HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd1981-495
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7/7/81
FA/JES/jes
Introduced By:
City Manager
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Introduction Date: 6/11/81
Public Hearing and 7/13/81
Enactment:
CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA
ORDINANCE NO. 495
ESTABLISHING THE CITY OF SEWARD SEWER USE ORDINANCE,
CREATING CHAPTER 24 OF THE SEWARD CITY CODE
THE CITY OF SEWARD ORDAINS:
Section 1. Chapter 24, Articles 24.10 through 24.70 of the
Seward City Code are hereby created to read as follows:
ARTICLE 24.10
GENERAL
Sec. 24.10.010 Purposes.
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In order to protect the waters within and adjacent
to the city from pollution and to promote the health, safety, and
welfare of the residents, a sewage works has been developed to be
operated by the City for collection, treatment, and disposal of
wastewater. This ordinance is enacted in order to provide for the
functions of sewage collection and disposal.
Sec. 24.10.020 Definitions.
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms used in this ordinance shall be as follows:
BOD (denoting Biochemical Oxygen Demand) shall mean the quantity
of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter
under standard laboratory procedure in five (5) days at 20 degrees C.,
expressed in milligrams per liter.
Building Drain shall mean 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 (5) feet (1.5 meters) outside
the inner face of the building wall.
Building Sewer shall mean the extension from the building drain to
the service connection or other place of disposal.
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City shall mean the City of Seward and/or any authorized agent of the
City.
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City of Seward
Ordinance No. 495
Page Two
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Sec. 24.10.020 Definitions.
(cont'd)
Clean-out shall mean a pipe inserted into the sewer extension
through which a cleaning device can be inserted into the sewer
extension.
Collection System shall mean the system of public sewers to be
operated by the City and designed for the collection of sewage.
Combined Sewer shall mean a sewer receiving both surface runoff
and sewage.
Commercial User shall mean a person or premises used for commercial
or business purposes which discharges domestic waste, not industrial
waste.
Composite shall mean the make-up of a number of individual samples
so taken as to represent the nature of sewage or industrial wastes.
Constituents shall mean the combination of particles or conditions
which exist in the industrial wastes.
Domestic Waste shall mean any sewage emanating from residential
dwellings or from domestic activities by or for private citizens
having a BOD of less than 250 ppm and/or a total suspended solids
of less than 250 ppm.
Garbage shall mean solid wastes from the domestic and commercial
preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling,
storage and sale of produce.
Industrial User shall mean a person or premises which discharges
sewage having the characteristics of industrial wastes as distinct
from domestic wastes or which has a BOD of 250 ppm or greater and/
or which has a Total Suspended Solids of 250 ppm or greater.
Industrial Wastes shall mean the sewage from industrial manufacturing
processes, trade, or business as distinct from domestic waste.
Natural Outlet shall mean any outlet into a watercourse, pond,
ditch, lake, or other body of surface water or ground water.
On-Site Sewage Disposal shall mean the use of any prury, cesspool,
septic tank or similar facility for disposal of sewage which is
not connected to the collection system.
Person shall mean any individual, firm, company, association,
society, corporation, or group.
~ shall mean the logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of
hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
Pretreatment shall mean that physical treatment given to sewage
prior to discharge into the collection system, or those processes
utilized for this purpose.
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City of Seward
Ordinance No. 495
Page Three
Sec. 24.10.020 Definitions (cont'd)
Properly Shredded Garbage shall mean the remnants 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 the collection system, with no
particle greater than one-half (1/2) inch (1.27 centimeters) in
any dimension or overall.
Public Sewer shall mean any sewer collection system operated by
or under the authority of the City of Seward.
Public Works Department refers to the City of Seward Public Works
Department.
Receiving Waters shall mean those natural outlets into which sewage
is discharged.
Residential or Domestic User shall mean a person or premises who
discharges an average normal volume of domestic waste to the
collection system.
Sanitary Sewer shall mean a sewer which carries sewage and to
which storm, surface, and ground waters are not intentionally
admitted.
Service Connection shall mean the pipe and appurtenances required
to connect an individual property or facility to the sanitary
sewer. The service connection shall start at the collection
system and terminate at the property line or easement limit
and shall not include the building sewer.
Sewage shall mean any combination of the water-carried wastes
from residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial
establishments, together with such ground, surface, and storm
waters as may be present.
