Article I.   General Provisions


4.04.010   Mandatory use of system.

The owner of any houses, buildings, or properties used for human occupancy, employment, recreation or other purpose situated within the city and abutting on any street, alley, or right-of-way in which there shall be located a public sanitary sewer of the city is required at his expense to install suitable toilet facilities therein and to connect such facilities directly with the proper public sewer in accordance with the provisions of this chapter within ninety days after written notice from the council to the property owner to make connection thereto, provided that the public sewer is located within three hundred feet of the property line.

(Prior code § 4-1-1)

4.04.020   Definitions.

(a)

Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meanings of terms used in this chapter shall be as follows:

(1)

"Building drain" means that part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge of soil, waste, and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet outside the inner face of the building wall.

(2)

"Building sewer" means the extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.

(3)

"Clerk" means the municipal clerk-treasurer, or designated deputy, agent or representative.

(4)

"Garbage" means solid wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.

(5)

"Industrial wastes" means liquid wastes from industrial processes as distinct from sanitary sewage.

(6)

"Natural outlet" means any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water.

(7)

"Pit privy" means a building which is not connected to a sewer or septic tank and used for affording privacy to people while in the act of urination or defecation. They shall be constructed and maintained strictly in accordance with standards as prescribed by the U.S. Public Health Service.

(8)

"Public sewer" means a sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights, and that is owned by the city or by the public.

(9)

"Sanitary sewer" means a sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.

(10)

"Septic tank" means a private sewage disposal system consisting of a disposal tank and drain field in which a continuous flow of waste material is decomposed by anaerobic bacteria and which is constructed and maintained in strict accordance with standards as prescribed by the U.S. Public Health Service.

(11)

"Sewage" means a combination of the water-carried wastes from the residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together with such ground, surface and storm waters as may be present.

(12)

"Sewage treatment plant" means any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.

(13)

"Sewage works" means all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.

(14)

"Sewer" means a pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.

(15)

"Storm sewage" or "storm drain" means a sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and polluted industrial wastes other than unpolluted cooling water.

(16)

"Street" means streets, avenues, drives, boulevards, roads, alleys, lanes and viaducts, and all other public highways in the sanitary area.

(17)

"Unit" means an office, apartment, or other facility having water provided, when used in the context of a multi-unit structure.

(18)

"Watercourse" means a channel in which a flow of water occurs either continuously or intermittently.

(b)

All other words shall be construed as having the meanings defined in the Glossary of Water and Sewage Control Engineering, published by the Water Pollution Control Federation, Washington, DC, or by their general usage or as otherwise defined in this code.

(Ord. 2-88, 1988: prior code § 4-1-2)

4.04.030   Refuse discharge into natural outlet prohibited.

It is unlawful to discharge into any natural outlet in any area under the jurisdiction of the city any sewage, industrial wastes, or other polluted wastes, except where suitable treatment has been provided in accordance with this chapter.

(Prior code § 4-1-3)

4.04.040   No free service.*

No sewage disposal service shall be furnished or rendered free of charge to any person, firm or corporation.

(Prior code § 4-1-4)

* For provisions regarding tap fees, see Section 4.04.460, et seq., of this code.

4.04.050   Tampering with the system—Permission.

It is unlawful for any person to tamper with or make any connection to the sewer system, without written permission, or to reconnect any water or sewer service when it has been disconnected for nonpayment of a bill for service, until such bill has been paid in full, together with any reconnection fee which might be charged. It shall likewise be a violation of this chapter for the owner or occupant of any residence or other building required to be connected to the public sewer to fail to cause such building to be connected.

(Prior code § 4-1-5)

4.04.060   Authorized employees have power to enter for inspection.

The public works coordinator and other duly authorized employees of the city or the Western Carolina Regional Sewer Authority bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to enter all properties for the purpose of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, and testing in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(Prior code § 4-1-6)

4.04.070   Right to enter private property through which city holds an easement.

The public works coordinator and other duly authorized employees of the city or the Western Carolina Regional Sewer Authority bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to enter all private properties for the purpose of, but not limited to, inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, repair and maintenance of any portion of the sewer works lying within the city's easement. All entry and work shall be done in full accordance with the terms of the duly negotiated easement pertaining to the private property involved.

(Prior code § 4-1-7)

4.04.080   Duty of public works coordinator.

It shall be the duty of the public works coordinator to insure that all sewers or drain pipes are unstopped, clean and in working condition where premises are occupied.

(Prior code § 4-1-8)

4.04.090   Duty of owners or tenants to keep toilets clean and workable.

It shall be the duty and responsibility of the owner, or his agent, of all premises in the city to keep all outside toilets unstopped and in effective operation. All inside toilets shall be kept clean, sanitary and unstopped by the owners, if living on the premises, or by the tenants of all premises in the city.

(Prior code § 4-1-9)

4.04.100   Unsanitary and stopped-up toilets—Notification to public works coordinator.

It is unlawful for any tenant or occupant to fail to notify the public works coordinator of any public toilet which is stopped up, unsanitary or not working within twenty-four hours after discovery of the condition.

(Prior code § 4-1-10)

4.04.110   Failure to repair.

Any public toilet, either outside or inside, that is not made serviceable within seventy-two hours after service has stopped shall be ordered cleaned up, and shall be closed by the public works coordinator until service is reestablished.

(Prior code § 4-1-11)

4.04.120   Toilet facilities for rented rooms.

It is unlawful for any person to rent or let rooms for housekeeping or for sleeping accommodations in any building or structure in the city, unless such person shall provide one toilet for every ten persons. Such toilets shall be installed in accordance with the laws of the city, and the sanitary conditions of such toilets shall be approved by the public works coordinator. In determining the number of persons occupying rooms, all children over the age of six months shall be counted or included. The provisions of this section shall not apply to rooms rented or let from day to day only at hotels and tourist homes where no cooking is done in the rooms so rented or let, or to rooms occupied by students in schools or colleges where no cooking is done in the rooms so occupied by students, provided that adequate toilet facilities are otherwise furnished.

(Prior code § 4-1-12)

4.04.130   Additional requirements may be imposed.

No statement contained in this article shall be construed to nullify, restrict or impair any requirements that may be imposed by the appropriate state or county authorities.

(Prior code § 4-1-13)

4.04.140   Violation—Penalties.

(a)

Any person found to be violating any provision of this chapter, except Section 4.04.060, 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.

(b)

Any person who shall continue any violation beyond the time limit provided for in such notice shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in accordance with Section 1.12.510 of this code.

(Prior code § 4-1-14)

4.04.150   Damages.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be liable to the city for any expense, loss, or damage occasioned the city by reason of such violation.

(Prior code § 4-1-15)