Sec. 30-1.3. Sewer overflows.
a.If a building drain, sanitary sewer lateral, or private sanitary sewer collection system is not operating properly and causes the discharge of sewage wastewater to any location other than the publicly owned treatment works, it is considered a sanitary sewer overflow. Any sanitary sewer overflow condition shall constitute a public nuisance to be abated by the property owner as follows:
1.The property owner shall: (i) take immediate action to eliminate the overflow upon discovery, and (ii) notify the City within 24 hours upon discovery of the overflow.
2.The City shall serve a notice of violation (N.O.V.) either upon any property owner or posted conspicuously on or in front of the property to request abatement of the overflow and inspection of the sanitary sewer lateral. The notice shall be deemed effective immediately upon service to begin the timeline for correcting and abating the sanitary sewer overflow.
3.At least within 72 hours of the notice of violation, the property owner shall have a licensed contractor inspect the sanitary sewer lateral internally by a closed circuit television camera or other means to determine the cause of the overflow to bring the condition of the lateral up to City standards as defined by the sanitary sewer lateral inspection form.
4.Within 30 calendar days after service of the notice of the violation or sooner if the site poses a health and safety hazard, the property owner must have completed all necessary repairs to bring the condition of the lateral up to City standards as defined by the sanitary sewer lateral inspection form. The property owner must obtain all required City permits prior to performing any required repairs in the City’s right-of-way. If the City office is closed, a permit must be obtained on the first business day after the known discharge.
b. Penalties for Noncompliance.The property owner shall have 30 days from the date of the City’s notice of violation to obtain City required permits and make repairs, unless public health and safety considerations require earlier action. If the work is not completed within this time frame, the City, at its option, may either make the repairs itself or hire a licensed contractor to mitigate the condition all at the owner’s expense, including assessing an administrative fee for each violation to be charged to the property owner. The property owner may also be assessed a civil penalty for failure to comply in the amount of $1,000 for each day the violation continues after the 30-day deadline to repair has expired. If payment is not made by the owner, the City may impose a property tax assessment or lien to recover all penalties, administrative and repair costs associated with mitigating the sewer condition. (Ord. 3579 § 2, 2018)