Sewage Treatment Plant shall mean any arrangement of devices
and structures used for treating sewage.
Sewage Works shall mean all facilities for collection, pumping,
treating, and disposing of sewage.
Sewer shall mean a pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
Shall or Will is mandatory; May is permissive.
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City of Seward
Ordinance No. 495
Page Four
Sec. 24.10.020 Definitions (cont'd)
Slug shall mean any individual or combined discharge of water,
sewage, or industrial waste which in concentration of any given
constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds, for any period longer
than fifteen (15) minutes, more than five (5) times the average
twenty-four (24) hour concentration or flows during normal operation.
Storm Drain and Storm Sewer shall mean a sewer which carries storm
and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial
wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water.
Suspended Solids shall mean solids that either float on the surface
of or are in suspension in water, sewage, or other liquids, and
which are removable by laboratory filtering.
Toxic shall mean constituents of sewage which are considered from
time to time by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in its
listing of NRDC Priority Pollutants Schedule as adversely affecting
facilities or conditions similar to the collection system, the
Sewage Treatment Plant, or the receiving waters.
ARTICLE 24.20
USE OF PUBLIC SEWERS REQUIRED
Sec. 24.20.010. Time of Connection.
Whenever a public sewer system is installed and
accepted by the City for operation, each owner of a parcel upon
which a house, building, or property is used for human occupancy,
employment, recreation, or other purposes situated within the
City of Seward and any boundary of which is within 200 feet of
the sewer system shall install a building sewer to the service
connection within 120 days; provided, that this time period may
be extended for a maximum of 120 additional days at the discretion
of the City Engineer due to adverse weather conditions. This
requirement shall not be affected by the availability of any
on-site sewage disposal system.
Sec. 24.20.020. Unlawful Discharge.
It shall be unlawful to discharge sewage in any
unsanitary manner on public or private lands or any natural
outlet within the city limits of Seward.
Sec. 24.20.030. Property Owner Responsibility.
Each property owner shall be solely responsible
for the installation, maintenance and operation of any building
sewer or anyon-site sewage disposal system, whether or not such
system has been approved or inspected by the City.
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City of Seward
Ordinance No. 495
Page Five
Sec. 24.20.040 Construction of On-Site System.
It shall be unlawful to construct or maintain any
on-site sewage disposal system within the City of Seward unless
the following conditions are met:
(a) No public sewer is available within 200
feet of any property line or boundary upon which the
structure to be serviced is located.
(b) The proposed system meets at least the
following minimum design criteria:
(1) A minimum lot size of one acre, or
meets the minimum separation required between a
private well as provided in Sec. 24.20.040 (b) (3).
(2) A minimum allowable percolation rate
of 60 minutes/inch (MPI). Systems with less percolation
than 60 MPI must be designed by an engineer registered
in the State of Alaska.
(3) A minimum of 100 feet separation of any
treatment or disposal system from a private well. Private
sewer lines must be a minimum of 25 feet from a private
well.
(4) A minimum septic tank size of 1000 gallons
for a three bedroom home and 250 gallons for each additional
bedroom.
Manual of
Education
(5) Leach field capacity shall conform to the
Septic Tank Practices, U.S. Department of Health,
and Welfare.
(c)
Review and approval of the system by the City Engineer.
(d) System meets all requirements of the Alaska Department
of Environmental Conservation as being adequate to protect the ground
water and general public welfare.
(e) The owner agrees to comply with Sec. 24.20.010.
(f) All construction methods and details for on-site
sewage disposal systems shall follow standard accepted practice.
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City of Seward
Ordinance No. 495
Page Six
ARTICLE 24.30 BUILDING SEWERS AND CONNECTIONS
Sec. 24.30.010 Permit Required.
A sewer hook-up permit must be obtained from the
City prior to making a connection to a public sewer. All work
must be inspected and coordinated within the Department of
Public Works.
Sec. 24.30.020 Separate Connections and Sewers Required.
A separate service connection and building sewer
shall be provided for every building unless physical constraints
prevent it. Old service connections and building sewers may
be used only if they are in good repair. Construction of the
service connection shall meet the Uniform Plumbing Code and
Building Code. Adequate cleanouts must be provided. All con-
nections to existing sewers shall be with a saddle.
