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Town of Berwick
A By-Law Respecting the Levying of Charges for Sewer Services
Page 1
The Town of Berwick
A BY-LAW RESPECTING THE LEVYING OF CHARGES FOR SEWER SERVICES
TITLE:
1.
This By-law shall be known and may be cited as the "Sewer Charges By-law".
DEFINITIONS:
2.
In this By-law:
a)
"Basic user" means the owner of any property any boundary of which lies
within One Hundred feet (100') of a Town sanitary sewer line, other than an
Industrial User or a Residential Institutional User as defined in this bylaw;
b)
"CAO" means the Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Berwick;
c)
"Council" means the Council of the Town of Berwick;
d)
"Engineer" means the Engineer for the Town of Berwick and includes a
person acting under the supervision and direction of the Engineer (from
MGA);
e)
"Industrial user" means Eden Valley Poultry Ltd.;
f)
"MGA" means the Municipal Government Act of Nova Scotia, being Chapter 18,
Statutes of Nova Scotia, 1998, as amended from time to time;
g)
"Operating Budget" means the financial plan approved by Council for a
specified period of time (the fiscal year) that balances projected revenues and
fund balance appropriations to estimated expenditures and operating
transfer obligations;
h)
"past year" means the 12 months beginning January 1 and ending December
31 of the immediately preceding full calendar year;
i)
"sanitary sewer" is defined to have the same meaning as those words are
defined in the MGA - which, as of the date of the passing of this bylaw, read:
"...means a sewer receiving and carrying liquid and water-carried wastes and
Town of Berwick
A By-Law Respecting the Levying of Charges for Sewer Services
Page 2
to which storm, surface, or ground waters are not intentionally admitted.";
j)
"sewage" is defined to have the same meaning as the word is defined in the
MGA - which, as of the date of passing of this bylaw, read: "...means the
combination of liquid and water-carried wastes from buildings, containing
animal, vegetable or mineral matter in suspension or solution, together with
such groundwater, surface water or stormwater as might be present.";
k)
"Residential Institutional User" means each of Grand View Manor or its
successor and Fundy Villa or its successor;
l)
"Town" means the Town of Berwick;
m)
"wastewater facilities" is defined to have the same meaning as the words
are defined in the MGA - which, as of the date of passing of this bylaw, read:
"...means the structures, pipes, devices, equipment processes or other things
used, or intended, for the collection, transportation, pumping or treatment of
sewage and disposal of the effluent".
BASIC USER CHARGES:
3.
Every Basic User shall pay to the Town an annual charge per each individual property
according to a levy, by the Town, as per the Town of Berwick's Policy for Fees, the rate
to be based on the remaining portion of the aggregate of the costs, both operating
and capital, associated with the wastewater facilities of the Town - after the Industrial
User and Residential Institutional User portions, calculated per Schedules "A" and "B"
attached, have been removed.
4.
This annual charge shall be called the Basic User Sewer Charge and shall be invoiced
as a separately-identified item on the interim and final property tax billings each year.
5.
The total Basic User share of operating costs - both the Collection and Transmission
portion as well as the Treatment portion - shall be determined based on the Basic
User portion of the average daily flow derived from total actual daily flows for the
past year.
6.
The total Basic User share of capital costs shall be determined based on the Basic
User portion of total design load, being 400,000 Imperial gallons (1,816,000 litres) per
day of hydraulic load for the Collection and Transmission portion and 600 pounds
(273 kilograms) per day of BOD for the Treatment portion.
Town of Berwick
A By-Law Respecting the Levying of Charges for Sewer Services
Page 3
7.
The Basic User Sewer Charge shall bear interest and be collectible in the same
manner as any other rate or tax per the Municipal Government Act.
INDUSTRIAL USER CHARGES:
8.
Each Industrial User which discharges sewage to any part of the Town's wastewater
facilities shall pay to the Town, on a monthly basis, one-twelfth of an annual charge
for sewage discharge - such annual charge to be determined based on calculations
of the share, of that particular Industrial User, of the aggregate of the costs, both
operating and capital, associated with the wastewater facilities of the Town -
according to the formulae and calculations as described in Schedule "A" attached to,
and forming part of, this bylaw.
9.
The formulae and calculations as described in Schedule "A" shall be based on, and
include but not be limited to, the following:
a)
That portion, as per Town records and the advice of the Town's Consulting
Engineers, of design capacity allocated for the use of each Industrial User;
b)
That portion, as per Town records and the advice of the Town's Consulting
Engineers, of actual use by each Industrial User of the Town's wastewater
facilities over the past year; and
c)
costs related to the wastewater facilities of the Town - such costs to include all
operating costs, any capital costs, whether out of revenue or financed by debt,
as well as transfers to reserves for future capital expenditures relating to said
wastewater facilities.
