CHAPTER 69
LEVY COURT OF NEW CASTLE COUNTY
AN ACT to authorize the Levy Court of New Castle County to construct sewage disposal plants and sewers within said county outside of the corporate limits of any city or town and to make charges for connecting with said sewers and providing for the regulation of the use of said sewers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. The Levy Court of New Castle County is hereby authorized and empowered to construct such sewage disposal plants and sewers within said County outside of the corporate limits of any City or Town as may seem to said Levy Court necessary to meet the requirements thereof. The cost of constructing such sewage disposal plants and such sewers shall primarily be paid as other County expenses out of moneys collected for taxes for County purposes or out of moneys collected for taxes for road purposes in the Hundred in which they are constructed or out of taxes collected both for said County purposes and road purposes, in which case the amount and distribution of such payments shall be made in such a manner as to the Levy Court shall appear fair and equitable. Upon the completion of the construction of any sewer the Levy Court shall determine and fix by resolution the amount Which shall be paid by the owner of any buildings for connecting therewith. The amount to be paid shall be based either upon the entire area of the floors including the floor of the cellar or basement of the building or buildings to be drained, or shall be apportioned and paid according to the frontage of the property on which such building or buildings are erected, bordering on the road in or adjacent to which said sewer is constructed.
SECTION 2. Permits for connecting any property by a drain with any sewer constructed under the provisions of this Act must be obtained from the said Levy Court and will be issued only to plumbers licensed to do business in the State of Delaware. No permit will be granted for connecting any property by a drain with any sewer unless application be made therefor to the said Levy Court in writing upon blanks furnished by the said Levy Court. The application must state the full name of the owner, the size and kind of drain pipe to be used and a full description of the premises, its location, the number and size of each building located thereon to be drained, the area of each floor thereof, including the floor of the cellar or basement, all of the purposes for which the drain is to be used, the time when the connection is to be made and other particulars for a full understanding of the subject and that the said owner will be subject to all the rules and regulations prescribed by the said Levy Court. The said application must be signed by the owner of the property to be drained and by a plumber licensed to do business in the State of Delaware. The said owner must also execute a release to the said Levy Court releasing the said Levy Court, its officers and agents and New Castle County from all liability or damage which may in any manner result to the premises by reason of such connection. No permit shall be deemed to authorize anything not therein specifically stated.
Section 3. Before any property is connected by a drain with any sewer pursuant to a permit granted by the said Levy Court, the owner of such property shall pay to the said Levy Court for the use of such sewer, the amount theretofore fixed by the said Levy Court by resolution following the completion of the construction of said sewer.
Section 4. All the necessary plumbing work to be done in connecting any property with a sewer constructed under the provisions of this Act shall be done by a plumber licensed to do business in the .State of Delaware in a good and workmanlike manner and with good and proper .materials; and shall be subject to the approval of the County Engineer of New Castle County.
Section 5. Any person, firm or corporation who shall willfully make any misrepresentation in any application or who shall make or maintain any connection with any sewer contrary to the authority granted by the permit or permits issued therefor by the said-Levy Court, or without a permit therefor in accordance with the provisions of this Act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not less than Five Dollars ($5.00), nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) in the discretion of the Court.
Section 6. The said Levy Court is authorized and empowered to acquire such land, rights of way and other property as shall be necessary for the purpose of building said sewage disposal plants and sewers by dedication, condemnation, deed, gift, devise or otherwise. Whenever it shall be necessary for the said Levy Court for the purpose of building any sewage disposal plant or sewer or any part thereof or for the purpose of making the same accessible, to enter into and occupy any lands the owner or owners of which refuse to permit such entry and occupation, then it shall be lawful for the Superior Court sitting in and for New Castle County in term time, or any Judge of the said Court in vacation, upon the application of the said Levy Court and at the cost and charge of the same, to appoint five freeholders of the said County who shall go upon the said lands and assess the damages of such owner or owners fairly and impartially, and the said freeholders shall certify their findings and award to all parties in interest and make a return of their findings to be filed in the said Superior Court or with the said Judge, as the case may be, appointing them.
The return upon one commission shall not be conclusive, but upon application by any party in interest or by the President of the Levy Court upon resolution of said Court, within fifteen days after the filing of such return, the said Superior Court or said Judge shall issue a commission of review appointing five other freeholders with like instructions as were contained in the first commission, provided that if a review be granted upon the application of a person or persons interested, the review shall extend only to the assessment of damages made in respect to the person or persons making such application. If the return of a commission of review varies in the damages assessed from the return to the original commission the said Superior Court or said Judge shall grant a second commission of review upon the application of the President of the Levy Court upon the resolution of said Court, or any person interested in the return to the commission of review, within ten days after the filing of such return. If a review be not applied for in due time, the return to the original commission shall be conclusive as to the amount of damages. If the return to any two commissions correspond as to the amount of damages, such amount shall be conclusive, but if there be more than one return and none conclusive under the foregoing provisions, the said Superior Court or said Judge shall confirm such one of them as he shall deem most just, and the return so confirmed shall be conclusive. The said Superior Court or said Judge may set aside a return to a commission for gross inequality or inequity, in which case he shall issue another commission in its place, and the said Superior Court or said Judge shall have power to fill any vacancy in a commission.
Whenever the damages to any owner or owners shall have been conclusively ascertained in accordance with the foregoing provisions the Levy Court, on paying the damages so assessed and determined upon, shall become entitled to have, use and enjoy the said land for the purpose required by them forever. And in case the owner or owners of any land necessary for the purposes of the Levy Court shall be a minor, or non-resident, or for any cause incapable of receiving, or unwilling or neglecting to receive said damages, the said Levy Court may deposit the amount of the said damages to the credit of such owner or owners in the Farmers' Bank of the State of Delaware, at Wilmington, subject to the order of such owner or owners ; whereupon the said Levy Court shall be entitled to have, use and enjoy the said land and premises required for the purposes aforesaid for or on account of which the said damages shall have been assessed. The expenses of the assessment of said damages shall always be paid by the Levy Court.
Approved April 1, A. D. 1927.