Sec. 24.30.030 Minimum Standards.
All sewer lines shall meet the minimum standards
as set forth in Sec. 22-10 of this Code.
Sec. 24.30.040 Check Valve Required.
All new building sewers shall include a check valve,
if the lowest outlet in the building to be served is below the
elevation of the top of the manhole nearest the downstream pump
station.
Sec. 24.30.050 Property Owner Costs.
All costs and expenses incidental to the installation
and connection of the building sewer and any necessary service
connection shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall be assessed
a one-time hook-up fee.
ARTICLE 24.40
USE OF THE PUBLIC SEWERS
Sec. 24.40.010 Unlawful Connections.
It shall be unlawful to connect roof downspouts,
exterior foundation drains, area runoff or ground water to a
building sewer or building drain. In addition, it shall be
unlawful to discharge uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted
industrial process waters to any sanitary sewer.
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City of Seward
Ordinance No. 495
Page Seven
Sec. 24.40.020 Unlawful Discharges.
(a) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
any of the following-described waters or wastes in any public sewer:
(1) Any gasoline, benzene, naptha, fuel oil,
or other explosive liquid, solid, or gas.
(2) Any waters or wastes containing toxic or
poisonous solids, liquids, or gases in sufficient quantity,
either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure
or interfere with any sewage treatment process, constitute
a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance,
or create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage
treatment plant, including but not limited to cyanides in
excess of two (2) mg/l as CN in the wastes as discharged
to the public sewer.
(3) Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than
5.5 or having any other corrosive property capable of causing
damage or hazard to structures, equipment, and personnel
of the sewage works.
~) Solid or viscous substances in quantities
or of such size capable of causing obstruction to the flow
in sewers, or other interference with the proper operation
of the sewage works such as, but not limited to, ashes,
cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags,
feathers, tar, plastics, wood, unground garbage, whole
blood, paunchmanur~ hair and fleshings, entrails and
paper dishes, cups, milk containers, etc., either whole
or ground by garbage grinders.
(b) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
the following-described substances, materials, waters, or wastes
if it appears likely in the opinion of the City Engineer that
such wastes can harm either the sewers, sewage treatment process,
or equipment, have an adverse effect on the receiving waters,
or can otherwise endanger life, limb, public property, or constitute
a nuisance. In forming his opinion as to the acceptability of
these wastes, the City Engineer will give consideration to such
factors as quantities of subject wastes in relation to flows
and velocities in the sewers, materials and construction of the
sewers, nature of the sewage treatment process, capacity of the
sewage treatment plant, degree of treatability of wastes in the
sewage treatment plant, and other pertinent factors. The substances
prohibited are:
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City of Seward
Ordinance No. 495
Page Eight
Sec. 24.40.020 Unlawful Discharges. (cont'd)
(1) Any liquid or vapor having a temperature
higher than one hundred fifty (150) degrees F. (65 degrees C.).
(2) Any water or waste containing fats, wax,
grease, or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of one
hundred (100) mg/L or containing substances which may solidify
or become viscous at temperatures between thirty-two (32)
and one hundred fifty (150) degrees F. (0 and 65 degrees C.).
(3) Any garbage that has not been properly
shredded.
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acid iron, pickling
whether neutralized
or wastes containing strong
concentrated plating solutions
Any waters
wastes, or
or not.
ARTICLE 24.50
PROTECTION FROM DAMAGE
Sec. 24.50.010 Unlawful Damage.
No unauthorized person shall maliciously, willfully,
or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface, or tamper
with any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is part of the
sewage works.
Sec. 24.50.020 Frozen Lines.
The customer is responsible for all frozen and/or
plugged service connections and building sewers unless it is
determined that the back-up and/or freezing was caused by a main
line plug or failure. In any case, liability of the City shall
be limited to reimbursement for use of a power rodder or for
steam thawing performed by an authorized contractor.
Sec. 24.50.030 Consequential Damages.
The City shall not be responsible for any consequential
damages caused by any failure of the sewage works.
ARTICLE 24.60
PENALTIES
Sec. 24.60.010 Responsibility for Sewer User Charges.
The person who owns the premises served by public
sewer shall be responsible for payment of any sewer user charges
for that property notwithstanding the fact that the property may
be occupied by a tenant or other occupant who may be required by
the owner to pay said charges.
