[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Aleppo as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 1-13-1998 by Ord. No. 193; amended in its entirety 8-20-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-05]
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, entity or corporation to make any opening or excavation in or under any Township street, alley, thoroughfare or right-of-way unless a permit therefor is secured from the Township for each separate undertaking. The Code Enforcement Officer or police officers of the Township shall promptly prohibit any work being done without a proper permit, or contrary to the terms hereof.
An application for a street opening permit ("permit") shall provide a specific time during which the street opening or excavation may remain open, the place where said opening or excavation may be made, together with the probable length, width, and depth thereof, and such further information as the Township Engineer may require. No permit for any street opening will be granted where the proposed excavation is to remain open and unfilled more than two calendar days. The application shall include specific details on the manner in which the applicant proposes to ensure safe and expedient traffic flow as well as measures which will provide for adequate notice of the existence of a street opening, including suitable barriers, signage, and flashing lights, during hours when the excavation is open but unattended all in accordance with PennDOT Publication No. 213, Temporary Traffic Control Guidelines. At all times when work is being conducted under the permit, the applicant must have certified flaggers and other personnel dedicated to routing traffic around the excavation site. A steel plate which fully covers the excavation and allows traffic to safely pass over it is required during nonworking hours.
The permit application shall demonstrate compliance with the following restrictions, before any permit will be issued:
A. 
No opening shall extend beyond the center line of the street before being refilled and the surface of the street restored to an interim condition deemed by the Township Engineer to be safe and passable for travel by vehicles or pedestrians.
B. 
Any disturbances to or interference with streets, sidewalks or other improvements located within Township rights-of-way shall be restored to a condition acceptable to the Township Engineer, including appropriate coloring of sidewalk materials to blend into existing sidewalks and replacement of pavement and pavement markings. Right-of-way vegetation shall be fully restored in kind and managed until such vegetation has returned to full growth.
C. 
No more than 40 feet longitudinally shall be open in any Township street or combination of Township street and right-of-way at any one time.
D. 
The applicant for a permit shall provide and maintain all necessary shoring and bracing of openings to protect persons, roadways, utilities, and adjacent land and buildings from damage resulting from shifting or subsidence of the adjacent land or other conditions.
E. 
No tunneling shall be allowed without the express approval of the Township Engineer and at least two Township officials. Permission for such work shall be specifically included on the permit.
F. 
Excavated or other material shall be removed from the site, or placed or stored on the side of the operation farthest from the pavement, but within the Township street or right-of-way and shall not be placed on private property without the express approval of the property owner, which must be given to the permit applicant in writing and included as part of the application. Excavated or other material shall also be stored and managed in such manner that there is no interference with the flow of water, traffic and/or pedestrians.
G. 
Where a pipe drain, pipe culvert or other buried structure or facility has been damaged by the permittee or any contractor or subcontractor working for the permittee, it shall be replaced, restored, strengthened or protected by the permittee at permittee's sole cost and expense in a manner satisfactory to the Township Engineer.
H. 
No refilling of any excavation or opening shall be undertaken unless or until written permission is received from the Township Engineer and such Engineer or his designee is present at the time of backfilling.
I. 
All openings and excavations shall be backfilled promptly with suitable materials and thoroughly compacted in layers according to Aleppo Township or PennDOT specifications and/or at the specific direction of the Township Engineer.
No permit will be issued which would allow any excavation or opening in a paved and improved street surface, or in the right-of-way adjacent to the street surface if such activity in the right-of-way would impair the street surface, of any paved and improved street surface that is less than five years old, unless the applicant can demonstrate clearly that i) the public health or safety requires the proposed work to be permitted; or ii) unless an emergency condition exists that requires that the work be performed.
All restoration work must be performed to the satisfaction of the Township Engineer. Generally, street surfaces shall be milled and resurfaced full lane widths in instances where street openings are limited to a single lane. Street openings that result in openings in both lanes shall generally be restored by full width milling and resurfacing. Full width milling and resurfacing may also be required on streets with narrow cartways, even when street openings are restricted to one side of the center of the cartway and in instances where the applicant's operations have damaged the street surface beyond the limits of the excavations. A minimum of 25 linear feet of paving restoration is required on either side of the excavation. The depth of the pavement restoration shall be as directed by the Township Engineer, but in no case shall the depth of the restored pavement be less than that of the existing pavement. Should the final restoration of any street openings be delayed due to freezing temperatures, wet weather or lack of availability of paving materials, all such areas shall be restored temporarily with bituminous cold patch material not less than two inches in depth. The applicant shall be required to maintain all temporary paving to the satisfaction of the Township Engineer until such time that final restoration is complete. All pavement openings shall be permanently or temporarily paved before the street or any portion thereof shall be open to traffic. Full asphalt restoration must be completed within six months of the original repair.
