[Amended 6-2-2011 by Ord. No. O-6-2011]
No person, firm or corporation shall disturb,
dig into, excavate or make an opening of any kind in the surface,
bed and right-of-way, road, avenue or other right-of-way dedicated
to the public which has been accepted by or jurisdiction over which
has been exercised in any manner by the Township of Elk, heretofore
or hereafter, without first having obtained a permit therefor in compliance
with the provisions of this article from the Township Clerk or other
properly designated municipal official. The only person who can make
such openings or excavations without obtaining a permit are employees
of the Township or any of its utilities in the performance of their
Township duties and work under the supervision of Township officers.
The permit for street openings and excavations shall be valid, as
prescribed herein, for the time frame specified by the applicant at
the time of application. Permits must be obtained at a minimum of
72 hours prior to the time when the street opening is to occur. Work
shall start on the date specified in the permit. Prior to the commencement
of work, twenty-four-hour notice to the Township Clerk and Public
Works Superintendent is required, except in the event of emergencies.
The only time an opening or an excavation may
be made in, upon or under the surface of any street without first
having obtained a permit is in the event of any sudden and emergent
break of any water, sewer, gas, oil or other underground lines which
endangers the life, health and safety of the public or people of the
Township of Elk or their property. The making of any such opening
or excavation shall be reported immediately within 24 hours to the
Police Department and the Township Clerk, and a permit therefor shall
be obtained within 48 hours.
When any street has been covered with a hard
surface two inches or more in thickness, such as concrete or FABC
No. 1, within five years from the date on which a permit to open it
is requested, no permit to open the surface of the same shall be granted
except upon a majority vote, of the Township Committee after presentation
and consideration of the application therefor, the Township Committee
being satisfied that one or more of the following reasons exist making
it necessary to grant the permit:
A. An emergency situation such as set forth in §
87-2 above exists.
B. The necessity and purpose for opening the surface
of the street could not have been and was not discovered by the applicant
for the permit prior to the time the hard surface was installed, and
the applicant is bound by the actions of any predecessor in title
to his lands in this respect.
C. The best interests of the Township require that the
permit be granted.
A permit as set forth above in this article
shall be required for any tunneling or mechanical boring under the
surface of any street for any purpose whatsoever. Any such tunneling
or boring shall be done only after the Township Engineer has recommended
that it be permitted and shall be done under the supervision of said
Engineer, whose services shall be paid for by the applicant.
[Added 6-2-2011 by Ord. No. O-6-2011]
A. Permits
must be kept at the job site during the work and must be shown, upon
request, to any authorized Township personnel. Work shall commence
within 24 hours of the date the permit is issued. All trenches, excavations
and utility installations for which a street opening permit is required,
must be inspected by the Township Engineer or his designee before
any portion of the work is backfilled. It is the responsibility of
the applicant to properly notify the Township Clerk and the Township
Engineer to request the inspection. If the opening is not properly
inspected, the Township Engineer reserves the right to require the
applicant to re-excavate all or a portion of the work.
B. The permittee
shall take appropriate measures to insure that during the performance
of the excavation, normal and safe traffic conditions shall be maintained
at all times, causing as little inconvenience as possible to the occupants
of the adjoining property, and to general vehicular traffic. If it
is necessary to close a Township street, it is the applicant’s
responsibility to notify the Township's Police, Fire and School Departments.
The Township Engineer and/or the Chief of Police may require the presence
of a police officer or traffic/road flagger to be present during construction.
All costs incurred relating to the police officer or traffic/road
flagger shall be borne by the permittee.
[Amended 6-2-2011 by Ord. No. O-6-2011]
All street openings shall be opened, closed
and replaced as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances
and purpose of the opening; however, closure of the excavation shall
occur no later than the date specified in the permit application.
If the same are not replaced expeditiously as aforesaid and good cause
for the delay is not shown, the Township may, after notice and hearing
thereon, proceed to close and replace the street opening and charge
the cost thereof to the holder of the permit.
Before an issuance of any street opening permit,
fees and cash security performance deposit shall be received in the
offices of the Township Clerk as follows:
A. Single street opening involving only one (1) lot frontage.
(1) Filing fee (nonrefundable): $50.
(2) Township Engineer review fee (nonrefundable): $300.
(3) Township Engineer inspection fee (nonrefundable):
$500.
(4) Cash security performance deposit: $750.
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Note: Township Engineer shall make recommendation
of additional escrow funds should the project repair costs exceed
the initial escrow deposit.
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B. Multiple openings per street or multiple lot frontages
per application.
(1) Filing fee (nonrefundable): $100.
(2) Township Engineer review fee (nonrefundable): $400.
(3) Township Engineer inspection fee (nonrefundable):
$750.
(4) Cash security performance deposit: The greater sum
of $750 or such sum that may be established by the Township Engineer
to assure compliance with terms of this article in an amount not to
exceed 120% of the cost of repair, rehabilitation or installation
of improvements towards restoration of the roadway.
(5) For utility companies and/or contractors anticipating
numerous multiple road opening permits per calendar year, the applicant
may post a one-time cash security performance deposit of $10,000 for
a one-year period beginning January 1st and ending December 31. However,
the applicant must submit the appropriate filing, review and inspection
fees on a per-application basis.
C. "Performance security," for the purposes of this subsection, shall mean and include cash deposits or performance bonds or irrevocable letters of credit in a form approved by the Municipal Attorney. Performance security shall guarantee the faithful and satisfactory performance of the work in all respects, and shall replace or restore that portion of any street, highway or road in which the applicant, applicant’s agents and/or subcontractors shall make any excavation. In the event that the estimated costs of repair, rehabilitation or installation of roadway improvements shall, at any time, exceed the initial estimate or sums of performance security specified in Subsection
A or
B hereof, the permit holder, on written notice, shall provide such additional performance security equal to such additional costs within 10 days of such notice. All performance security shall remain in full force for a period of one year after the date that the excavation work is completed. A separate maintenance guarantee shall be required in the event that the performance security does not cover the excavation work for a period of one year from the date that the excavation work is completed.
[Amended 6-2-2011 by Ord. No. O-6-2011]
[Amended 6-2-2011 by Ord. No. O-6-2011]
Any person or persons violating any of the provisions
of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine
not exceeding $2,000 and/or by imprisonment not exceeding 90 days,
or both.