Chapter 13.04 TITLE AND DEFINITIONS

Unless the context specifically indicates other-wise, the meaning of terms used in this title shall be as set forth in this chapter. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

“BOD” means biological oxygen demand, that is, the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20 degrees centigrade, expressed in parts per million by weight. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.040 Building drain.

“Building drain” means 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. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.050 Building sewer.

“Building sewer” or “side sewer” means the extension from the building drain to the public sewer. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.060 City.

“City” means the city of Mount Vernon. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.070 City finance director.

“City finance director” means the finance director of the city and any employee acting on behalf of the finance director. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.080 Combined sewer.

“Combined sewer” means a sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.090 Commercial unit.

“Commercial unit” means any establishment or place of business not a single-family or duplex residential unit or an industrial unit. Any structure containing three or more residential units shall be considered a commercial unit. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.100 Connection charges.

“Connection charges” means the charges imposed by the city for connecting any building sewer to the public sewer and any inspection charges. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.105 Consumer Price Index (CPI).¹

“Consumer Price Index” means the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton-All Urban Wage Earners (CPI-U) or other comparable index if not published. (Ord. 3781 § 1, 2019).

13.04.110 Garbage.

“Garbage” means solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.115 Holding tank sewage system.

“Holding tank sewage system” means an on-site sewage system that incorporates a holding tank, the services of a sewage pumper/hauler, and the off-site treatment and disposal of the sewage generated at the site served by the holding tank sewage system. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.120 Industrial unit.

“Industrial unit” means any establishment which discharges on any day into the public sewers more than 120,000 gallons of flow, 300 pounds of BOD or 300 pounds of suspended solids.

An industrial unit in existence on June 1, 1986, shall be considered a commercial user and billed accordingly, if none of the following loads are exceeded in the time frame indicated:

July 1, 1986 – June 30, 1987:
Peak daily flow	120,000	gallons
Peak daily BOD	600	pounds
Peak daily suspended solids	600	pounds
July 1, 1987 – June 30, 1988:
Peak daily flows	120,000	gallons
Peak daily BOD	450	pounds
Peak daily suspended solids	450	pounds
After June 30, 1988:
Peak daily flows	120,000	gallons
Peak daily BOD	300	pounds
Peak daily suspended solids	300	pounds

If the above loads are exceeded, the existing industrial unit may be considered an industrial unit from that point forward and billed accordingly. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.130 Industrial wastes.

“Industrial wastes” means the water or liquid carried waste from industrial or commercial processes, as distinct from domestic wastewater. These wastes may result from any process or activity of industry, manufacturing, trade or business, from the development of any natural resource, or from animal operations such as feed lots, poultry houses or dairies. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.133 Local health officer.

“Local health officer” means the health officer of Skagit County within the state of Washington, or a representative authorized by and under the direct supervision of the health officer, as defined in Chapter 70.05 RCW. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.135 Low income elderly.

“Low income elderly” means a person who has applied for classification as a low income elderly person and has certified he/she qualified for exemption from all excess property taxes pursuant to the terms of RCW 84.36.381. Proof of entitlement may consist of documents or copies of documents from the county assessor’s office showing that the applicant meets the necessary qualification as set forth in RCW 84.36.381. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.140 Natural outlet.

“Natural outlet” means any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.141 Nonsystem wastewater.

“Nonsystem wastewater” means any wastewater discharged from temporary commercial operations or hauled into the city for discharge and treatment. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.143 On-site sewage system.

“On-site sewage system” shall mean an integrated arrangement of components for a residence, building, industrial establishment, or other places not connected to a public sewer system which are regulated by Chapter 246-272 WAC, and which:

A. Convey, store, treat, and/or provide subsurface soil treatment and disposal on the property where the sewage originates, or upon adjacent or nearby property; and

B. Includes piping, treatment devices, other accessories, and soil underlying the disposal component of the initial and reserve areas. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.145 On-site sewage system failure.

“On-site sewage system failure” shall be determined by the local health officer. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.150 Person.

“Person” means any individual, group, firm, company, association, society, or corporation. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.160 pH.

“pH” means the logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.170 Properly shredded garbage.

“Properly shredded garbage” means the wastes 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 public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.180 Public sewer.

“Public sewer” means any portion of the sewers of the city which is owned by the city. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.183 Public works director.

“Public works director” means the public works director of the city, or his authorized deputy, agent or representative. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.185 Residential equivalent unit.

“Residential equivalent unit” means the equivalent of one residential unit for purposes of computing connection charges. A “residential unit” (MVMC 13.04.190) is a single-family residential structure and shall be one residential equivalent unit. Each residential unit in a duplex residential structure shall be 0.75 of a residential equivalent unit. Each “multiple residential unit” (MVMC 13.04.195) shall be 0.5 of a residential equivalent unit. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.190 Residential unit.

“Residential unit” means any structure which is designed for single-family or duplex occupancy and has one or more sinks and/or showers, and/or bathing facilities, and/or laundry facilities, and/or toilets, and shall not include garages, or sheds not having any of the above appurtenances. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.195 Residential unit, multiple.

“Multiple residential unit” means a building designed to house three or more families living independently of each other. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.200 Sanitary sewer.

“Sanitary sewer” means a sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface water and ground water are not intentionally admitted. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.210 Sewage.

“Sewage” means a combination of the water-carried wastes from residence, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such ground, surface and storm waters as may be present. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.215 Sewer service available.

“Sewer service available” shall refer to those circumstances in which:

A. Plumbing fixtures, drain lines, or other appurtenances have been connected to the city’s sewer facilities, whether or not such plumbing fixtures, drain lines, or other appurtenances are actually used, such that they empty wastes into the city’s sewer facilities; or

B. The property boundary is 200 feet or less from the existing public sewer system, as measured along the anticipated sewer route using the shortest distance possible. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.220 Sewage treatment plant.

“Sewage treatment plant” means any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating and disposing of sewage. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.230 Sewage works.

“Sewage works” means all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.240 Sewer.

“Sewer” means a pipe or conduit for carrying sewage. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.250 Sewer connection permit.

“Sewer connection permit” means the permit issued by the city to allow the connection of any building sewer to the public sewer. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.260 Sewer service rates.

“Sewer service rates” means the monthly or annual charges imposed by the city for the use of the public sewers of the city or charges imposed whenever those sewers are available for use. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.270 Shall – May.

“Shall” is mandatory; “may” is permissive. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.280 Slug.

“Slug” means any discharge of water, sewage, or industrial waste which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds, for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes, more than five times the average 24-hour concentration or flows during normal operations. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.290 Storm drain.

“Storm drain,” sometimes termed “storm sewer,” means a sewer which carries storm water and surface water and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling water. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.310 Suspended solids.

“Suspended solids” means 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. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.320 Waste discharge permit.

“Waste discharge permit” means both a permit issued by the city and a separate permit issued by the Department of Ecology for the discharge of waste into a public sewer, or side sewer tributary to the Mount Vernon sewerage system. When provisions herein deal with only one of the permits, it will be designated as “city discharge permit” or “Department of Ecology (DOE) discharge permit.” (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

13.04.330 Watercourse.

“Watercourse” means a channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently. (Ord. 3481 § 1, 2010).

Code reviser’s note: Pursuant to Ord. 3781, Section 8, this section is effective January 1, 2020.