The applicant shall be required to submit, along with their application, video and/or photographic documentation that adequately demonstrates the preconstruction conditions along the path of the proposed street opening and all adjacent areas.
Applicants shall be required to submit plans, drawn to scale, clearly illustrating the proposed location of the street opening(s) and nature and extent of the work being proposed.
A. 
Nonresidents. A permit fee shall be required as established by the Board of Commissioners and adjusted from time to time in accordance with the Township's published schedule of rates and permit fees. In addition to the permit fee, the applicant shall be required to deposit the estimated cost of the repair work associated with the permit. The Township Engineer shall establish the cost of the repair work based on the application and the design plans provided by the applicant. Such costs shall include all backfilling, temporary and final restoration costs. The deposit shall be paid in cash or by certified check. The Township will deposit the repair deposit in an interest-bearing account for the purpose of conducting any curative work under § 343-10 hereof. The Township will retain the full amount of the repair deposit until such time that all final repairs have been completed in accordance with all provisions of this article. Upon certification by the Township Engineer that the work is complete, 15% of the repair deposit will be retained by the Township for a period of 365 days. At the end of this 365-day period, if the work remains in a satisfactory condition, the Township will refund the remaining amount of repair deposit to the applicant. If the applicant does not comply with all of the provisions of this article in a full and timely manner, the Township may use the repair deposit or the remainder thereof to complete the repair work required under the permit. Any unused portion of the repair deposit after such work has been completed and paid for by the Township will be returned to the applicant.
B. 
Legal, administrative and engineering expenses. In addition to a permit fee and a repair deposit, the applicant shall be required to deposit funds into an escrow account to cover the estimated costs of the Township's legal, administrative and engineering expenses associated with the permit. The amount of the deposit shall be determined by the Township in consultation with the Township Engineer and the Township Solicitor. The required deposit shall be paid in cash or by certified check. The Township will deposit the legal, administrative and engineering deposit in an interest-bearing account. All interest earned on the account on any legal, administrative and engineering deposits shall be the property of the Township. Should, at any time during the construction associated with a permit, the legal, administrative and engineering deposit be determined to be insufficient to cover the Township's costs for such services, the applicant shall be required to deposit additional sums as may be determined by the Township. Should the applicant fail to submit the additional funds within three business days, the Township may revoke the permit until the additional funds are provided. Any portion of the legal, administrative and engineering deposit that exceeds the Township's actual costs for such services shall be returned to the applicant upon certification from the Township Engineer that all work authorized has been completed.
C. 
Residents.
(1) 
Notwithstanding Subsection A above, the permit application fee for private residents of the Township who own a fee simple interest in the affected property in the Township shall be as established by the Board of Commissioners Council and adjusted from time to time in accordance with the Township's schedule of rates and permit fees. No repair deposit will be required for a resident provided the following conditions are met:
(a) 
The street/road opening excavation is necessitated by conditions existing on the property owned by such resident and such condition is related to one or more of the following: flooding, water service, sewage service, gas service, stormwater surcharge or any other similar condition at that property.
(b) 
The permit applicant is the individual Township resident.
(c) 
The resident executes an agreement, on a form to be provided by the Township, accepting the placement of a lien on the resident's property in the event that the Township is required to undertake curative work under § 343-10 hereof.
(2) 
The resident shall inform the Township within 30 days of the date of completion of the work approved under the permit. After inspection by the Township Engineer, if the work is judged to be complete and satisfactory at that time, the applicant shall be responsible for maintaining the completed excavation for a period of 365 days from the date of the inspection and shall repair or correct any deficiencies in the work in accordance with § 343-10. If the resident fails to correct or repair the work within 15 calendar days of receipt of written notice from the Township, the Township may elect to conduct any necessary repair work itself, in which case the resident shall pay the Township's direct costs (including administrative costs) within 30 days of receipt of written demand from the Township. If such resident fails to make timely payment of all the Township's direct costs (including administrative costs), the Township shall be authorized to place a lien against the property in the amount of the Township's direct costs (including administrative costs). The amount of the lien shall be adjusted each year to include interest at the rate of 6%.