10.
This annual charge shall be called the Industrial User Sewer Charge and shall be
invoiced on a monthly basis.
11.
Each Industrial User's share of operating costs - both the Collection and
Transmission portion as well as the Treatment portion - shall be determined based
on that User's average daily flow derived from its flow readings and from total actual
daily flows for the past year.
12.
Each Industrial User's share of capital costs shall be determined based on that User's
portion of total design load, being 475,000 Imperial gallons (2,156,500 litres) per day
of hydraulic load for the Collection and Transmission portion and 1,800 pounds (820
kilograms) per day of BOD for the Treatment portion in the case of each of the
Town of Berwick
A By-Law Respecting the Levying of Charges for Sewer Services
Page 4
current Industrial Users.
13.
The monthly invoice for the Industrial User Sewer Charge shall bear interest and be
collectible in the same manner as any other rate or tax per the Municipal Government
Act.
RESIDENTIAL INSTITUTIONAL USER CHARGES:
14.
Each Residential Institutional User which discharges sewage to any part of the Town's
wastewater facilities shall pay to the Town an annual charge for sewage discharge
according to the formulae and calculations as described in Schedule "B" attached to,
and forming part of, this bylaw.
15.
The total operating budget, as referenced in Schedule "B" means all costs related to
the wastewater facilities of the Town - such costs to include all operating costs, any
capital costs, whether out of revenue or financed by debt, as well as transfers to
reserves for future capital expenditures relating to said wastewater facilities.
16.
This annual charge shall be called the Residential Institutional User Sewer Charge and
shall be invoiced as a separately-identified item on the interim and final property tax
billings each year for each Residential Institutional User.
17.
The Residential Institutional User Sewer Charge shall bear interest and be collectible
in the same manner as any other rate or tax per the Municipal Government Act.
History of this Bylaw:
Enacted -
October 9, 2001
Amended -
June 10, 2003
Amended -
March 12, 2013
Town of Berwick
A By-Law Respecting the Levying of Charges for Sewer Services
Page 5
Schedule "A" - Calculation of Industrial User Sewer Charge
Operating Costs
Collection and Transmission:
A = F x (G/H)
Where:
A = User's share of collection and transmission operating costs
F = Total current year's operating budget for collection and transmission costs
G = User's average daily flow for the past year
H = Total STP average daily flow for the past year
Treatment:
B = I x (J/M)
Where:
B = User's share of treatment operating costs
I = Total current year's operating budget for treatment costs
J = User's average daily pounds of BOD for the past year
M = Total STP average daily pounds of BOD for the past year
Administration - Each Industrial User's share of administration costs related to the
Town's wastewater facilities is to be determined based on the same ratios used in
calculating the User's share of treatment operating costs.
Administrative items forming part of operating costs are as follows:
Those costs will include all costs directly attributed to the administration of the Town's
sewer system by the Town staff. The Town shall keep all records, as deemed necessary,
of staff time and related expenses and will use estimates in relation to costs not
precisely measurable.
Town of Berwick
A By-Law Respecting the Levying of Charges for Sewer Services
Page 6
Schedule "A" - Calculation of Industrial User Sewer Charge, cont'd:
Capital Costs
Collection and Transmission - Each Industrial User's share of collection and transmission
capital costs related to the Town's wastewater facilities is to be determined based on the
user's percentage of the total design load. The following ratios shall be used:
Hydraulic
(,000) Igpd
% of
Total
Residential
400
46%
Eden Valley Poultry Ltd
475
54%
Total
875
100%
Treatment - Each Industrial User's share of treatment capital costs related to the Town's
wastewater facilities is to be determined based on the user's percentage of the total
design load. The following ratios shall be used:
BOD
pounds/day
% of
Total
Residential
600
25%
Eden Valley Poultry Ltd
1,800
75%
Total
2,400
100%
Total Annual Industrial User Sewer Charge - Industrial Users
Total Annual Industrial User Sewer Charge = A + B + C + D + E.
Where:
A = User's share of collection and transmission operating costs
B = User's share of treatment operating costs
C = User's share of administration costs
D = User's share of collection and transmission capital costs
E = User's share of treatment capital costs
Town of Berwick
A By-Law Respecting the Levying of Charges for Sewer Services
Page 7
Schedule "B" - Calculation of Residential Institutional User Charge
C = (N x 150 IGPD)/1000 x (R x 365), where:
C = A Residential Institutional User's share of total annual operating costs.
N = number of residents at the Residential Institutional User.
O = total annual operating costs of the Town for its wastewater facilities.
P = average total daily flow, as calculated by Town staff, of sewage into the Town's sewage
treatment plant ("STP").
R = cost per 1,000 Imperial gallons of wastewater collected and treated at the Town's STP,
being O/P x 365