.99