D. 
Multiple applications.
(1) 
An applicant who demonstrates, in writing, that it expects to submit multiple applications under this article may request the Township to retain the repair deposit for the largest of the proposed openings to be placed in an interest-bearing account by the Township. Such repair deposit shall be kept by the Township for the purpose of conducting any curative work under § 343-10 hereof required at any of the applicant's road openings. An applicant who elects this approach and receives written approval from the Township shall thereafter be required to pay only the legal, administrative and engineering costs of the applicable permit fee required by Subsection B for each additional road opening application, as long as:
(a) 
The applicant fully complies with the other provisions of this article;
(b) 
The size of the road opening for which the application is submitted is equal to or smaller than that of the original permit for which the applicant requested the Township to retain the repair deposit;
(c) 
The Township is not required to conduct any curative work under § 343-10.
(2) 
In the event that the Township is required to perform curative work under § 343-10 at any of the applicant's road openings, the applicant shall thereafter be notified by the Township of the amount of the repair deposit, if any, remaining after such curative work is performed. Within 30 days of such notification by the Township, the applicant shall replenish the amount of the repair deposit to the level required under Subsection A for the original permit.
No permit will be issued by the Township until the applicant shall have filed with the Township Secretary the following, which shall be approved by the Public Works Chairman or other Commissioner:
A. 
A certificate or other document, issued by an insurance company properly authorized to do business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, evidencing the issuance to the applicant of a policy of public liability and property damage insurance in an amount sufficient to indemnify and save harmless the Township of Aleppo and any adjacent property owner from damage which may be occasioned by the proposed street excavation or right-of-way opening. The said policy shall be in an amount not less than $1,000,000 for injury to persons and $500,000 for injury to property arising out of a single occurrence. The certificate shall name the Township as an additional insured party as to work performed upon, under or in the streets or rights-of-way of the Township, and a copy of such policy naming the Township as an additional insured shall be provided as a part of the application.
If the work in opening, filling or maintaining or permanently paving and completely restoring the area of any street opening or excavation or right-of-way disturbance shall not be properly done or shall be unskillful or incompletely performed, based upon the evaluation of the Township Engineer in their sole discretion, the Township may, by letter to the permittee, declare the permittee to be in violation of the permit and shall provide an opportunity for the permittee to cure such violation. The violation shall be cured within five calendar days from the permittee's receipt of written notice. If such curative work has not been commenced and fully and satisfactorily completed within such time period, the Township shall declare the permittee in violation of the permit and shall proceed to contract for such work as is required to fully restore the affected area to its approximate original condition, grade and appearance. In this event, any unreleased portion of the permit fee shall be retained by the Township and treated as an escrow fund to be used by the Township to satisfactorily complete such work. Any unused portion of the permit fee shall be returned in accordance with the provisions of § 343-8 hereof.
No new openings under an existing permit shall be made and no new permit shall be issued to any person, firm, corporation or entity where either the person, firm, corporation, or entity is in violation of this article or the Township has undertaken work to properly complete the work required under a prior permit.
The Township Engineer shall have the right to observe and inspect all work done pursuant to the permit. The Township Engineer shall ensure that all provisions of this article and the terms and conditions of the permit are enforced and complied with.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall, in addition to loss of the application fee, upon conviction thereof before the District Justice, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus cost of prosecution. In default of payment of such fine and costs, such person shall be imprisoned for not more than 30 days. Each day such violation is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense and shall be punishable as such hereunder.
In the event that any person, corporation or entity commences excavation or other disturbance in the Township street or right-of-way which requires a permit under this article without first obtaining a permit, and such person does not i) immediately cease work upon notice from either the Code Enforcement Officer, Township Engineer or police officer; ii) restore the affected area to allow traffic to safely pass over the area (which shall include the placement of a steel plate); and iii) immediately apply for a permit, the Township shall be authorized to impound any equipment which continues to work at the site after the cessation notice is provided. All associated storage, transport, or other fees will be charged to the contractor/equipment owner.