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City of Seward
Ordinance No. 495
Page Nine
Sec. 24.60.020 Monthly Billing.
The users of the sewerage system shall be billed
on a monthly basis for services in accordance with the rate
schedules adopted by the City Council. Failure of the City
to bill for services does not relieve the user of payment
responsibility although back charges shall be limited to the most
recent six month period.
Sec. 24.60.030 Billing Date/Due Date.
The date of billing shall be the first day of each
month following the month for which the sewer user charge is calculated.
Sewer user charges shall be due and payable to the Seward Utility
no later than fifteen days after the date of billing.
Sec. 24.60.040 Unpaid Charge as Lien.
Sewer user charges levied in accordance with this
ordinance shall be a debt due to the City and a lien upon the
property. If this debt is not paid by the nineteenth day of the
month after it shall be due and payable, it and any subsequent
bills shall be deemed delinquent and may be recovered by civil
action in the name of the City against the property owner, the
person, or both.
Sec. 24.60.050 Interest on Delinquent Accounts.
Interest at a rate not greater than the amount
permitted by law shall accrue on all accounts from the date of
delinquency. In addition, a penalty shall be assessed at the
rate of one percent per month from the date of delinquency which
shall be added to the account and shall accrue interest in the
same manner as all other delinquent charges, beginning on the
nineteenth of the month during which the billing was made.
Sec. 24.60.060 Discontinuance of Service Due to
Delinquency in Payment.
In the event of failure to pay sewer charges after
they have become delinquent, the City shall have the right to
remove or close sewer connections and/or discontinue water service,
and enter upon the property for accomplishing such purposes. The
expense of such discontinuance, removal or closing, as well as the
expense of restoring service, shall be a debt due to the City and a
lien upon the property and may be recovered by civil action in the
name of the City against the property owner, the person, or both.
Sewer service shall not be restored until all charges,
including interest accrued and the expense of removal, closing and
restoration shall have been paid.
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City of Seward
Ordinance No. 495
Page Ten
Sec. 24.60.070 Change of Ownership/Occupancy.
Change of ownership or occupancy of premises delinquent
shall not be cause for reducing or eliminating these penalties.
Sec. 24.60.080 Violations.
Any person found to be violating any prOV1S10ns of
this ordinance, except those relating to user charges, shall be
served by the City with written notice stating the nature of the
violation and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory
correction thereof. The offender shall, within the period of time
stated in such notice, permanently cease all violations.
Sec. 24.60.090 Penalties.
Any person who shall continue any violation beyond
the time limit provided for in the written notice sited in
Sec. 24.60.080 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor in addition to
being liable in damages and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined in an amount not exceeding $25 for each violation. Each
day in which any such violation shall continue shall be deemed
a separate offense.
Sec. 24.60.100 Liability.
Any person violating any of the prOV1S1ons of this
ordinance shall become liable to the City for any expense, loss
or damage occasioned the City by reason of such violation.
ARTICLE 24.70
USER CHARGE SYSTEM
Sec. 24.70.010 User Charges Established by Resolution.
The Seward City Council is hereby authorized to
establish by resolution a user charge system and levy such charges
to the users of the sewer system and/or sewage treatment facility.
The charges levied may include adequate funds for debt retirement,
maintenance, improvement and upkeep costs, and yearly operating
costs of the sewer system and sewage treatment works.
Sec. 24.70.020 Service Connection Fee Established
by Resolution.
The Seward City Council is hereby authorized to
establish by resolution a service connection fee and levy such fee
to any person desiring or required to connect to public sewer.
The service connection fee may only be levied once for each
connection. The service connection fee may include funds for
inspection, bond debt retirement, and capital improvements.
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City of Seward
Ordinance No. 495
Page Eleven
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Section 2. This ordinance shall become effective ten days
following enactment.
ENACTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA, this
11th day of T111 y , 1981.
CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA
,f"'
0'1 /:., I\"
Raymon~ L. Hugli /
Mayor
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
Campbell, Gillespie, Hugli, O'Brien, Soriano and Swartz
None
Cripps
ATTEST:
(City Seal)
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
HUGHES, THORSNESS, GANTZ, POWELL IX BRUNDIN
Attorneys for the City of Seward, Alaska
U(l/~
Fred Arvidson